Chapter 16: The Seam in the Spell

Tessa had one goal for the evening: to be the least interesting student in the room. Professor Quill ruined that plan by announcing a class exercise on finding hidden magic.

After last night's boundary inspection, she'd hoped Moonveil might leave Theo alone for a few hours. Instead, the academy had decided to teach everyone how to find secrets.

“Concealment isn't always wrong,” Professor Lysandra Quill said, moving between the desks. “Privacy veils protect conversations. Masking spells hide sensitive objects. Decoys can keep people safe. Your job is to find where each method might fail.”

Great. Her entire disguise depended on people not looking too closely.

For the practical, she cast a simple privacy veil over a folded note. She followed the careful steps expected of a warlock, keeping the spell ordinary enough to earn a passing mark and nothing more. Mirrorroot had changed her body into Theo's male form, not just hidden her appearance. The note was a different kind of magic, and she hoped the lesson stayed focused on it.

“Swiftbow,” Quill called. “Show us what you notice.”

An elven student rose from the front row. Valerius Swiftbow, one of the six heirs, looked as though he had never arrived anywhere with his shirt crooked or his homework unfinished.

Of course he was handsome, too. That seemed unnecessary. He stopped beside a student's desk and studied the spell around a book.

“You've hidden the cover,” he said, “but I can still read the title on the spine.”

A few students laughed. Valerius waited while the student adjusted the spell, then moved to a decoy at the next desk. He found its weakness just as quickly.

He didn't brag or make anyone feel foolish. Tessa had hoped he would. At least then she'd have a reason to dislike him.

Then he stopped at Theo's desk. Her veil still hid the note. At least she'd done that much right. She kept her hands relaxed on the desk.

Valerius examined the spell. His eyes lifted to her face, and for a moment he went still. Tessa waited for him to point out a mistake.

Instead, he turned to the next student and continued the exercise without saying a word. No one else seemed to notice.

Tessa watched him move away. If he'd spotted a mistake in her work, why hadn't he said anything?

By the time Professor Quill dismissed the class, Tessa had given up pretending to study. She'd spent the rest of the lesson watching Valerius Swiftbow, wondering whether he'd noticed something or had simply been rude enough to ignore her work.

Neither possibility was comforting. She couldn't leave without finding out why he'd skipped her. She packed slowly as the other students filed out. Valerius was gathering his notes when she approached his desk.

“You skipped mine.”

He looked up. “You noticed.”

“It's difficult not to notice.”

“That's not what I meant.”

What a helpful answer. Tessa glanced at the empty doorway and lowered her voice.

“Was something wrong with my privacy veil?”

“Not particularly.”

“Then why did you stop?”

Valerius closed his notebook. He took long enough to answer that she began imagining the worst.

“Your transformation,” he said. “It's very good.”

Her stomach tightened. He hadn't been examining the note or the spell hiding it.

“My what?”

“The magic that changed your body.” His voice stayed quiet. “I can see where its layers meet.”

Tessa resisted the urge to look at her hands. Theo's hands were real. So was the rest of his body, until Mirrorroot released at midnight. Morgana had made certain of that.

“People change their appearance with magic all the time,” she said.

“They do. Most transformations aren't this carefully made.”

Was that supposed to be a compliment? Morvath had questioned how Theo cast spells. Valerius was questioning why Theo looked like Theo at all.

“How much can you see?”

“Less than you're afraid of, judging by that question.”

She hated that he'd heard the fear in her voice.

“Try answering it anyway.”

Valerius considered her for a moment. “I can tell magic has changed your body. I see several layers and traces of older magic beneath them. I can't tell what you looked like before.”

He didn't know who she was, then. At least, she hoped he didn't.

“And you're telling me this because?”

“Because you asked.”

“Are you going to tell Professor Quill?”

“If I thought your magic was putting someone in danger, I would.”

“That wasn't my question.”

“Then no. I haven't seen any sign of harm.” He slid his notebook into his bag. “Your private magic is your business until it becomes someone else's danger.”

He said it as though the matter were simple. Perhaps it was for someone who had never needed a false name to enter a classroom.

“That's very generous of you.”

“It isn't generosity, Monroe. It's a distinction.”

Tessa didn't thank him. She wasn't ready to trust him, either. But he could have exposed her in front of the entire class, and he'd chosen not to.

That should have made her feel safer. Instead, as she headed for the door, she wondered what might make him choose differently.

Tessa was still thinking about what Valerius had discovered when she spotted Zoran near the stairwell, reading a Veilwatch report on his phone. She considered walking past, but he looked up.

“You survived Quill's class,” he said.

“Barely. She expects us to find flaws in things people worked very hard to hide.”

“That is generally the point.”

Unfortunately, he was right. She didn't need another lesson today.

He put his phone away. “What were you and Swiftbow talking about?”

“He skipped checking my spell during class. I went to ask him why.”

“Did you find out?”

“Not as much as I wanted.”

“That sounds frustrating.”

“Thank you. Finally, someone understands.”

“I didn't say you were right.”

Tessa smiled despite herself. She liked talking to Zoran when he was teasing her. It made it easier to forget how many things she couldn't tell him.

“Was it something serious?” he asked.

Her smile faded. Valerius hadn't found a mistake in her schoolwork. He'd discovered that Theo's body had been changed by magic. If she told Zoran, he'd want to know why she'd hidden it.

“No,” she said.

“All right,” Zoran replied.

He didn't press. Maybe he believed her. Or maybe he'd noticed her hesitation and decided not to ask. She wasn't sure which bothered her more.

“I need to submit this,” he said, lifting his phone. “See you, Monroe.”

“Try not to miss me.”

“I'll do my best.”

She watched him disappear down the stairs. She'd wanted the questions to stop, so why was she disappointed when he left? Before she could walk away, she heard footsteps behind her.

“Monroe.”

Valerius had left the classroom and was walking toward her. He stopped a few steps away. Tessa faced him. What else did he want?

“I chose not to say anything in class,” Valerius said quietly. “If someone else notices what I saw, they might not do the same.”