Broken Wand Academy Read online

  “You’ll have an opportunity to visit home during the Thanksgiving break, just like all the other students,” Professor Wallace said in a low, subdued voice.

  I leaned my arms on the back of the couch and scowled at him. “No, not Thanksgiving. Now.”

  “I wish I could help, Meena. I really do. But Broken Wand Academy policy states that first-year students are not permitted to leave campus except for during official school breaks.”

  I threw my hands up again as I spun and groaned. “This is ridiculous!” How had I been so stupid? This place had aroused my suspicion from the very beginning, but I had been blinded by the earth-shattering discovery that magic was real and the opportunity to learn about my grandmother’s secret life. With this new knowledge, Broken Wand Academy felt more like a prison than a school.

  “Fine.” I set my jaw and turned back to Professor Wallace. “If you won’t send me back, I’ll just find my own way home. And I won’t be coming back.”

  I turned toward the door, but stopped as Professor Wallace spoke.

  “You can’t do that Meena.”

  I whirled on him again. “Of course I can! What, are you going to stop me? You can’t keep me here against my will.”

  “No, of course not. I would never do that. But…” He pursed his lips and sighed. “There’s no roads around for many miles, so you won’t find any taxis or buses. No trains either. Broken Wand Academy is only accessible by magic. We’re completely surrounded by rugged, isolated wilderness. You’d never make it on foot.”

  “So, what? You’re saying I can’t leave? I’m stuck here until you decide I can go?” I should’ve demanded to be brought home as soon as I woke up in this stupid office. I knew from the start that Broken Wand Academy was a twisted place, and now I was trapped here. I cursed my naïveté.

  Grief drew the corners of Professor Wallace’s mouth down. “It’s not up to me, but, essentially, yes. You are stuck here.” A glimmer of mischief burned away some of the gloom. “There might be someone else that can help you, though. Now, you didn’t hear this from me, understand?”

  I nodded, a shard of curiosity penetrating my outrage and dejection.

  “It’s my understanding that there are students who have figured out a way around the school’s policy of first-years not being allowed off campus. The wards sealing off the school are quite thorough, but there have been some very clever young witches here through the years.” He shrugged as a grin pulled up his cheeks. “Secrets have been passed down from class to class, some of which may be useful to your particular predicament.”

  Frustrated as I was, I had zero patience for Professor Wallace’s games. “Are you going to tell me how to get home or what?”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t know anything about all that.” He held a hand to his chest and shook his head. “But I do think Braden might be getting lonely, cooped up in that boring hospital room with only old Ursula for company. Why don’t you go and pay him a visit after dinner this evening?” He winked, apparently pleased with his own cleverness.

  “Okay, great, so Braden can help me?” I shook my head. “Couldn’t you have just told me this from the beginning? Why get me all worked up?” I scrunched my face as I grappled with the bizarre turn of events. Part of me wanted to smack the impish grin off Professor Wallace’s thin face, but I also guessed that he didn’t have to help me.

  “Well, ideally you’d give up and agree to wait until Thanksgiving. It’d be best for everyone that way.” He paused and considered me. “But you’re clearly not the ‘giving up’ type, and, personally, I think you have every right to feel the way you do. So, just be careful. Please.”

  “Thanks, I guess.” I didn’t understand Professor Wallace’s actions, yet I sensed that he was doing his best to look out for me. He seemed like an ally, but I was still pissed about the questionable nature of my arrival at Broken Wand and the manipulative lie he had told Dad, Vicky, and Eric on my behalf. “Are we done here?”

  “Yes, of course.” He rose and followed me toward the door. “I’m sorry about all this, Meena. I know the ways of the Academy are difficult to understand, but I hope you know that you can trust me.”

  “Yeah, sure.” I reached for the doorknob, but Professor Wallace placed his hand on the door to stop me from opening it.

  “Just don’t be gone too long, okay?” His expression was stern as he held my gaze. “An extended absence will not go unnoticed, even at night. And trust me, you do not need that kind of attention right now.”

