Page 4 of The Wolf Prince

Ask Aggie.

School dances?

Aggie loves dances!

Fact: I do love dancing.

Also, fact: I don't love spending four hours preventing hormonal teenage Witches and Shifters from sneaking behind the gym to do it horizontally.

Still, got a weekend excursion? Professor Daniels would be delighted.

No, actually, I wouldn’t be.

Professor Daniels would like to spend Saturday morning in her pajamas drinking coffee and reading a trashy romance novel.

But does Professor Daniels say that?

Of course not.

She smiles and says, “Sure. I'd be happy to.”

Then she goes home and complains to Dora about it.

It's a system.

Not a particularly good one.

But it's mine.

Which brings us to tonight.

Back to School Night.

I should be inside the Academy right now.

I should be standing in my classroom explaining to parents that Alchemy is a respected magical discipline and assuring them that, yes, their children are perfectly safe in my care.

Mostly safe.

Instead, I'm walking behind the gymnasium in heels that were definitely designed for looking cute and not trekking across damp grass.

Why? Because two of our senior students have disappeared.

Of course, they have.

Randall and Evangeline volunteered to serve as student ambassadors tonight.

Well.

“Volunteered” might be stretching things.

They were assigned to stand near the side entrance, greet parents, hold open doors, and generally demonstrate that the Royal Academy for Magical Advancement produces polite, responsible young Witches and Warlocks.

It was not a complicated assignment.

Stand.

Smile.