Katarina scoffed. “The rest of us won’t.” She raised her hand. “Miss Norton? Can Dusty be excused? She’s flooding the room with her germs.”
Selene and I exchanged a look, both of us holding back a grin. Who knew Katarina would prove so useful?
Miss Norton sighed. “Yes, of course. Go on down to the infirmary, Dusty.”
I stood up slowly. “Thank you.” I coughed in Katarina’s direction once more before I walked to the front of the room and accepted Miss Norton’s proffered note excusing me from class. As I exited, I caught a glimpse of Eli’s confused stare, and I smiled reassuringly, hoping he would guess I was off to break into Britney’s locker. I didn’t want to think how he would react if he knew Paul was my primary target.
Even with the note, I kept up the sick act as I made my way to the cafeteria building where all the student lockers were located. I checked Britney’s first, keeping an ear out for hall monitors and members of the Will Guard. It was empty, and I guessed the police must’ve cleaned it out in their search for her attacker.
I moved onto Paul’s next. He was using the same locker he had been before. The e-mail Lady Elaine had sent me with his schedule also contained the location of his lockers and his new dorm room. As I slid the moonwort key into the master lock, it vibrated in my hand, the magic in the thing kicking on. A second later the lock clicked, and I swung the metal door open.
Aside from a math textbook and a handful of loose papers lining its bottom, the locker was empty. I sighed. I’d expected as much, but I couldn’t help being disappointed. Especially because this meant I would have to activate plan B.
Ignoring the sick feeling in my stomach, I shut the locker as quietly as I could and then made my way to the Phys Ed building, where Paul had gym first period. I quickened my pace as I spotted the door into the boy’s locker room and the empty hallway before it. If I hesitated, I knew I would chicken out.
A second before I reached it, I heard a door open behind me and a gruff male voice say, “Stop right there.”
I spun around, fear-fueled adrenaline rushing in my ears. Captain Gargrave stood a couple of feet from me, a suspicious scowl on his face. He held his wizard’s staff in one hand pointed at me. It was as long and straight as a broom handle, the top curved downward in a slight hook set around a red stone.
I flapped my arms at him in alarm as a vision of me dangling in the air flashed through my mind. “Whoa! I’m just on my way to”—I held up the balled paper in my hand, the panic-ruined remains of Miss Norton’s note—“the infirmary.”
Gargrave’s thick, bushy eyebrows sank lower on his forehead as he thought it over, the task appearing to be quite an effort. This was the closest we’d been, and I saw he had a slow look about him, as if whatever had squashed his face like that had squashed his brains, too.
“This isn’t the infirmary.”
Less nervous now that he’d lowered his staff, I touched a finger to my chin, and said, “Really?” I took a look around, doing my ditzy routine. Beyond the door marked GYMNASIUM I heard the squeak of sneakers. Sounded like Coach Fritz had his senior class doing laps. I turned back to Gargrave. “I wondered what that smell was.”
Yeah, he wasn’t buying it. “You need to get back to—” Gargrave’s words cut off so abruptly for a second I thought someone had hit him with a silencer jinx.
But then another voice spoke from behind me, this one familiar and as smooth as melted chocolate. “Is there a problem, Captain?”
I glanced over my shoulder, unable to keep from smiling as my eyes alighted on Mr. Deverell. He was dressed in his usual classroom attire of khaki pants and a short-sleeved polo shirt that displayed his tan forearms, but his hair looked wet. He must’ve spent his free period making use of the fancy whirlpool Coach Fritz had obtained for his gladiator team last summer.
I turned back to Gargrave. He seemed to be sizing up Mr. Deverell, as if he wasn’t sure who held more authority in this situation. I took a step nearer to Deverell. My bet was with him.
“She claims to have gotten lost on her way to the infirmary,” said Gargrave.
I coughed into one hand while I held out the other one carrying Miss Norton’s note to Deverell. He took the note, uncrumpled it long enough to read it then returned it to me.
“Well, the sick part is true, regardless,” Deverell said. He motioned toward me. “If you want, Dusty, I can escort you to the infirmary.”
I nodded, feeling flustered on multiple levels now.
“Is that all right with you, Captain?” Deverell arched his eyebrows.
Gargrave grunted and then turned on his heel and strode away, disappearing around a corner.
A smile teased Deverell’s lips as he looked down at me. “He’s not exactly friendly, is he?”
“About as cuddly as a hungry grizzly bear.”
Deverell chuckled. “An apt description.” The smile slid from his face, and his brow furrowed. “So you’re feeling sick?”
“Yeah, a little.” I considered coughing to play it up but decided not to. Deverell looked genuinely concerned for me, and the idea of deceiving him made me want to squirm.
“Not sleeping well, are you?”
I frowned, uncertain if that had been a question or a statement. “No, I’m not, but … how did you know?”
Deverell took a few steps away from me and leaned his back against the wall. He slid both hands into his front pockets. “I sensed it, connected to that image from your dream I saw when I was helping you with the projection cards.”