Page 33 of Alchemy of Secrets

The Professor was wearing high-waisted forest-green trousers and a creamy silk blouse with a large elegant bow at the collar. Her earrings were pearls, and there was an ornate diamond and mother-of-pearl comb pulling back one side of her silver hair.

Standing there in the misty green light, she looked more glamorous than she ever had in class. She looked like the rumors Holland had heard before meeting her. Film star chic, larger than life, and clearly not who Holland had always believed she was.

“What are you doing here?” Holland asked. The answer seemed rather obvious, but she was hoping for an explanation that would stop the feeling that her heart was on the verge of being broken.

Holland had been so afraid that something awful had happened to the Professor, and now she felt utterly foolish. If she was reading this situation right, the Professor had never been in danger—she was the one pulling the strings. “Who are you really?”

“You know who I am,” the Professor said softly.

“No. I don’t. Until minutes ago, I thought you were my mentor. I thought I could trust you.”

“Why don’t we both take a seat?” said the Professor. “I’ll order tea and tell you everything you want to know.”

Holland wanted to know a lot. But she wasn’t sure she could trust a single word the Professor said, and she now had only fourteen minutes left. “I’d rather just be taken to my father’s safety deposit box. Please.”

The Professor frowned. “You must be worried about the time, my dear.” She took a large jade hourglass from her desk. “This glass will pause time until all the sand runs through.” She tipped over the hourglass and set it back down. “Go ahead, take a look at your watch.”

Holland did. The second hand had stopped, frozen at ten seconds past. “How do I know you’re actually stopping time and not just all the clocks?”

The Professor wrinkled her nose, as if a cheap trick like that would be beneath her. “Come here.” She strode to the wall of green glass windows.

Holland didn’t move.

The Professor huffed. “Don’t be so dramatic.

I’m not going to toss you outside, my dear, there are far more elegant ways to kill someone than defenestration.

And the last thing I want is for you to die.

” She reached behind a lush velvet curtain and pressed a button.

The glass immediately turned clear. “I want you to take a look outside.”

Holland took a few cautious steps forward, until she could peer out.

The world had never looked so still. The trees were frozen. The cars had stopped halfway through intersections. But it was the bird that convinced her. Midflight, unmoving, wings stretched out in the midst of a swirl of suspended fall leaves.

“It’s a delightful little trick, isn’t it?” The Professor looked quite pleased with herself, presiding over a world she had stopped with a twist of her wrist.

Holland couldn’t deny that she was impressed. This was all the magic she’d been searching for, finally, here, right in front of her. And now the Professor was smiling at her as if Holland could have it, too.

“I’ve wanted to show you this and so many other things for ages.

” The Professor’s voice brimmed with affection, as though Holland was her most prized pupil and this was a moment she truly had been waiting for.

But did she really mean it, or was it just an act?

Because clearly, from the moment Holland had met her, this woman had been acting.

“I can see you still have questions and doubts. But I assure you, I’m still the same person.

” The Professor walked closer to Holland so that both of them were standing in the center of the glittering office.

“The stories I told you in 517 were all true. Nothing I taught in that class was a deception.”

“You just left out the part about how you’re one of the stories.”

This made the Professor smile. “Unfortunately, that was necessary. I always omitted some of the pieces so that only the cleverest students would find their way into this world.”

“Why would you do that? Why the charade?”

“Who doesn’t love pretending to be someone else? And in this case, it was quite helpful. Until recently.” The Professor pinched her mouth at this, but she didn’t expand on what had happened with the University.

“I wanted to be the Professor because I wanted the best and the brightest to work for me. Being born into a family with abilities can make people lazy and, honestly, quite dull. But finding out magic exists and that you can have it if you work hard enough—this turns ordinary people into extraordinary treasures. People like you.” The Professor’s eyes lit with pride as they met Holland’s.

“When I first met you, my dear, you were a Storytelling major writing fan fiction about vampires. And look at you now—you’ve found your way into our world. ”

The Professor paused, and Holland could tell she was waiting for some sort of reaction. It was the same thing she always did in class, and year after year the students provided what she wanted. But all Holland could do now was check the hourglass.

A third of the golden sand had already slipped through. Holland didn’t know how many minutes that translated to. But she guessed she had only about ten more until time started up again.

“You should be extraordinarily pleased with yourself,” the Professor finally said. “Of course, I’ve always thought you were bright. I was actually going to offer you a job here when you graduated from undergrad.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Holland asked.

