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“I’ll practice. Mr. Brant wouldn’t put me in if I was in danger.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I take a deep breath. “What do you mean?”

“I’m pretty sure you’re only in the advanced weapons class because the trident picked you. He’s never seen any student get the trident.”

“Nobody’s ever seen someone’s hair change color like that, either. I’m not normal.”

Earwyn passes by and chuckles. “That’s for sure.”

Her dogfish giggle, and the three of them whisper while heading away.

“Ignore them.” Bash shoots them a death glare.

“Already done.”

He rises. “Want to go study in the library?”

I lean closer and whisper in his ear. “I’d rather try to find something on Queen Sirena. Where can I look besides the library? It doesn’t have anything.”

Bash pulls me out into the hall and down to a quiet corridor. “I think the secret fourth-year library has what you need. It’s said to hold all kinds of shrouded information.”

“How are we going to get in?”

He frowns. “That’s the problem—we aren’t fourth-years, in case you forgot.”

I straighten my back. “I live in the dorm’s suite. It’s for fourth-years.”

“Doesn’t mean you’ll get into the library full of hidden information.”

“Can any of the band members get in?”

Bash shakes his head. “Most of us are third-years.” Then his eyes light up. “But that gives me an idea.”

“What?”

“Rudder is in the School of Magic Arts. Maybe he can help us get in.”

I frown. “I don’t want to get him in trouble.”

“He’ll love the challenge. Come on.” Bash pulls my arm, and I follow him to the band’s practice room.

Curiosity burns. I want to know what’s in the secret library—especially if they have anything about Queen Sirena. It seems like if there were any books on her, they’d have to be there, out of the reach of the lower-year students. For some reason, she’s been forgotten or pushed out of public memory. Hopefully, that too will become clear when I find information about her.

Everyone else from the band is already in the practice room. Rudder is rocking out, looking lost in his own world. Once he takes a break, Bash whispers to him. Rudder’s eyes widen.

I hold my breath. Is he willing to help us get into the library?

Bash waves me over. Heart pounding, I join them.

Rudder speaks in a quiet tone, his eyes wide with excitement. “As it turns out, I’ve been working on a cloaking spell for my term project. This would be the perfect way to practice it. I’ve been strictly forbidden from using it to spy on anyone, but nobody said anything about sneaking into the library.”

Worry grips me. “You won’t tell anyone we went in, will you?”

He shakes his head. “Never. This will simply be my personal experiment.”

I bite my lower lip. “You’re sure this’ll work? That we won’t get caught?”