Spellbound

The Hollow Boy

The dust settles within the hall and all the confetti has fallen to the ground. People take up their seats once more, Serena, glowing with pride beside me. I drown out all the other noises in my head, the intrusive ones—the ones I have no right to, even though I know Serena's happiness is a facade. Besides, right now all I can think about is food.

My stomach growls in anticipation as the doors open and the waiters walk through carrying silver platters. I stare at them waiting as patiently as I can. I'd even settle for some of Ms Marigolds homemade pumpkin-mash cookies—which are absolutely as disgusting as they sound.

One by one, platters are placed onto our table and lids are lifted off to expose the glorious food beneath. Piles of mashed potatoes with gravy boats I could probably drown in, enormous roasted chickens with sides of fresh vegetables, along with mushy peas, mince pies, lobster cakes and treacle tart. I've never been so happy to see food in my entire life—even if some of it does look a little...questionable.

I pile my plate with more food than I could ever possibly need—but I make sure to stay away from some of the Pagus Delicacies—somehow, I just can't bring myself to try a charred toad leg or nibble on a speckled worm tail, no matter how delicious Serena tries to tell me they are.

Once I've cleared my third plate of the night and the crowd dies down, Indie and Lilith join us at our table for tea and cakes—Avery and Darcy, nowhere in sight.

Lilith offers me one of her mother's homemade blueberry muffins—and even though I am on the edge of bursting, I accept it—because I'm still me.

"So Philly," Lilith says, "Will you be joining us at The Academy this year?"

With a mouth full of blueberries and without thinking, I say, "I attend St. Augusta."

Her eyebrows furrow in confusion and in that one second, reality floods back.

I'd forgotten all about it until now. Of course I'm not going back to St. Augusta. I went to that school because my father wanted me to go there. I went there because I lived in London. I went there because my father was alive—

"Don't be silly," Serena says, "Of course you are! Amethyst has already sorted everything."

Amethyst. The woman who promised me all these answers, and yet so far I've been left to figure most of this out on my own.

"I need some air."

Thankfully by now, the crowd has thinned quite a bit and I reach the exit without bumping into anyone. I didn't mean to leave Serena and the others like that but right now, I can't breathe. Being surrounded by so many people—all that emotion in one room has drained me more than I thought possible.

I have every intention of heading straight back to my room and falling into a food coma—but hushed voices grab my attention. I beg myself to keep walking, yet my feet remain firmly planted to the spot.

The voices trail from just beyond a corridor that Serena definitely hadn't shown me. It's dark, and the air is cold; and without pausing to think, I take a deep breath and I follow them.

Two figures, almost entirely concealed by a marble a pillar, whisper through the darkness—even standing further away, I immediately recognise one as Jet. Their voices are so quiet, I only manage to catch parts of their conversation; 'dangerous', 'threat'...and the one that makes my stomach do backflips—'wolf'.

My heart crumbles in my chest, and I feel like I'm about to vomit. Fox is in danger.

I almost don't notice the quiet until it's too late. In the second I have to make a decision, I turn on my heel so fast I almost trip—but my body collides with another.