“Water, Fire, Air, and Earth,” I realized with a bristle of excitement. “And these panels must be the fifth element: Magic itself.”
Genie’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, this is so going to be your forte.”
“It’s a universal language, so anyone can use it.” I jotted my theories down and picked up the box. I felt for those hair-thin indents in the metal that Hosseini had used. Curious, I copied what he’d done, and the images instantly twisted into warped versions of each panel: a sliver of a serpent in the middle of a phoenix, and the back end of a rock golem taking the place of a Caladrius’s head. “That must be how you get the box to lock. The lid opens when you line up the patterns, and you stop the monster escaping by twisting the box out of sync.”
Genie peered over my shoulder for a better look. “What about that harp thing Hosseini showed me?”
“It must let the monster in and out again, manually,” I replied.
Naomi scurried over and paused at our bench. “You certainly have a talent for this, Persie. You’re absolutely right!” She grinned so wide that it felt like a pat on the back. “Once a monster has been captured, the interior hexwork memorizes the unique signature of the beast inside. That means it can be released at the touch of that harp and drawn back in again with a second touch. Twisting the box is the only way to ensure everything is fully locked in. Then, once a new monster is caught, it forgets the old signature and remembers the new one. Nifty stuff! I wish I’d invented it.”
“I’m sure your Omnisphere will replace these, one day,” I replied. I felt compelled to give her a compliment since she’d given me my first compliment at the Institute.
She waved a hand at me. “Ah, who knows. One can hope! If I made the sort of money that the inventor of these boxes makes, I’d buy an island somewhere and—”
I never found out what she’d have done on that island. The lab door burst open and Victoria Jules stormed in with a tempestuous look on her face. A four-strong squadron of hunters flanked her, as well as Hosseini and Nathan.
“First years, apologies for the intrusion.” She swept a hand through her stylishly short crop. “This is highly unorthodox, and I resent disruption to the Institute’s routine, but classes are suspended until further notice.”
Colette Requin, a stern-faced French-Canadian, raised her hand. “Why, Ms. Jules?”
No… Don’t do this now. I was coming to you, I swear! My heart turned somersaults, and Genie grabbed my hand under the workbench. She clearly thought the same thing—we’d left it too long, and now the secret was out. Victoria had discovered the pixie situation before I could tell her, and she was putting the whole Institute on lockdown until they could all be found. Judging by the grim expression on her face, I was about to be in major-league-trouble.
“I was getting to that,” Victoria replied with uncharacteristic snappishness. “It has come to our attention that a member of the senior class, Xanthippe Evershot, has been missing since last night. She attended the film screening in the banquet hall, left when it dispersed, and has not been seen since.”
“Isn’t that Charlotte Basani’s friend?” The other Ponytail, Gem Phillips, nudged her hair twin.
Suranne nodded, lowering her voice, but not so low that I couldn’t hear the gist. “She’s the one who said all those things to little Miss Atlantis.”
Genie paled as she heard that last part. “Crap…” She turned to me with worried eyes. “They’re going to think it was me, aren’t they? They’re going to start pointing fingers. I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with it. I was mopping up. I—”
“I know,” I interjected, understanding her anxiety. Genie would never put anyone in harm’s way, no matter how much they antagonized her. It wasn’t in her nature. But she was right—people would want someone to blame, and she’d be their first port of call. If they tried it, though, I’d be right there at her side, backing her up. She had alibis, including Charlotte, and those were watertight. Still, there was a tiny silver lining in this awful news—at least this wasn’t about pixies. Which meant I might still get my opportunity to come clean.
Victoria gestured toward Nathan. “Show them what has been recovered.”
Huh? Had they found evidence already? Victoria wouldn’t have canceled class if it wasn’t serious, which meant they suspected Xanthippe wasn’t coming back, or that some foul play had gone on. Horror washed over me as I envisioned crime scenes, blood, victim’s clothing, and then fresh horror washed over me as Nathan produced a Mason jar with three pixies inside.
Chaos no… Please, no. My mind and heart were strapped into a rollercoaster of emotions. I’d gone from worrying about my secret being uncovered to worrying about Xanthippe, and now I was back to the pixies again. Victoria would immediately guess I was responsible. But, aside from my fairly glaring part in it, she surely didn’t think the two factors were related—the pixies and the disappearance?
“These unknown creatures were captured early this morning, prowling around the Repository,” Victoria explained, her tone ice cold. “Any information regarding them would be greatly appreciated at this concerning time.”
Was she talking to me? Victoria didn’t look at me when she said it, but Nathan had his eyes firmly fixed in my direction. His expression didn’t give much away, but I caught a hint of furtiveness. Had he told Victoria about my Purge, because he presumed our agreed deadline had passed?