  He pulled his hand away and I reached for the knob again, but his hand shot back to the door.

  “Oh, and I would strongly advise you to not tell your father about any of this. Your friends might understand, but an older civilian is far less likely to be receptive to this kind of revolutionary information. Got it?”

  “Yes, fine, whatever.” I raised my eyebrows and he dipped his head as he removed his hand from the door. I stepped into the hallway, sighing as the heavy door clicked shut behind me. I hoped there wouldn’t be any more tense faculty meetings for a while, but that seemed about as likely as Leia transferring to the Department of Martial Magic.

  Despite the lingering frustration and apprehension, the thought of seeing Eric and Vicky curled my lips into a smile as I descended Harkness Hall’s massive stone staircase.

  Chapter 10

  Pallid pinks and blues streaked the darkening sky as I scurried to my room following a rushed dinner. Once there, I stuffed an extra set of clothes in my backpack and draped my purple cloak over my shoulders to guard against the cooling evening air. Per Professor Wallace’s advice, I didn’t intend to be gone long enough to need a change of clothes, but my short time at Broken Wand had taught me to prepare for the unexpected.

  I shouldered my bag and started toward the door, but paused as my eyes settled on the closet. It still felt funny referring to the strange stick hidden at the back as a staff, but I couldn’t deny that it was no ordinary stick. I didn’t want to be seen roaming the campus with it, but it was probably the only reason Braden and I had escaped the cult with our lives. Hopefully it wouldn’t be necessary, but I didn’t’ care to risk being caught in a similar situation empty handed.

  I slid the hanging clothes aside and grabbed it.

  My nerves had been so jumpy in anticipation of sneaking off campus that I had hardly been able to hold my fork at dinner. Leia and Oliver expressed concern, but it was easy enough to convince them that I was only rattled from the carnage in the Arena that morning.

  But as soon as I gripped the smooth, pale length of wood, a sense of peace and determination settled over me.

  It once again brought to mind my grandmother’s comforting presence. She was the first person I ran to when I was upset, and she never failed to set everything right. It had always amazed me how completely she could turn around my worst day with only a hug. Now I wondered if those hugs had been fortified with a little dose of magic.

  I grinned and wiped a tear from my eye as I started toward the Nightingale building.

  Ursula grunted without looking up from the papers on her desk when I told her I was there to visit Braden, and jerked her head in the direction of his room without even a slight pause in her furious scribbling. Lucky for me. I had wondered if I’d have to explain about the staff. The bag of clothes I could have excused as being for Braden—unless, of course, she had bothered to examine the contents. The women’s underwear would likely have aroused some suspicion. I stifled a chuckle as I showed myself to Braden’s room.

  Anxious as I was to see Eric and Vicky, I gave only a cursory knock before letting myself into the room. Panic seized me as a lingering shame from my first encounter with Leia shot through my gut, but it vanished as quickly as it had come when Braden greeted me with his confident smile.

  “Hey, killer.” His grin widened. “Or more like maim-er, I guess.” He wrinkled his brow. “Doesn’t have quite the same ring, though.”

  “Ugh.” I rolled my eyes and tilted my head back
. “How did you hear about that?” I swung my bag to the ground and sank into the chair next to his bed, my excitement deflated by the sobering recollection of the morning’s violence.

  “Hey, I know people. You think just because I’m cooped up in this room all day I don’t hear about stuff? You’re not the only one who visits, you know. I have many suitors.” His smirk twisted with self-satisfaction.

  “Suitors? Who are you, Penelope?” I scoffed, pleased with my own wit.

  “Well, I guess that would make you Odysseus.” He nodded toward my bag. “Only you look like you’re just leaving for your journey. What’s with the bag? And thewhat’s that, a staff?” He tilted his head as his eyes drifted to the pale rod resting across my lap. “Where’d you get that?”

  “I found it in the woods that night. I was stumbling around in the dark, looking for something to protect myself with, and it was just sitting right there, poking out of the ground in a beam of moonlight.” A prickling heat crawled up my neck and flushed my face, but dissipated rapidly as I clutched my staff tighter.

