"...most commonly used in Darken Draught," Professor Esula droned on, "and Potion of Focused Atonia."
Suppressing a shudder, I focused on the beautifully detailed drawing of the heart-shaped leaf on the board. Funny how such an inconspicuous little thing could induce sleep paralysis. Then again, these pitch-black leaves crowned the most impressive trees in all of the realms. After seeing a picture of the ancient Ardu trees when I'd barely been old enough to understand that Earth was but one realm, it had been a dream of mine to take a walk amongst the red-barked giants.
Of course, a dream it had stayed with Dad monitoring my portal uses carefully. Maybe one day.
Professor Esula raised a single leaf and pointed at the tip with her perfectly manicured index finger, the fire engine red contrasting the deep black of the foliage. "Don't forget to include the vein running through the middle. It's nearly invisible, but it's there."
Frowning, I turned back to my paper. Art had never been my strong suit, but this sad excuse of a drawing was terribly even for my standards. Even the stem, which was supposed to be slightly curved, resembled a crooked broomstick at best.
In my defense, focusing on herbology was next to impossible. Not because the magical properties of ardu leaves were quite complex and still very much a mystery to even the most knowledgeable herbologists out there, but rather due to the unsettling prospect that my lovely roomies had sent their last roommate to the demon realm. Well, that and that I was stuck living with them.
Student services had proved once again that they were even less helpful than an umbrella in a hurricane. Not only was there no other available dorm according to them, but they couldn't even tell me what had happened to the previous inhabitant of Room 337. When I'd asked for a name, the fae manning the desk had frowned at her screen and muttered something about confidential information. Very reassuring that was.
Maybe Ri wasn't responsible after all. Sure, she'd wanted me out, but she didn't want me dead, did she? Besides, she didn't have that kind of influence, not in the supernatural division. That meant someone else, someone much more powerful, had not only separated me from my kind but put me in a room with a supernatural who wanted me gone. Permanently.
Or maybe said supernatural had just bribed the right person and I was overthinking this whole thing.
At this point, anything was possible, because—yay me—I was still at square one. Until I figured out a way to access the filing system that wouldn't get me kicked out, I had two other direct leads to follow. Soporis and the manipulated portal. Since the only students authorized to enter the portal room during the semester were those who were related to an ambassador like me, royalty, or had some sort of special permission, it should be fairly easy to determine which one of my roomies that applied to.
Following the soporis' trail would be harder. Apart from a few select teachers, nobody was supposed to have access to the school's supply, and there was no way to track whether someone had smuggled any in. But maybe I didn't need to know that. Soporis had to be handled with care, which meant that whoever had put it on my jacket knew how to avoid being poisoned themselves, meaning they'd done their research.
Was there a more perfect place to start my investigation than the library?
Or not, because, apparently, the library suffered from a sudden shortage of literature on soporis. All I could get my hands on was a worn copy of Advanced Poisons and an even shabbier-looking textbook on black risolis flowers. I didn't have high hopes for the latter, but since soporis was obtained from the flower's pollen, it couldn't hurt to check it out.
But first...
I waited for the librarian to scold a group of loud students in the crystallography section and ducked behind the filing cabinet. Having helped out here during my first semester, I knew exactly where to find the records. It took me a second to sift through countless cards—despite everyone switching over to computer registers, our trusty librarian Leyn was and always would be old-fashioned—but eventually, my eyes landed on a short list of very interesting book titles.
Unfortunately for me, someone had clearly fooled Leyn because there was no name on the card. Just my luck. Grinding my teeth, I stuffed it back into the drawer, straightened up, and found myself staring right into Leyn's piercing silver eyes.
So much for sneaking past her. Then again, they didn't call her Hawk Eyes for no reason.
"You don't work here anymore," she remarked, one graying eyebrow slowly ascending until it disappeared beneath her dyed maroon bangs.
"You're understaffed," I said, nodding at the empty counter.
Her eyes zeroed in on the two books I'd brought, but she didn't look convinced. "What are you really doing here?"
Why couldn't she be like Professor Esula? I'd slipped in and out of that classroom multiple times in one session without her noticing.
"I... I'm looking for a book," I sighed. "Figured I could just check for myself without, uh, you know, bothering you."
She scowled—a truly frightening sight—and stalked past me. With one pale hand on the top drawer of the filing cabinet, she grumbled, "What book?"
"Soporis and Sanity."
Before I could blink, she spun around and pointed her bony index finger right in my face. "You know who took it?" she snarled.
"W-wait a minute," I stammered, stumbling back a step. "What are you talking about?"
