Page 7 of With the Key in the Office

I stared at the ceiling for a breath, then rolled to look at Robbie. He had the sort of smile that starts in the eyes, small and bright. Simon had surrendered to sleep and sprawled open like a soft loaf across his thighs.

“So,” he said, “you told your daughter about me.”

It was strange the way his words made my heart race. Telling my daughter about him seemed so… official. I mean, we were official, at least I thought so. I told myself to chill and take a few breaths. He’d heard the whole thing and didn’t seem the least bit concerned about what I’d said, so I shouldn’t be either. I needed to get out of my head.

“I did,” I said, surprised by how easy that had been once I’d done it. “She approves. She wants to see your eyebrows.”

“They are, obviously, spectacular.” He smoothed them confidently.

“I agree,” I said.

We grinned at each other like kids with a secret. Except, we had many secrets since coming to the academy. Just not secrets between each other. The night stretched around us. The late night growing even later.

“I should go,” he said, gently moving Simon to the bed. Simon glared at both of us before settling down beside Tilly.

“I’ll walk you,” I said, standing. We hovered by the door, suddenly shy after all our boldness.

He touched my cheek again. No rush. No demand. Just us standing in a doorway we could step through or not. I rose on my toes and kissed him again.

“Goodnight, Cendi,” he said.

“Goodnight, Robbie.”

He slipped into the corridor. I watched him walking away, then shut the door gently and leaned against it for a second. It was still so strange to me how my life had gone from boring and lonely, to this, in the blink of an eye. It felt both like I’d known Robbie all my life, and like I was getting to know this amazing person for the first time. I liked this feeling.

The room was warm and small in the best way. A perfect place to rest after a long day of being mostly very happy. I turned off the lamps, slid under the blanket, and arranged myself around the cats without disturbing their delicate positions.

The day, which had started with hunters and questions and a blue-lit echo of me stealing what wasn’t mine, ended with one small certainty. I wasn’t moving through the maze alone. That counted.

I closed my eyes and slid into a dreamless dark, the good kind, the kind that promised morning would come and bring coffee and answers and, if I was lucky, another kiss.

4

CENDI

Morning dawnedwith Tilly draping herself across my ribs, Simon warming the curve of my knees, and a sliver of sun drawing a line across the floor that both cats pretended was a racetrack. I bribed them with breakfast, promised an evening play session, and pulled on clothes, eager to participate in Jessie’s first official class as a teacher.

By the time I hurried to the cafeteria, grabbed a muffin, and reached the classroom, the chatter from the handle of people already there had thinned to a purposeful hush as they waited for the class to begin. My gaze moved around the spacious and brightly lit room. Jessie had claimed the largest workshop classroom as her own, the one with chalkboards on three walls and big windows. Stools formed a semicircle in the center of the room. On the front table was a neat stack of manila envelopes. Manila envelopes that I was strangely excited about. Who knew what exciting things were waiting for me within them?

Or maybe they had nothing to do with me or Jessie’s class. I was just in a really great mood. Today felt like the kind of day where anything could happen, but in the best possible way. I had nodoubt that magic and mayhem was waiting for us. I just wasn’t sure which form it would take.

“Find a seat,” Jessie called, already in teacher mode. A slim pin on her lapel read Faculty. She kept pretending not to glance at it, before glancing anyway. “Good morning, trainees. Today is the first real step for all of you to stop being hazards and start being helpful.”

I laughed. That was one way to describe us.

Robbie slid onto the stool beside me. Jaylyn took the next one over, hair gathered in a tidy twist. Near the door, Headmistress Beth conferred with Mr. Vanderflit in low tones. His jaw had that locked look, the set of a man who had not slept. Headmaster John stood with them for a beat, then drifted to the back. Drew and Ava arrived together and chose seats there as well. Why they needed to be here for the first job shadowing class, I had no idea. Observing for clues maybe.

Jessie clapped once. “House matters first. Yes, the key is still missing. Yes, security has been tightened. No, you may not chase strange glows down laundry chutes. We trust our hunters with the chase. Meanwhile, we train. Eyes here.”

Robbie and I exchanged a look. How had our silly friend blossomed from an awkward helper to a confident teacher? We couldn’t be sure, but Robbie didn’t have to say a word for me to know that we were both really proud of her.

She hovered a hand over the stack. “Behold your future managers.”

A hand rose near the side wall. Mr. Clarke. Crisp suit, precise hair, the air of a man who arranged his pencils with a ruler. “Ms. Crayne,” he said, every syllable ironed. “Perhaps this lectureshould be delivered by a senior member of the faculty. The program is new. It would be prudent to avoid improvisation.”

Jessie smiled at him, kind and unyielding. “Thank you, Mr. Clarke. Administration asked me to lead. You’re welcome to stay and observe.”

He did not sit. He hovered. His actions were most certainly of a man who didn’t trust Jessie to do a proper job, or maybe that of a man who always preferred to be in control. Next to him, Ms. Ingow studied the window latch with devoted interest, her mouth turned down in permanent caution.