Page 152 of How to Flirt with a Witch

Agnes’s pleading drifts through the room, a reminder that we can’t afford to waste another second.

I back up, preparing to break into a run. I give Natalie a look that says,I’m going whether you help me or not.

She swears under her breath and extends a hand, raising a cloud of dust. Shattered brick, wood splinters, and upholstery swirl like a tornado, obscuring my view of the Madsens.

I seize my chance and take off, hurtling toward the Library corridor. My pulse throbs in my ears, adrenaline surging through my veins like fire.

Thumps and crashes rise as a fight breaks out behind me.

Agnes’s desperate voice rises above the rest. “Stop! I’ll talk!”

My stomach clenches with dread. She’s going to crack. We’re out of time.

Footsteps pound at my back, and my heart jolts with fear before a familiar voice calls out.

“Keep going!” Natalie shouts. “I’m coming with.”

Relief floods through me. The fact that she’s following and trusting my plan instead of forcing me to stop is the vote of confidence I need.

As we race deeper into the corridor, the tug inside me grows stronger, urging me onward. Magic shifts around me like enormous lungs expanding and contracting.

At a four-way intersection, I pause and close my eyes, reaching out with my other senses.

Come on. Tell me which way.

Natalie’s heaving breaths are the only sound as she waits for my decision, her steady presence acting as my anchor.

I walk a circle, paying attention to the static-like prickle on my arms and the urgency constricting my chest.

Thunder roars through the hall, shouts growing closer. People are following.

“You can do it,” Natalie says. “Listen to your intuition.”

I nod, slowing my breath and concentrating on the sensations in my body. The magic is right there, a whisper I can barely hear.

“Left,” I say, the word coming to my lips automatically.

I follow the pull around a curve. More intersections take me right, then straight, then straight again, each decision easier than the last. I’m deeper into the building than ever before, the labyrinth disorienting me until I don’t know which way is out.

Finally, the pull gets so strong that a tremor passes through me.

“It’s here. Right around this corner.”

We arrive at an arched metal door, and I stop, my breath catching. Criss-crossed and swirling designs cover the door from top to bottom, gleaming in the corridor’s dim lamplight. Vines and small purple flowers creep along the wall and surround the frame, threatening to overtake the door. The iron handle serpentines like the letter S, its 45-degree angle suggesting it needs to be twisted upright to disengage the lock.

This is it. This is where bio magic is stored.

Before I can approach it, footsteps echo in the corridor behind Natalie, and we whirl around.

No. Already?

Natalie moves in front of me, her shoulders tensing, her hands up and ready to fight. Her body is a shield, protecting me as resolutely as ever from whatever danger is approaching.

Two people round the corner and stop, breathing hard.

Relief floods through me at the familiar faces.

“Sebastian! Millie!” I cry. “I was worried—”