Page 8 of With the Key in the Office

Jessie lifted the top envelope. My name appeared on the label in a clean typeface. CENDOLYN AULT. The sight put a fizz in my chest. She slid the contents onto the table. “Inside, you get three things. Case details: name, location, client dossier, mission parameters. Support tokens tailored to the case. And a return form: short questions that you answer when the work is finished. Seal the return envelope, and it vanishes.”

A skinny hand shot up from the third row. “Who sends them?”

“Unknown,” Jessie said. “We don’t call them a council. We don’t call them a board. Here we say upstairs, orthem. Some people obsess about it. I do not recommend building your life around a mystery you can’t solve. The work in front of you matters more.”

Clarke sniffed, looking thoughtful. “I’ve noticed inconsistencies. Handwriting shifts. Symbols in margins.”

“Noted,” Jessie said, as if his statement was unimportant. “Sometimes notes appear that weren’t there the first time you read a page. Treat those as nudges, not orders. Use judgment. That’s why we train.”

Vanderflit pushed off the doorframe and stepped forward. “And remember,” he said, “we are not vending machines for wishes. We should only intervene when a life would improve because of it. There shouldn’t be fireworks for their own sake. Act with a purpose.”

A murmur moved through the room. My chest tightened.

Jessie inclined her head toward him. “Thank you.” She reached into the envelope again and held up a thin square of paper with a thumbprint shape pressed into the center. “Travel charm. One use. You touch it, think of your client, and it carries you to them. When you close the case and seal the envelope, it pulls you back to where you started.”

A student near the windows raised a hand. “Can it carry more than one person?”

“That’s case dependent,” Jessie said. “Some allow two, some three. Most prefer exactly the number the case requires. They can be fussy.”

Another hand went up, and Alicia asked, “What can you bring through?”

“If you can hold it, you can bring it,” Jessie said. “Which is how I once arrived in a stranger’s kitchen with a lasagna. It helped.”

Marcus Abernathy lifted his pen. “Risks?” he prompted.

Jessie’s posture sharpened. “Don’t travel while your head is a hurricane. We check each other. I will check you. Charms misfire around unstable warding. Student travel remains observation-only until further notice.” She looked at me, then Robbie, then the room. “That means eyes open, mouths mostly closed, hands ready to take notes.”

Clarke cleared his throat with theatrical precision. “And we’re taking the students on observations today? Already?”

“Today,” Jessie said. “Learning happens in kitchens and living rooms as much as in lecture halls.”

Drew raised a hand at the back. “Hunters will accompany today’s observers,” he said. “Consider us boring chaperones.”

“Understood,” Jessie said, with only a flash of surprise before becoming focused once more. She tapped a short list. “Pairings. Robbie and Cendi with Mr. Clarke. Jaylyn with me. The rest of you, rotations over the next week.”

A low ripple of excitement moved through the semicircle. My pulse answered. Robbie’s knee nudged mine under the table, steady as always. Reminding me that everything would be okay. That he would be there with me.

Jessie got our attention again. “A quick run through of case flow. Today’s case we call the Soft Fix. No lightning. No dragon wrangling. A nudge that turns into a life.”

“Can you give an example?” I asked.

“Convincing a retired nurse to join a community garden,” Jessie said. “Tuning a grief-heavy home so a widower notices the neighbor that needs him. We don’t change who they are. We change the furniture around their choices.”

Clarke made a quiet noise that translated to disapproval. “Ms. Crayne, may I suggest we avoid romanticizing manipulation.”

Jessie kept her tone even. “Consent is non-negotiable. Influence without taking away agency.”

Beth stepped in then, her presence cooling the room’s friction. “Ms. Crayne leads with our full support. Mr. Clarke, your notes on procedure are welcome. Not your undermining.” She let that hang, then softened. “Everyone, breathe. Learn.”

John nodded once, steady as a lighthouse. “Carry on.”

“Questions?” Jessie asked.

Everyone’s hands stayed down. Either we understood or didn’t dare reveal we did not.

5

CENDI