Concealed (Unbound, Book 4)

Chapter Twenty-Five

After talking for nearly an hour, my eyes began to droop. I said a quick goodbye and crawled under my blankets, hugging Onyx to me as I tried to fall asleep. No matter how well Calin calmed me, it wasn't enough to rid myself of the anger Devland induced, and I knew Mrs. Renaldi was going to chastise me again in the morning.

*****

The week passed in slow motion as I regained my energy again and avoided Devland. I continued with the same routine each day: getting up, having breakfast with Calin, going to school, and ensuring I was anywhere but the Manor until long after supper had ended.

Twice, I hung out with Luna at Celestial Java after studying with Maible for the upcoming finals. I enjoyed going to the clearing with Calin more, though we'd only managed to get away once without Maible tagging along. No matter how appreciative she claimed she was, if we weren't studying, Maible was complaining how she hated that her abilities wouldn't work. On Thursday, I directed the amended shielding spell at her once again to ensure that her efforts hadn't lessened its effects.

By Friday, I was ready to hibernate, and told Calin I was turning my phone off for the weekend.

On Monday, he picked me up and we went to school to write our first exam. After it was completed, we went to the library and studied for the exam held in the afternoon. Time dragged. I wished we could write them back-to-back so that they were done and over with in a day rather than dragging it out for a whole week. With only three written tests to complete, my schedule was scattered.

Two on Monday, one on Wednesday, and the practical for WC-1 on Thursday.

It was laughable that I still had to show up for a placement test.

After the afternoon exam finished on Monday, Calin dropped me off at the Manor and went home to study for his biology exam Tuesday morning. I spent the evening in the library, reading about the history of spells to pass the time and then headed to bed around midnight. He came back after his exam was finished Tuesday and we watched movies for the rest of the day. Since Calin didn't have an exam until the afternoon on Wednesday and mine was in the morning, we didn't meet up.

As soon as I was finished, I drove to the clearing, bringing the Book of Shadows Islene had given me so that I could update it with the spell I'd used to unbind Maible. In addition, I wrote another secret passage about being able to sense people who weren't actively using their abilities, keeping enough room at the bottom to add how to sense someone if you hadn't met them once I learned the secret.

Just before supper, I packed up and stopped at Celestial Java to eat, then went to the Manor and climbed into bed with Onyx at my side once again. I didn't dream and woke up feeling rested, though slightly unsettled. It wasn't that I was going to have to take a placement test. I wasn't comfortable using my abilities just to prove that I could.

I drove myself to school and stopped at my locker to drop off my books, then wandered around the hallways until I couldn't put it off any longer.

I stopped at the tower door and went through the security process, flinching as the pad of my thumb was pricked to confirm my heritage. The heavy door shut behind me and I slowly climbed the stairs to the second secured door. I hadn't been in the tower since I had put Mrs. Hendrey in her place, though the moment I walked in, the familiar hum of magic washed over me and soothed my nerves.

Students in the halls and the teachers manning doors watched as I made my way to Mrs. Hendrey's classroom. I kept my gaze on the floor, counting cracks to avoid meeting anyone's curiosity. When I arrived, she was already there, laughing with students who were passing by. When she saw me, she sobered, and whispered a quick goodbye to stand straight and wait for me to reach her.

"You haven't been to class, Miss Fallyn," she said as I approached.

"Did you really want me here?"

"I—"

"Okay, better question. Did the syllabus change?"

"No." Mrs. Hendrey shook her head.

"Then I don't see why you would want me to come and interrupt class. You said yourself, I didn't know how to be quiet."

"Well, here's to the last time we'll have to endure, hmm?"

"What if I don't get moved up? Then you'll be stuck with me," I said, biting my cheek to keep from laughing as the look on her face almost made it worth failing on purpose.

"Given what you've already proven, that's not possible," she said.

I shrugged and entered the classroom, taking a seat in the desk in the middle of the front row. Looking around, I noticed I was the only one here. I glanced back at Mrs. Hendrey, narrowing my eyes.

"Where is everyone?"

"Oh, WC-1 has already taken their exam."

"What?" I stood back up. "Why was I given the wrong timetable?"

"You weren't." She smiled. "I requested that you be examined separately. For obvious reasons. You understand."

I sighed and crossed my arms. "So, then where's the test?"

Mrs. Hendrey looked out the door and smiled, then at me, moving out of the way as two more people entered.

Devland came in and hovered at the back of the classroom as Mr. Corbin whispered something to Mrs. Hendrey. She nodded and crossed the room to sit at her desk. Mr. Corbin walked over to me and set a booklet down on the desk I'd been sitting at.

Tapping the cover of the booklet, which appeared to hold at least fifty double-sided pages, he said, "This test was created especially for you, Miss Fallyn. You have two hours and then we go to the practice room for practical applications. I suggest you get started."

I looked at each of them, my eyes widening.

The test was only supposed to be three hours long! How was I supposed to write for two hours and then spend who-knew-how-long being tested on what I could do?

"Sit down, Nora," Devland said from the back of the room. "Your time has already begun."

With a sigh, I sat in the chair as Mr. Corbin set a pencil beside the booklet. I grabbed it and broke the seal on the test, flipping through the pages quickly. Thankfully, all but ten questions were formatted as multiple choice. Still, just because I could do more didn't mean that it was fair that I was expected to.