Nel cursed. She quickly peeked into the Order’s appropriated warehouse headquarters, Sister Cross’ room, and several other key places in town.
Sister Cross was nowhere to be found.
There were few ways to hide from an augur. The little abomination had a building in her prison that Nel couldn’t see into. Whatever stopped her vision there must have been set up by someone else, otherwise she would have done the same to her bedroom and possibly the dorms. She rarely went in and never for long. It was barely a note in her reports.
Sister Cross disappeared all of the time. Always wherever she was. Her method of disappearing wasn’t tied to what were likely wards on a building.
Nel bit her knuckles through her gloves. Even if nothing happened tonight, that would be the necromancer’s doing and no thanks to Sister Cross.
There was a sinking feeling in her stomach as Nel swore again.
She kept searching for Sister Cross.
Botany | The Bar
Irene dug her fingers into the moist soil. The small hole grew as she wiggled her fingers. As smooth and soft as the magically modified dirt was, she could feel it grinding underneath her fingernails.
She had to purchase a fingernail brush for this class alone. Her nails were clipped short and she’d long given up painting them. Other students wore gloves to avoid getting dirt on their hands. Irene’s hands instantly turned into balls of sweat the moment gloves touched her.
Her hand snapped back to her chest. Something wiggled underneath the dirt.
Someone noticed. Of course someone did. It had to be
Eva politely smiled her way. It wasn’t cruel. Eva wasn’t gloating or sneering. Just a polite, almost understanding smile.
Irene returned the smile and turned back to her pot. She didn’t need the black-haired girl’s pity. She didn’t understand how Eva could have noticed her jumping back. The girl didn’t even have eyes.
She shuddered as her hand dug back into the dirt. That was a thing she tried hard to ignore. Everyone else seemed to do that just fine. They all sat at their table at lunch and laughed and talked like nothing was wrong.
No one ever talked about her eyes.
The teachers all ignored it. Other students whispered to themselves. Her group never mentioned it.
Jordan didn’t even have a theory on how she saw. He’d only discussed it with her once, the week after Eva came back to school. He knew how he’d try to see if he lost his eyes, but Eva wasn’t using whatever method that was.
Irene glanced up at the table across from her.
Jordan stood next to Shelby with their backs turned. When Shelby glanced towards Jordan, Irene could see a wide smile on her face. She pointed at something in her clay pot as she nudged Jordan’s arm. He chuckled lightly at whatever she was showing off.
Max said something which all three of them laughed at.
The large pot in front of her blurred slightly as she dug through it. She blinked twice and wiped her eyes. If she was crying, something was seriously wrong. She blinked again.
The blur didn’t go away.
Irene sighed. It was an issue she’d been noticing lately. Distances were fine, things up close tended to blur. Books were getting especially difficult to read.
Not that she had anything to cry about.
Sure, her botany partners might never talk to her. She liked it that way. They didn’t share jokes or bother her with useless social nonsense. The closest they got to talking to her was when Kristina badgered her with questions.
Of course Irene was all too happy to answer.
Arm deep into the pot, Irene’s fingers touched something round and soft within. She froze.
“There you are,” she whispered to herself.
Irene inched her fingers around the dirt so as to not startle the little plant. Slowly her fingers encircled the little ball. She squeezed down and lifted up.
Out of the pot, the little ball of fluff squirmed in her hands. It tried to escape back to the safety of the dirt.
Irene would have no such thing. Digging through once was enough.
It was a soft little ball of pure fluff. As it wiggled in her hands, the dirt fell away into the pot. The little ball turned pure white as the dirt failed to hold onto its fur.
With a smile on her face, Irene dropped the kesaran into a jar and snapped the lid on. It burrowed down into the small amount of dirt. All the white fluff vanished beneath the surface, but a small amount could be seen pressed up against the glass.
Irene brushed off her hands as much as possible into her pot before stepping over to the sink. As hard as she scrubbed, she could still feel dirt beneath her fingernails.
A crash of glass behind her made Irene jump.
