Academic Magic by Becky R Jones

Author:Becky R Jones [Jones, Becky R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-15T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

As everybody settled into his office, Mark looked up from his phone. “I texted George and Kieran. They should be here in a minute.”

Zoe grabbed bottles of water from Mark’s small refrigerator and handed them to the students. She watched as they gulped the water and after a minute or two when they appeared to have settled their nerves as much as possible, she spoke in a gentle voice.

“Can any of you give us an idea of what happened? How did you wind up in the basement with Dr. Cruickshank and Susan Barker? What did they do?”

“I’m not sure,” Lisa started, hesitantly. Zoe knew her to be a good student, a freshman from the nearby area, who lived on campus. “I have Dr. Cruickshank for Intro Sociology. She asked me if I wanted to work on some research project with her. That was about two or three weeks ago.”

Zoe and Mark exchanged glances. That was around the same time that Josh and Annmarie had seen the strange lights in Shelby Hall. Just then there was a brief knock on the door. Declan flinched at the sound and the other three looked alarmed. Zoe made a calming gesture with one hand. The door opened, and Kieran Ross walked in. With nine people standing around, Mark’s small office was getting crowded. Kieran closed the door behind him and looked at Mark.

“Meredith and Susan left this building and went over to Shelby Hall. It looked like Susan was yelling at Meredith.”

The four students rescued from the basement were looking very puzzled and still a bit frightened. Lisa turned back to Zoe.

“Dr. O’Brien, what is going on? How did he,” pointing at Geoff, “make that fire in the basement? And what were Dr. Cruickshank and that other woman trying to do?”

Zoe drew a deep breath. This was going to be an interesting explanation. Just then, there was another knock on the door, and it opened to admit George Wardmaster and Annmarie Johnson, along with two more faculty members, Robyn Harper from the English department, and Simon LeGrande, Mark’s department chair. Annmarie managed to worm her way over to the other students and gave Lisa a hug. Now the office was jam-packed.

Simon came up to Zoe while everybody was milling around trying to find enough space to stand.

“George tells me you’re a mage,” the little man said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Yes, I’m an Elemental,” Zoe answered quietly.

Simon’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s fascinating. I don’t believe I’ve ever met an Elemental before. I’m Fire.”

Zoe stifled a snort of surprise. With his short, round stature, and fastidious, almost old-fashioned way of dressing, Fire was the last Element she would have expected Simon to control. Air maybe, but just the thought of him as a mage was enough to induce the giggles. She reminded herself that she didn’t much look like what she might expect a mage to look like either. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Simon must have encountered the reaction before because he winked and smiled.

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