"Somebody"—Leyn lowered her finger and her voice—"came in here last week and stole my only copy. Took a couple others too."
Bingo. Leyn never forgot a face, so she hadn't seen who it was, but it meant I was on the right track.
"When I get my hands on them, they're gonna wish they never set foot into my library," she continued, absentmindedly reaching for a blank card. Her frail figure might fool anyone at first glance, but beneath that weathered exterior slumbered a gigantic cursorial owl. Seeing her shift once to chase down a freshman who'd dog-eared a first edition was enough to give me nightmares for a week.
Speaking of nightmares, there was still the free-roaming vynari. While that was ninety-nine percent a coincidence since not even an ambassador, let alone a student, had the power to command one of those, it couldn't hurt to do a little digging. There had to be some kind of explanation for its presence. Thanks to Clarence, I hadn't been able to sneakily ask Dad like I'd planned, but maybe I didn't have to.
"I'll be back," I told Leyn.
If I didn't know for a fact that her hearing was even better than her eyesight, I would have thought she was lost in her own head, but no, she just chose to ignore me. Glaring at her scribbles, she muttered, "Nobody steals from me."
Yup, now would be a great time to give her some space.
The biology section was divided by realms, which made finding anything on the flora and fauna of Infernis particularly easy as there was barely any. Half of a bookshelf was dedicated to both, that was it. Unlucky for me, fauna was on the top shelf and no amount of jumping got me close enough to reach it.
Just as I considered climbing the damn thing, a tall shadow fell over me.
"Need some help?" a calm, deep voice asked.
Standing between the sunlit, spacious seating area and me, Kenas looked even more intimidating. His golden eyes were almost amber now, but his posture was friendly.
Talk about timing.
I stepped back. "Sure."
In two quick strides, he was at the shelf with one hand raised. The tips of his index and middle finger grazed one book spine after another. "Which one?"
"The small gray one."
"Vynari, huh?" he asked, studying the large black and white sketch on the cover as he held the book out to me. "I thought alchemy was your thing?"
"Thanks." I placed it on the table behind me. "This is...just for some extra credit."
Extra credit? Really? That was the best I could come up with?
Fortunately, Kenas seemed to buy it. With a half-shrug and a smile, he said, "We studied them last semester, just briefly though. They're pretty cool...from a distance."
"You're a biology major?"
He nodded. "Yup, almost done." Rubbing the back of his neck, he added, "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why are you staying?"
Guess I should have expected that question.
"I live there now," I said, shrugging. Remembering the way his eyes had widened hours ago, I countered, "Why? Does that surprise you?"
"Well, yes." He tilted his head to the side. "You clearly don't like us."
"I don't know you—which now that I'm saying it out loud actually makes me sound like an idiot."
"Fair." The corners of his lips twitched. "Okay, what do you wanna know?"
"So, you're a bio major... What about the others?"
"Jaydis is doing alchemy, just like you." There was an amused twinkle in his eyes. So, Jaydis had told him about my little slip-up. "And Haze is, uh, in between majors."
Interesting. Speaking of Haze...
"What kind of a demon is he anyway?" I asked.
Kenas full-on grinned. "I'm surprised you haven't guessed by now. Who do you think leaves all that random shit all over the place?"
Of course.
"Sloth..." I mumbled, nodding. "That makes total sense."
"You saw how pissed he was just cause he had to put on actual clothes with you moving in." He threw his head back and laughed. "Honestly, I'm glad. You don't wanna know how many times that towel slipped..."
The towel had been hanging pretty low on his hips the first time I saw him...
I shook my head. "What about Syn?"
"Portal science and crystallography. The guy's a freaking genius."
Huh. Guess who just catapulted himself right back to the top of my suspect list.
A little research had somehow turned into a lot, and before I knew it, it was dark outside and Leyn started herding everyone—thankfully in her human form—toward the exit. She would have to forgive me for placing All about Vynari on the cart instead of the shelf just this once. The damn thing had only confirmed what I already knew—no student could have released that oversized guard dog and I was wasting my time.
I was about to stuff the other two books into my backpack when a brief flash outside caught my eye. With the library being on the third floor, I had a spectacular view of the entire courtyard, and it only took me a second to recognize the figure speed-walking toward the woods as Syn. Clutched tightly in his hand were two distinctly iridescent glowing twin crystals.
Judging by the way he kept glancing over his shoulder, he did not want to be followed. Naturally, that's exactly what I'd try to do. Unfortunately, by the time I bounded down two flights of stairs and out the main door, he was gone.