The Professor sighed. “It was actually because of your sister. January had already been recruited by another branch, and she said she would take the offer only if you were kept out of this world.” The Professor’s expression turned sour, as if she was still resentful about this.

The Holland of yesterday might have felt wounded as well. She might have wondered why her sister would have kept magic from her—knowing that Holland had been searching for magic her whole life—but all she could think now was that January must have been protecting her.

“And what exactly is it you think she’s protecting you from?”

Holland jolted, remembering what Gabe had told her about the Manager reading minds.

The Professor smiled wryly. “I try not to use the ability except when absolutely necessary.”

“Why do I find that hard to believe?”

“Because you don’t want to believe anything I’m saying today.

But I swear, everything I’ve told you since you’ve stepped into this room is the truth.

I admit, I could be wrong about your sister.

I actually didn’t meet January until very recently.

But, as far as I can see, she hasn’t been watching out for you.

All January has done is lie and keep you in the dark.

That’s why I called you up here today. I think it’s all been utterly unfair to you.

I know your sister won’t like it, but I want to give you a job, here, working for me. ”

The Professor smiled her Mona Lisa smile, the one that promised secrets and stories and magic. Magic that was just out of reach, but she could show you how to find it, to grab it, to make it yours.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” she said softly.

“Come work for me and you’ll finally have answers about the devil and your parents—because, yes, I know all about them, my dear, and I’m so very sorry—but I promise to continue to help you uncover the truth.

” She looked devastatingly sincere. It didn’t erase all the betrayal Holland felt.

But it chipped away at it, as she thought about all the books the Professor had sent her.

There had been moments when Holland had been tempted to share the truth, and she imagined the Professor had sensed that during their many conversations.

“This will all be easier when you’re working for the Bank.

You’ll have access to all our vast resources.

And you’ll have an ability.” The Professor’s eyes glittered, as if this was what she’d been most dying to say.

“Usually new recruits only get minor ones, like the ability to always find a good parking spot. But I have something special in mind for you.”

The Professor stepped back to her desk and patted a lovely golden box. Holland wondered if the ability was sitting inside. She didn’t know how any of this really worked. But the Professor looked ready to tell her. She looked ready to give Holland the keys to the kingdom as soon as Holland said yes.

“What is this ability?” Holland asked.

“Oh, you’ll love it,” the Professor said.

“It will literally change your life. I just need one little tiny favor first.” She gave Holland another smile, a sly smile that made Holland think this favor was actually going to be quite far from tiny.

“I know you’re here to open a safety deposit box, and when you open it, I need you to give me whatever is inside of it. ”

Holland started to laugh. She couldn’t help herself. “You actually had me hypnotized for a minute there.”

“I meant everything I said.”

“No, you didn’t,” Holland said, still laughing.

“You said you wanted to help me and give me an ability. But you don’t want to help me, and you don’t want to give me anything.

What you want is an exchange.” Holland took another look at the hourglass.

The sand seemed to be moving faster. “I’d like to leave now,” she said.

“Please tell me how to get to my father’s box. ”

The Professor clenched her jaw. “I’ll let you go when the sand runs out.

Until then, I need you to hear me out. I know you’re a good person, Holland.

I don’t think you want to hurt anyone. And I know you’re smart, so I believe you already know what I suspect is in your father’s box.

If I’m right, letting that object fall into the wrong hands could be catastrophic.

If you give the Alchemical Heart to me, I can assure you the Bank will keep it safe from anyone who wishes to do harm with it. Like your new friend, Gabriel Cabral.”

Holland stiffened. She wondered how the Professor knew about Gabe, but then she remembered that she was a mind reader. “You don’t have to worry,” Holland said. “Gabe isn’t my friend.”

“Good, because Gabriel Cabral is a very dangerous man.” The Professor let her words hang in the air as more precious sand slipped through the hourglass.

Holland already knew Gabe was dangerous—he’d killed her car, abducted her, lied about her sister, shot Adam—yet there was something about the way the Professor spoke that made Holland think Gabe was even more vicious than she had realized.

He wasn’t just someone to stay away from, he was someone to fear.

“I don’t know how your path crossed his,” said the Professor. “But I dread what might happen if the Alchemical Heart were to fall into Gabriel’s hands. And I hate the idea of him using you and then killing you, just like he did with his wife.”