“What are you doing out of your room?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the Repository doorway, no blushing or messing about. He didn’t even seem to realize he’d touched me. His palms were rougher than I’d imagined. In a nice way.
“All students are supposed to be in lockdown. There are two people missing, Genie! What if you’d been snatched? And… what sort of spell was that? I’ve never seen such a seamless invisibility spell before. Usually, they cast a mirage. Yours didn’t.” He shook his head. “But first, answer the why-you’re-out-of-your-room part!”
“Why do you think?” I smiled at him. “Pixies.”
He groaned. “You and Persie are supposed to be leaving it to the professionals.”
“Like you, you mean?” I cast him a knowing look. “Specterglass isn’t just for spooks, Nathan. It also traces the magical signature of ancient creatures. My dad told me about it, saying that my mom always wanted some to help with the tougher hunts. I’d say pixies fall under that category, wouldn’t you?”
“That’s what I hoped,” he admitted. “But I haven’t found anything other than one milky streak of mist that led nowhere.”
I tutted playfully at him. “Are you sanctioned for pixie hunting?”
“Uh… not exactly.” A warm laugh bubbled up between us. He pulled a puzzle box out of his back pocket. “I might’ve lifted this from Naomi earlier.”
“I didn’t take you for a thief, Nathan. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had some hidden depths.” I took out one of my own puzzle boxes, and he gaped. “But I asked for mine.”
I just couldn’t wipe the pleased grin off my face or take the flirty note out of my voice. He needed to shine that spyglass over me again, because I could’ve sworn I’d been possessed.
Nathan chuckled, his pretty eyes lighting up. “Says you. Where did you learn an invisibility spell like that?” His mouth turned up in a resigned smile. “You saw me almost trip, didn’t you?”
“Not at all.” I gestured to the specterglass. “Just don’t drop that during one of your clumsier moments, okay? All of Atlantis would give up their Elemental abilities for a chunk that big. Oh, and I’d appreciate if you didn’t rat me and Persie out. It’s only fair, since you’re not exactly playing by the rules, either.”
“I won’t,” he promised. “But I have to ask, why are you two so insistent on catching them yourselves?”
I turned the puzzle box over in my hands. “Persie thinks the pixies are the key to solving the disappearances. She’s confident she can ask them where Xanthippe and Randolph are, even if they’ve got nothing to do with it. They’ve been watching the Institute; they might’ve seen something no one else did.”
Randolph Klopp was the second victim. At first, they hadn’t announced the name, but there’d been a second loudspeaker declaration about an hour after the one in the orchard. He was a hunter, four years past his graduation. It had taken a lot of people by surprise; he was apparently known for being tough as nails and a bit of a hard-ass. The fact that he’d been swiped made people ten times more nervous—and bolstered our theory that the pixies weren’t responsible. It would’ve taken a huge amount of strength to abduct someone like him, which had put folks firmly into panic mode.
As far as magical involvement went, if it was someone in the Institute, they’d have to have seriously powerful Telekinesis to drag a dude like that away without making a scene. The antsier people got, the more that panic would rise. And folks were already freaked. Not that anyone would be able to leave out of fear. Lockdown meant lockdown. Doors closed, exits forbidden, until this got solved. Some students had already improvised, barricading themselves into their rooms while everyone else was on hunting duty.
“That’s actually a very intriguing idea.” Nathan rubbed his faintly stubbled chin. “Persie did appear to have a limited rapport with the one she caught.”
I eyed him curiously. “How about you? Why are you tracking them alone?”
“Ah, well… I know the hunting protocols in cases like this. Chances are, I won’t get to see a single pixie before they’re shipped off to the Bestiary. Any that are kept for research will be wired up to machines, and I’m not fond of that approach.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I’d prefer to study them in a more natural setting, and… well, I’d like to protect them as much as I can, which I won’t be able to do if I leave it to the hunters.”
I smiled at him. “You don’t think they did this, do you?”
“I… well, it’s not as simple as… It’s rather more… The thing is...” He struggled for the right words. “Essentially, there’s not enough evidence of their behavior to know for sure, but I haven’t read anything to suggest they’re cruel or dangerous. I said as much to Victoria, but she’s convinced it’s too timely not to be the right answer. And I could be wrong, so I didn’t try to force it.”
I nodded my understanding. “Doesn’t she think monsters have the ability to be good? Most of the ones I’ve met get a bit fierce, but I think that’s how any animal would respond if they felt threatened.” My mind fixed on Tobe and Iso. “And then there’s the Beast Master and Beast Mistress, who’ve got hearts of gold. They’ve got souls, for sure.”
“Beast Mistress?” Nathan looked stumped.
“Her name’s Iso. She runs the Atlantis Bestiary. She showed me around when I was little, cuddled me right up into her furry arms and let me ride on her back.” I grinned at the memory. “If magicals can create Purge beasts like them, then it stands to reason that the other varieties are cut from similar cloth, right? They might not be able to speak and drink tea, but they can’t be totally different
