Page 32 of With the Key in the Office

“Come on, let’s get this key to Mr. Vanderflit,” I told our group.

Everyone agreed and we stepped through the portal.

17

CENDI

The portal letus out in the main hall, warm light on the old stone, the familiar scent of chalk dust and floor polish wrapping around us as if it had been waiting by the door. Luci stepped through after the rest of us, hands in his pockets.

Jessie dusted herself off. “I love returning home via random portals. You never know if you’ll land with your organs rearranged.”

“Your hair’s still attached,” Robbie pointed out. “That’s a win.”

“Barely,” Jaylyn muttered.

Fizz paused, checked the exits, then tucked herself behind Lucifer, who looked positively delighted to be flanked by so many people.

Luci eyed the decor. “Could use some velvet,” he commented. “But at least nobody’s bleeding.”

Time to find Mr. Vanderflit and make this rescue operation official.

“Let’s head to Mr. Vanderflit’s office,” I said, turning toward the hall that led to his office.

We found Vanderflit hunched over a sheaf of reports, his tie crooked, hair sticking up in three different directions. I’d never been so happy to see a pile of academic paperwork in my life.

He looked up. “Have you—” Then he saw the key in my hand. He lifted his gaze to my motley crew, then darted back to the key. “You have it,” he breathed. “You actually have it.”

“We also brought, um, visitors,” Jessie said. “Long story. Maybe later?”

He nodded. “It’s the real one?”

I held the key up. It shimmered, the light catching on the ever-shifting engravings. “You tell me.”

He reached out, hovered, then thought better of touching. “That’s it,” he confirmed, hoarsely.

Behind me, Luci tapped the desk with one finger. “A pleasure, as always, Mr. Vanderflit. Shall we?”

Vanderflit’s jaw locked for a second, then he schooled his features. “We’re going. I mean, we are all going. The door opens for the key and the key alone.”

I squared my shoulders. “Show us the way.”

The group swept through the corridor like a very determined, deeply weird field trip. If there was a tour guide for this, I had a feeling they would have quit on day one and left us to the wolves.

We stopped at a round archway of the sealed chamber. Vanderflit pointed at the keyhole. “No spell gets past this. If youdon’t have the key, you’re out of luck. We tried. Well, you know how that ended.”

I swallowed. The key seemed to vibrate in my hand. Not in a threatening way, more like it was excited to finally get to do its job. I glanced at Robbie, who squeezed my shoulder.

“Ready?” Jessie asked.

“Ready.” I planted my feet and slid the key into the lock.

The metal almost sang and heat from my fingers to my palm. Nothing painful, just a jolt of magic and proof that yes, this was my party trick.

The key turned and the door opened.

Vanderflit crossed the threshold and we followed him inside. The chamber was round, ceiling domed. Orbs of soft white light hovered in the air.

In the center of the room stood a glassy cocoon that shimmered like someone had woven frost and moonlight together. Inside, frozen mid-motion, was a man. One hand was outstretched, palm raised, as if making an urgent point about a book or a student paper gone wrong. The tweed jacket, the neat loafers, the tie, a tad crooked, which made me want to smile, he could have been the picture in an Academy brochure. Except for the stasis keeping him motionless, he looked… alive.