Finally, Syd walked out of his office with the last of the guys and nodded for me to join him. I pushed out of the chair and brushed hands with Leo as I passed him. It was all we needed, a little human contact to keep us sane.
“I’d tell you all to go back to your dorms and get some sleep, but I have a feeling none of you will leave until you all leave. You five definitely have this all-for-one-and-one-for-all thing going.” Syd removed his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt.
Brooks had already left. Apparently, the threat of Bryan going dark had passed. Or maybe it was the way Rose glared at him that made him leave. Either way, I didn’t mind the Hulk disappearing.
Stace, however, remained at the entrance to the waiting room. I’d caught her watching my mom on several occasions. Then again, I’d caught my mom doing the same to the professor. Something was going on between them, something tense and awkward, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the two most important women in my life at odds with each other.
I paused at the door leading into the other room and regarded my mom. “Did you want to come in with me?” It felt weird asking my mom to join me in the doctor’s office, but I put it out there anyway. Rose wouldn’t leave Bryan’s side, so I figured, just maybe…
“I’m good. You go ahead.” She pulled out her phone.
Steeling myself against the deflating disappointment that she’d once again chosen her phone over me, I stepped into the room without looking back.
Syd closed the door behind me and had me follow him through a door on the opposite side of the small office. Now this room was more what I expected to find in a doctor’s office. An examination table with crinkly paper across the top. A black stool on rollers. A sink where he now washed his hands.
“Have a seat on the table, if you would.”
“That’s not necessary. I’m fine.”
He glanced over his shoulder, then eyed the table. With a long-drawn-out sigh, I hopped up on the table, settling quickly so the noisy paper would stop crackling. “Do your worst, Doc.”
“Show me your hand.”
The request was so abrupt, it surprised me. And annoyed me. I knew why he asked, considering this past week and the fact I’d nearly killed multiple people thanks to the dark element Spencer inserted into me by accident when he’d failed to bind my powers. The gash in my palm had disappeared and left no scar, but the yellow glow that pulsed right below the surface reminded me that I had an extra element bouncing around inside me now thanks to Spencer’s botched spell. Joke was on him. Instead of it binding my powers, the incantation backfired and magically enhanced me by giving me the ability to call the darkest of all elements—darkness itself. Luckily, the glow only appeared when I was confronted by something dark.
Syd examined my hand, adjusting his glasses and leaning in. Finally, he straightened and released my wrist. “Looks like the cut didn’t reappear.”
“I would have told you if it had.” I rubbed my palm with the thumb of my opposite hand. “Like I said, I’m fine. How are the guys?”
“Rob’s got a nasty cut that’ll probably scar. The lump on Leo’s head should heal just fine without any noticeable mark. He’s got a bit of a fever we should watch since he’s a water elemental and fevers could be a sign of something else. Clay is fine. Bryan, however…”
“What?” Panic laced my tone. What was wrong with my earth elemental?
“He’s completely unscathed. I don’t understand.”
I released the breath I’d sucked in. “Why’s that weird? What’s not to understand? That’s a good thing.”
“No, I mean… He’s not affected by what happened. At all. Not even a shudder over being stuck in the void for hours. I’ve treated others who’d come back, and they’d been quite shaken.”
“My mom’s spell worked well, then.”
“Maybe too well.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, didn’t like that Syd too seemed to be challenging the great thing she did. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Rose asked him to describe what happened in detail. He couldn’t.”
“He couldn’t? Or he wouldn’t? Because he described it to us in pretty good detail.”
“That’s just it. He said he couldn’t remember, like it never happened.” He removed his glasses and set them on the counter by the sink before rubbing his eyes. “Between you and me, I’m worried he’s not okay. Not at all.”
And now I was worried about the same thing.
3
I returned to my dorm, fully prepared to introduce Bitch Barbie to my mom. To my extreme glee, Jess wasn’t there. Maybe she’d slept over at Vanessa’s. No doubt her tantrum that had destroyed the main dining hall after discovering Spencer Dalton was a dark leecher (a weak elemental who sucked power from other elementals) and had used an enchantment spell on her to get her to fall in love with him had exhausted her.
Or maybe she was home since the academy allowed the students to stay off-campus on weekends. Either way, she wasn’t here, which was a beautiful thing.
“Welcome to my humble abode.” I waved for my mom to take a look around. “Mi dorma es tu dorma.”
“The dorms don’t look any different from when I was a student.” She glanced around the room, walking slowly before stopping next to Jess’s bed. Even with the muted colors, it was still too gaudy for my taste. The furry throw pillows. The fancy pillowcases with multiple layers of ruffles. It was all a bit much. “Is this your side?”
I closed the door behind me and walked across the room, sat on my plain bed, and leaned back on my hands. “That would be my peachy roomie’s side. She’s a human Barbie doll. It’s very weird.”
“Sounds like the two of you get along
