Arcane Dropout by Edmund Hughes

Author:Edmund Hughes [Hughes, Edmund]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-02T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

Toma and Eliza almost bowled Lee over in their rush to congratulate him once he was back outside. Eliza pulled him into a tight, starry-eyed hug, while Toma began imitating some of the attacks he’d thrown once he’d gotten hold of Kristoff.

“That left hook!” cried Toma. “Bam, right in the jaw. You’re teaching me that, Lee, got it?”

“You did so well,” said Eliza. “I should have trusted that you had a plan. Lee… I’m so proud of you!”

“Thanks,” he said. “I couldn’t have done it alone.”

He looked past his friends, over toward where Tess was amusing herself by repeatedly flicking the tail of one of Mattis’s bonded squirrels to make it spin in circles. She looked up at Lee and gave a small, knowing smile, flashing dimples that felt like they were just for him.

“Feel free to use the casting lanes and the dueling chambers as you please,” said Mattis, as she addressed the class. “You’re dismissed for today.”

Lee shot one last look over at the other initiates as Toma and Eliza began leading him off toward the dorms. Kristoff was sitting with his back against the dueling chamber’s outer wall, rubbing blood from his lip with a handkerchief. His friends were still around him, but whatever questions they were asking only received angry, emotional outbursts as answers.

“I doubt Kristoff is going to stop giving us shit,” said Lee. “I might have just made things worse for us.”

“Don’t look at it that way,” said Toma. “If he keeps being such a bully, you can always just challenge him to another duel now.”

Lee nodded, though he had a suspicion that the only way he’d win was if he came up with another trick, something that didn’t just rely on the element of surprise.

“Anyway,” continued Toma, “this calls for a celebration! Who’s down to head into Gillum for the night? The mages and adepts have started their studies now, so the Frostfire Tavern won’t be as busy as it was earlier in the semester.”

“Sounds good,” said Lee.

He still had an arm around Eliza, and he felt her draw away from him slightly.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m a little nervous after what happened last time. Can one of you make sure that I... don’t have too much to drink again?”

“Of course,” said Lee. “That’s what friends are for.”

He felt bad for her as he considered how terrible the outcome of her last trip into town had been. She’d been one of the popular girls, friends with everyone, and then after “drinking too much” she’d basically been exiled into the realm of the outcasts. A selfish part of Lee liked the fact that he and Toma had her for company, but the part of him that remembered his job of a mystic felt awful for not managing to resolve the situation when he’d first seen her being possessed in the bathroom.

The threat was still out there, and it was still his responsibility to handle it. Lee’s right hand drifted down to the

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