“What is it with the two of you?” she barked. I wouldn’t get a trophy for guessing who the other half of that duo was.
But I didn’t have to pretend innocence. “Is something wrong?”
“Like she hasn’t already told you.” Charlotte folded her arms across her chest. “I just spent the last two hours mopping up the banquet hall. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted to spend my evening.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know anything about it. I haven’t seen Genie since dinner.”
Charlotte eyed me, clearly debating whether or not to believe me. “You shouldn’t be out at this hour.”
“It’s not even ten yet,” I replied, keeping my calm. “I didn’t realize we had early curfews here.”
Her small frown told me I’d called her bluff.
“I was trying to be nice,” she said, though her expression remained indecipherable. “Hosseini goes hard on his students, and you’ll be a wreck tomorrow if you don’t get a decent night’s sleep. When you do badly in a class, it reflects badly on the whole Institute. So, like I said, best not to be out at this hour.”
“No problem. I just wanted to make a snack first, but I guess I can go without.” I smiled sweetly, though I had no intention of following her orders. She might have been a big shot in this Institute, and I respected the work she did and the success she’d achieved, but nothing was going to keep me from catching those pixies. Her warning just meant I’d have to be particularly vigilant to avoid another unwanted run-in tonight.
As Charlotte walked away, I hurried toward the dorms, wondering what had happened between Charlotte and Genie. I remembered what Charlotte had said to me at the orientation tour: I don’t like cleaning up messes. The irony was... entertaining, to say the least. Still, I wondered what lurked beneath her cold exterior.
I turned down my corridor, still hunter-less, when a light caught my attention. Not the glint of pixie scales or the flutter of wings, but a fuzzy glow that I knew all too well: the orbs from earlier.
You don’t look like decorations to me. I squinted at the lights as they danced along the wall ahead, tempting me to follow their pastel trails. Figuring I was headed in that direction anyway, I set off after the glowing orbs.
They bobbed and floated through the air, seemingly pausing at every corner so I wouldn’t lose them. A shiver of unease bristled in my chest, but I didn’t know if it stemmed from the missing pixies, the reappearance of the orbs, or the residual fatigue of my Purge. It was probably a mix of all three.
Where are we going, huh? I took a left when the orb went left, and almost cried out. A pixie darted up ahead, transfixed by the fiery purple center of the glowing Pied Piper. It was the first one I’d seen since leaving the Repository, and just when my hopes had begun to wane. With renewed determination, I raced down the hallway toward the pixie, ready to leap onto the pest if I had to. Veering down the right-hand corridor at the end of the hallway and sprinting full-on, I could almost feel the pixie in my grasp. Then something, or someone, crashed into my chest, and I sailed backward, the air rushing out of my lungs as I slammed into the ground.
No, no, no, no, no! Wheezing slightly, I struggled to my feet as quickly as I could, but it was no good. The glowing lights and the pixie had gone. Dusting off the back of my pants, I sought out the culprit.
It was Genie, who, like me, had been knocked down by our collision.
“Genie! Chaos, I’m so sorry, I didn’t even see you.” I hurried to help her up.
“Yeah, I figured that after I went flying.” She offered a crooked smile and rubbed her chest. “But I think I’ll live. Just a few cracked ribs, a deflated lung, and a severely wounded ego. How about you? You okay?”
I took a deep breath. “Not exactly.” Talking a mile a minute, I explained everything that had happened since we’d parted ways at dinner. She listened intently, her eyes widening with every twist and turn of the tale. “So, as you can probably tell, I’ve got to catch the suckers before they wreck anyone else’s rooms… or worse. I’ve done it once, I can do it again, but I could use an extra set of eyes and ears.”
Genie gave a low whistle. “And I thought I had a bad evening.”
“I just saw Charlotte,” I said leadingly. I knew that Genie, not unlike the pixies, only attacked if provoked. And I had to wonder what Charlotte had done to piss off my friend. The pixies could wait a few more minutes—Genie was always there for me, and I wanted to repay the favor.
She chuckled grimly. “You heard about it, then?”
“Only that Charlotte got punished. What happened?”
“She wasn’t exactly punished. She actually stuck up for me. A little.” Her eyes glinted with pain as she began the rest of the story. Genie was tough, and there weren’t many things that could make her hurt like that. “It was a bunch of bigots and assholes,” she continued, “and their archaic beliefs about Atlanteans. Which my dad warned me about, and which ended with me dousing everyone in water… and a bit of hot chocolate. Anyway, it’s over now, and Hosseini sent everyone away to ‘think about what they did,’ so things should be quiet for a while. Anyway, he asked Charlotte to mop up, and I helped. I think she thought it was unfair because she was the only one who stuck up for me.” She gave a tired shrug, but I sensed