  “Huh.” He narrowed his eyes and puckered his lips. “Very interesting.”

  “Yeah… I think this staff sort of saved our lives, actually. I don’t know if I would’ve got us out of there without it.” I glanced down and ran my finger along the smooth wood.

  “Well, in that case, I owe you and the staff a debt of gratitude.” His expression relaxed and he returned his gaze to my face. “But you still haven’t answered what you’re doing here with all this stuff.”

  I smiled and gave a small shrug. “I’m here to cash in your debt, I guess.”

  He chuckled. “That was fast. Not that I’m upset or anything. Obviously I’ll help if I can, but can’t it wait until I get out of here?” He gestured with his hand and looked around the small, white room.

  “It kind of can’t.” I winced at the guilt of asking for Braden’s help while he was still recovering from such a serious injury.

  “Hey, no worries.” He smiled. “I don’t know what I can do from in here, but I’ll give it a shot. What do you need?”

  “Wallace sort of implied that you might know a way for me to get off campus?” Guilt forced an apologetic smile now. “I need to visit my friends back home. They think I just hopped a bus west without saying goodbye, and that I’m not coming back, or even speaking to them, until Thanksgiving.”

  “Yep, sounds like the Academy.” Braden rolled his eyes and shook his head. “They really think they can just do whatever they want.”

  “Yeah, I’m starting to pick up on that.” I sighed. “So? Can you help?”

  “You’ve come to the right warlock, milady.” He spread his arms and stuck out his chin as he flashed a proud smile. “Wallace told you I could help?”

  “Strongly implied, yes.”

  “Huh.” A crease formed on his forehead. “I didn’t think anyone knew about our little trick.” He chewed his lip and thought for a moment before he shrugged, and his expression softened. “I guess maybe Wallace knows more than he lets on.”

  I cocked my head, interrupting Braden’s reflection. “Our trick?”

  “Well, not ours, necessarily, I guess.” A gloom settled over him and his blue eyes resembled the ocean just before a storm. It pained me to admit it, but brooding really did suit him. He glanced away at the wall to his left. “An upperclassman passed it down to Lucas and me last year.”

  “Ah, gotcha.” I didn’t press further. I was anxious to get going, but I wanted to be sensitive to Braden’s still-raw grief. I understood the need for quiet moments.

  He surprised me by smiling and chuckling to himself as he shook his head.

  “You know, this might be the first time somebody uses this trick for a noble purpose. We mostly just used it to go out to bars on weekends.” He snickered softly and muttered something under his breath.

  “Sounds fun.” I grimaced and glanced away as heat crept up my neck again. Did I really think that sounded fun?

  He raised a doubtful eyebrow as he held out a tarnished brass key toward me. “Here, you’ll need this.”

  I reached for it hesitantly. “What’s this?”

  “A key to my room, of course.” He grinned and winked as I took the key, and a spark of static shocked me when our fingers grazed.

  “Bah, what? Huh?” A blush rushed up my neck, and would not recede no matter the force of my grip on my staff. “Why would I need this?”

  He shook his head as he snickered. “Oh, come on, Meena. You are too easy.”

  “I am not!” I shot out of the chair. I considered punching him, but figured that was a bad idea, what with his being in a hospital bed.

  “Whoa, whoa, easy.” He held his hands up, palm-out. “I meant you’re too easy to freak out.” He shook his head and chortled. “The key’s so you can use my room to get off campus. My closet door is already all set up for breach-travel. It would take forever for you to set it up in your own room.” He dipped his head and shot me a stern look from under his brow. “Not to disappoint you, but I’ll expect that key back when you return from your little odyssey.”

  “Right, yeah, okay.” I glanced away, wondering what had happened to the embarrassment-immunity I had possessed that morning while publicly vomiting in the Arena.

  “Relax, Meena. No need to make it weird.” He raised a brow and shot me a patronizing smile.

