“It’s very urgent and will only take a moment of your time.” She wasn’t going to leave me alone until I went with her, that I could see. I looked down at my hand that was bleeding through the cloth I had hurriedly wrapped it in.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll be right there, go on without me,” I told Willa. She didn’t move. I just shook my head, and she shrugged before heading to the healing wing. I followed Mrs. Winnifred instead.
We bypassed the usual conference room and actually went to the headmistress’s office. The conversation inside the room stopped as Mrs. Winnifred opened the door and announced my presence. My dad was there, like I suspected. The headmistress too. Tension filled the room. I walked inside and noticed Chief Winston was sitting at the conference table. What did the head Upholder want with me?
As I entered, I remembered how I must look. My hair was a mess and had fallen out of the tight braid I’d had it in that morning. My outfit was bloodstained and wrinkled beyond repair, and my tights were ripped in multiple places. I couldn’t help but consider what these respected professionals much think to see me in such a state.
“Sophie! What happened?” My dad was taking stock of me from top to bottom. I was touched by the concern I saw in his eyes. As he and Headmistress Adiana ushered me to a chair, I related the major points of what had occurred during shifting class. I was too tired to offer more than a brief summary. Someone pushed a glass of water into my good hand. I drained it in one gulp. While I’d been talking, Dad had wrapped a bandage around my hand without me even noticing.
“That’s my girl! You show them who’s boss.” I smiled awkwardly. It was still weird for me to get so much of Dad’s attention. He never bragged on me like this, especially in front of other people.
“I knew those protective instincts would kick in sooner or later. You forced your whole class to change back into human form?”
“Yeah, accidentally.”
“That’s impressive, my girl. That takes an immense amount of power. It’s something I’ve never done before.”
“It was the only thing I could think of.”
“Show’s you’ve got good instincts, like your old man,” Chief Winston said. He had remained quiet while I was telling the story. “It sounds like Animage Academy is still the wild and exciting place it was when I was here.”
“You know having all these new animages around makes the magic and the shifting volatile here, Harold.” Headmistress Adiana pointed out. “I’ll leave you all too it, I must go and check on my students.”
Harold? Chief Winston was one of my father’s best friends, but even he didn’t refer to the head Upholder as Harold. This was weird. After she left Chief Winston turned his attention to me.
“Sophie, you may be wondering what I’m doing here today,” Chief Winston said.
“Little bit.”
“The Upholders need your help.” I barely stopped myself from scoffing. The Upholders, the most elite supernatural fighting and law enforcement group in the world needed my help? Not likely. This was getting weirder by the second. My incredulity must have shown on my face because the chief smiled.
“Upholders aren’t omniscient, you know. We are willing to take help wherever we can get it.”
“What can I help you with?”
“How much do you know about your friend Willa’s mom?” I stiffened. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like this line of questioning.
“Not a lot,” I admitted.
“That makes sense. I’m sure Willa doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“Talk about what?”
“Well, a few years ago Willa’s mom had a terrible accident. She was playing with a power she didn’t understand and it well—addled her brain to a certain extent. As you know, we can’t have unstable witches running around that might expose us to the humans. Willa and her mother have been on the run, hiding from the Upholders for years. Your father mentioned Simon is a skilled Finder? Well, Willa is what we like to call a Hider. She’s quite skilled in concealment and illusion spells. Maybe she’ll consider joining the force after graduation.
“We were able to track Willa and—uh—convince her to come to Animage Academy after she was revealed. Her mother, however, is still eluding us.”
“Is Willa in trouble?”
“No, no. And her mother is not in trouble either, we just need to find her to get her somewhere she will be safe. Can you help us? Can you find out from Willa where her mother is?”
“You want me to convince Willa to tell you where her mother is?”
“Not exactly. Willa has made it clear she’s not going to help us. What we need from you is to find out from Willa, as her friend, and then let your father know.”
I felt icky, and it had nothing to do with the blood and dirt that covered me.
“I’m not going to betray my friend.” My father tensed up behind me. Chief Winston looked at him and he came around to stare at me.
“Sophie, you have a responsibility to help the Upholders with this.” I stood up. The two men crowding me made me feel small.
“I’m not in the mood for a lecture about responsibility, Dad. Betraying my friend and doing the Upholder’s job for them is not my responsibility. Has Willa’s mom hurt anyone? Is she dangerous?”
“Not physically,” Chief Winston admitted. “She’s never hurt anyone, supernatural or human. But she’s volatile, and she needs to be off the streets. There have already been incidents where she’s been exposed to humans, but we’ve managed to fix those. The more it happens, the less likely it is that we are going to be able to keep control of it.”
“That sounds like your problem, not mine.” I was done being nice.
“Sophie! You will not speak to Chief Winston that way. Apologize to him and tell him you will do what he is asking.”
“No.”
Dad’s face was getting red. I knew
