Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria by George Jreije

Author:George Jreije
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2022-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

We slipped into Sarah’s room since it was right by the stairs. While she closed the door, I collapsed onto her bed, breathing heavily and hoping I wouldn’t have a heart attack.

Yakoub, the necromancers, and now Sarah Decker. This evening had been a nightmare cake, where the ingredients were all the people who had wanted to squeeze me like a lemon at one time or another.

“Are you seriously getting sweat all over my sheets?” Sarah said.

A wave of relief came at having the old Sarah back and not the stiff, quiet one from the hallway. But something stirred and we both looked over to the next bed. Lying there, sound asleep, was Selma Aboud.

Keeping my voice hushed, I asked, “What if we wake her up?”

“You don’t need to whisper,” she said. “Trust me, nothing wakes up that girl.”

“Okay, so why were you wandering the halls?”

“Because,” said Sarah, crossing her arms.

“Because what?” I asked, leaning in.

“Because none of your stinkin’ business, that’s what!”

Selma stirred and I almost fell off the bed. Sarah had backed against the wall, and I shot her a see what you almost did look.

Sarah held up her hands. “Relax, we’re safe. This wasn’t even a big deal.”

“We almost got caught,” I snapped. “Not only that, but robo-roosters chased me across the Academy, my stepbrother was looking for me in the nurse’s office, and Dean Ibrahim, I saw him—”

“Okay, okay,” she said, raising her arms to stop me. “Time out, that is way too much information.”

“Point is, there are necromancers at the Academy, and they’re planning something big on the night of the science fair. You know, the winter solstice.”

“Are you talking about what we read about in the library?” she snorted. “You realize that was just a story, right?”

“I’m being serious,” I said. “I can’t explain it, but there are these shadows that keep appearing out of nowhere to grab at me and ask me to join them. And when we bumped into each other in Portland—you know, the day before Dean Hayek showed up—I was being chased by this weird alchemist, Dr. Salazar.”

“Alchemy?” she asked. “Like that trick you showed us during dinner? The one that made us all see in green?”

My jaw dropped. “Wait, you remember that stuff?”

Sarah shrugged. “Is there a reason I wouldn’t?”

All our other classmates had convinced me that I’d become a majnoon, acting like I’d never shown them alchemy in the first place. It didn’t make sense that, of all people, Sarah would be the one to remember. Maybe kids from Portland were immune to what had caused everyone to forget.

Whatever the reason, I said, “The dinner trick is exactly what I’m talking about. There’s alchemy like that at work all over the school, but everyone refuses to see it. Good to know someone else believes me.”

“Whoa there, I still don’t think alchemy’s real,” she said. “I don’t care about what happened back in Portland either. What I want to know is, if you’re going to fight these things and

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