  “Who’s being weird?” I furrowed my brow as I glanced around. “I’m not being weird. You’re the one who’s being weird.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Braden chuckled. “Anyway, here’s what you do.”

  I wound my way behind the Rodin Center for Artisanal Magic, keeping close to the tree line to the west as I picked my way toward Merlin Hall. It probably wasn’t necessary to skirt the edge of campus and slip in the back door of Braden’s building, but I was intent on avoiding unwanted interactions.

  I froze as something stirred in the woods to my right. I peered into the darkness, but there was no more movement. The sun had dipped below the horizon while I was in the Medical Wing, and the sky now glowed a dull, dark blue. The weak light of the rising moon did little to illuminate the shadowed vegetation.

  The back of my neck prickled as I pulled my gaze away from the brush and continued on toward Merlin Hall. The forest to my right remained silent and still as I walked, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. I ignored the constant impulse to glance sideways into the menacing shadows and instead trained my gaze straight ahead at the high, imposing form of Callisto Observatory, outlined against the darkening sky.

  Warm light illuminated the large windows near the top of the round tower, and I wondered if that would be the sight of my Introductory Divination and Foresight class tomorrow night. I hoped it was, as it looked like a cozy, inviting space.

  I tore my gaze away and cut left toward Merlin Hall. The field behind the three residential buildings on this side of campus were deserted, and I encountered no one as I stole in the back door of the building and scurried to Braden’s door.

  I froze with the little key in my hand, but a door opened somewhere down the hall and startled me out of my hesitation. I slipped through the door and sighed against it as it clicked shut behind me. My heart hammered against my chest as I pushed back the hood of my cloak and inhaled deeply to steady my nerves.

  The space was much neater than it had been when I’d first met Braden here. The beer bottles and dirty clothes had been removed, and the books and papers on the desk against the wall to my left were tidily arranged. I tried not to look around too much, though. It felt weird to be in Braden’s space without him, especially since I didn’t even know him that well.

  My feeling of intrusion intensified as I stepped through the doorway on the left, into his bedroom. The bedroom surprised me even more than the tidied living room, given my initial impression of his living habits. His bed was neatly made with a clean, crisp, gray blanket, and none of the posters on the walls advertised beer brands or contained imag
es of scantily clad women.

  I found myself nearly overcome by a compulsion to snoop around his dresser and bedside table, but I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. I opened the closet and removed the coiled silver string hanging from a hook on the right, exactly where Braden had said it would be.

  I uncoiled the twine and tied a loop in one end, which I slipped over my left middle finger. I then worked my silver Broken Wand class ring over the loop of string so that it encircled the free end, but was careful not to let it slip all the way through the ring. After that, I tied a snug knot around the ring so that it was firmly attached to the loop of thread around my finger by about ten feet of silver, supposedly enchanted, string.

  Braden had said that the string was the key to the whole trick. Apparently, our class rings prevented us from travelling off campus. Chancellor Singh clearly had some way of knowing when someone removed their class ring, so that wasn’t an option. The Broken Wand Academy campus was also surrounded by extremely powerful concealment wards that prevented outsiders from gaining access, so it was very difficult to travel back to campus. The string solved both problems.

  A sly artisanal magic student had specially constructed and enchanted the string to conduct magical energy, so while it negated most of the rings’ limiting effects, as long as the thread contacted both student and ring, it made it appear as though a student were still wearing their ring. It also served as a tether back to Broken Wand Academy. It was confusing… but somehow it worked.

  Braden had waved me off when I asked about the inconvenience of essentially being stuck on a leash. Apparently, the string didn’t physically attach you to the ring back at the Academy due to some complex theory of planar magic that he wasn’t able to fully explain. He said as long as I locked his dorm behind me so that no one could mess with my ring, everything would be fine.

  I left the ring on his nightstand and squared myself to the closed closet door with my staff in my right hand. I closed my eyes and scrunched my face in concentration as I drew in a deep breath and contorted my left hand in the series of gestures I had committed to memory.