Page 82 of An Arcane Education
I sigh, rubbing my temples as I consider it. I’m not even sure if the stories about the missing students are true. I shouldn’t be connecting dots that might not even exist.
For the rest of the afternoon, I attempt to nap, but every time I close my eyes, I’m met with the image of Mitchell’s waxy face and the black mushrooms pushing through his skin, the mycelium capturing him as if it was ready to drag him below the ground.
God, AJ is going to be devastated when he finds out.
I only leave the infirmary once most of the classes on campus have ended for the day, and I head straight back to my dorm where Max sits on her bed reading.
“Are you okay?” She asks, like I knew she would.
“No,” I answer numbly, “but I can’t talk about it right now. I just need some space.”
Her expression is conflicted, but she nods. “Okay. Well, I’m here if you need me.”
“Thank you.” I collapse onto my bed, curl up beneath the blankets, and spend the rest of the night tossing and turning until the gray light of dawn illuminates the room.
Thirty-six hours to go.
CHAPTER 34
On Tuesday, AJ doesn’t have any of his usual quips about Alaric’s disheveled appearance or lack of focus. Instead, he slumps in his chair beside me, staring blankly at an empty page of his notebook. I don’t know who’s in a worse state—me, him, or Alaric.
AJ’s distraught over his missing brother.
Alaric’s insistent on keeping secrets.
And I’m caught in the middle, losing my mind over all of it.
The weight of the knowledge that Mitchell’s cold, dead body is being consumed by mushrooms in the woods crushes my chest, making it hard to breathe. The guilt is eating me alive.
Tomorrow, Alaric will have to go to the administration and tell them about Mitchell. I should feel relief at that, but all I can think about is how I’ve been complicit in hiding something so tragic.
We’re halfway through class when the door opens. Chancellor Aldrich steps into the classroom, and theenergy in the room shifts immediately. The students sit up straighter, and Alaric pauses his lecture, cocking his head to the side with a furrowed brow.
“Please continue,” the Chancellor says. She’s dressed in her usual severe style, with a black pantsuit and her hair pulled back into a tight bun. “I’m just doing my classroom observations for the semester. Just pretend I’m not here.”
Even as she says it, all of us know that that won’t be possible. Her commanding presence is impossible to ignore, even—or especially—for Alaric, who proceeds with the lesson with tension in his shoulders and white knuckles gripping the podium.
The Chancellor moves slowly around the perimeter of the room, her heels striking against the floor. She pauses occasionally to examine equipment or rifle through the supply cabinets in the back. Students glance back over their shoulders surreptitiously, clearly distracted by her presence.
Alaric’s jaw tightens as she circles back to the front of the room, stopping at his desk in the far corner. When she steps behind it, his posture goes rigid, but his tone only conveys mild irritation when he asks, “Is there something I can help you with?”
She waves him off. “No, no, continue teaching, please.”
“It’s a little difficult to teach when you’re snooping through my personal workspace and distracting my students.”
“I’m the Chancellor of this institution, and it’s my job to ensure that our facilities are being used appropriately.”
She moves to the cabinet behind his desk and tugs onthe handle to discover it’s locked. Instead of moving on, she waves a hand over the lock, muttering an incantation under her breath, and the lock clicks.
Alaric tenses.
Chancellor Aldrich opens the cabinet with a satisfied smirk, reaches in, and takes hold of something. When she pulls it out, my heart stops.
“What’s this?” She asks, holding up a small container of dirt where black mushrooms just like the ones from the forest are growing.
“Research,” Alaric snaps.
“Shouldn’t these be in the greenhouse?” She asks. “It seems strange to have a live specimen sitting in a locked cabinet, Dr. Vale.”
