Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 40

"Be ready."

I shudder at the cold air that is starting to make my nose burn as Astrid stands from her crouch.

She looks like a ghost in the light of her clairvoyance spell, which she's only using because the moon has waned into nothingness and has resulted in the night being extremely dark. It had been decided in the privacy of our dorm room that we would head out after lights out to speak with Mr. Ivie in his office. 

Though from what we've planned, 'speak' isn't quite the right word. More like interrogate, since Astrid has a few tricks up her sleeve in order to get him to confess truthfully.

I feel a thrill of nerves when Astrid dispels her ball of light and plunges us into darkness.

Game on, I think to myself as she sprints out of the cover of the bushes that we've been hiding in. I follow close on her heels with Tessa at my side. Every hair is standing on end as we sprint through the dark. But even then, a smaller part of myself feels safe with Astrid and Tessa having my back. 

But it's one thing to sneak off of campus. 

It's another to sneak into an office on campus without getting caught. 

Astrid had warned us that the security guards have designated patrols, two of which that would have the potential of crossing paths with us as we make our way to the secretary's office. Ahead of me, Astrid skitters to a stop when we've made it to a hedge that we crouch beside, letting the darkness swallow us up as we peer through the thickly interwoven branches.

"Two minutes," Tessa breathes as we wait.

"Are you sure?" Astrid rasps.

Tessa had volunteered to memorize the guards patrols and we look to her as she checks her watch again. Her 'two minutes' being a warning as to when one of the guards should be walking through this area.

"Yes," she confirms.

"We go. Now," Astrid commands in a low voice.

She gets up and as a group, we sprint across the next stretch of the grounds, which includes a narrow sidewalk that our shoes clap against briefly. But only for a step of two, something that could easily be missed as we lunge across the concrete and back onto grass that muffles our steps. 

We get down next to a bench on the other side to catch our breath as Astrid checks around us. She nods and we dash for the next place, which is a set of bleachers that rim the polo field. The empty field is eerie at this time of night, the barn just beyond it even more so since it's silent, the paddock on the other side devoid of any horses.

The hulking form of the lecture hall looms in the distance as we sprint across the grass that lines the sidewalk, a layer of dew from a late evening thunderstorm making the grass slick beneath our shoes. We're gasping for air by the time we make it to the back doorway, where we duck inside to hide and catch our breath.

My pulse is already beating in a rapid fire tempo. I know in my heart that I'm going to get some sort of answer tonight. The only question is whether or not I can handle the truth.

Focus on the now. 

"Let's go," Tessa hisses as she looks down at her watch.

She's right. We needed to keep moving and even though I want to linger, I relent as they start around the front of the building at a light jog. The door to the secretary office gleams at us in the dark and Astrid makes a motion for us to slow down as we creep up to it.

"Stay back," Astrid warns as she reaches for the doorknob. 

Astrid hesitates for a brief second before she flings the door open. One hand twists the knob and pushes the door while the other brings up her wand to point it inside. It's a move that is nearly impossible to follow with how fast she does it. It makes me wonder what Saint Augustine's was teaching her.