Of Breakable Things (28 page)

She heard the office door slam behind them. Professor Duvall entered in her usual getup of shawls and beads, and intertwined within them was a thick yellow and white snake that arched its head into the air. A long red tongue rippled out of its scaly jaw, and Skye could have sworn it smiled at her. She smiled back.

Duvall held up a sheet of paper littered with chicken-scratch of swirls and spirals, and flashed a wide grin at Alex. She winked at Skye and nodded her approval before turning to Whit, one of the group leaders. “Go ahead and take your team to the wormhole. I need you to fetch me some Kahuli.”

“Ka-
what
-i?” Whit asked.

“Sounds like an island,” said Linton, sliding off the desk to join Whit. He stood obediently, watching Duvall with avid interest. It was the only time Linton ever acted polite.

“Actually, it
is
found on an island. Kahuli are tree snails found on Oahu.”

Skye sensed her opportunity. “Professor, can Alex and I go with them, since she’s sort of observing today?”

Duvall didn’t even look up. “Absolutely not. Alex needs to stay safe and sound in bounds.”

Safe and sound? What did that mean? Duvall had never expressed concern before.

Skye hated to feel dissatisfied. Like hunger, once it hit, it couldn’t be ignored. “But I got to tag along with Whit on my first day.”

“Off to Oahu, my dears,” Duvall ordered, flicking her wrists with finality and ignoring Skye. “Aloha.”

Skye crossed her arms. Too bad her charms had no effect whatsoever on the teachers.

“Team two, Matthew, please take your group to the wormhole and head for the National Zoo. We need the hairs of a baby polar bear, and the zoo just announced the birth of their newest addition. The younger, the better.”

Matthew furrowed his brow. “They get Hawaii and we get the
zoo
?”

“Would you rather chase them down in Antarctica?” Duvall remarked curtly. “Because I need the hairs by tomorrow, and it would probably take you
two
weeks
to track down a baby polar bear in the wild, let alone get close enough to extract the hairs without upsetting the mommy.”

Matthew relented. Skye patted him on the back, and his cheeks turned pink.

When team two departed, Skye and Alex were the only students left with Duvall. “Now, my loves, I’m running low on Thymoserum.”

Skye cocked her head. “What is that?”

“It’s a combination of chemicals that function to trick a bodied mind.”

This sounded fun. “To do what?”

“To forget. Sometimes we need things, tangible things, and although the bodied can’t usually see us, we still have to be sure they can’t see the object we take. We can’t make the item invisible, but we can trick their bodied minds to make it seem so. Everything is mental, even sight. So, I need for you to go fetch me some banana slugs.”

“Okay, how many?” Skye asked, extending her hand to pet the snake. It had a good temperament, but clearly Alex did not agree, because she recoiled against a cabinet when the snake stared at her openmouthed. The edges of its glistening fangs caught the light, and Skye directed a look of reprimand at the serpent.

“At least ten,” Duvall replied. “I know it isn’t mentally enticing, but you work so quickly, and this really is the most important job of the day.”

Skye tapped Alex on the shoulder and pointed upward. “Grab some of those.”

“Those what?”

“Test tubes.”

“What test tubes?”

Seriously? The girl could fight off a banshee, but she refused to open her eyes. Skye stretched up high to strum her fingers along the bottoms of the thousands of tubes suspended from the ceiling. They clinked together and began a ripple effect throughout the room, like wind over a wheat field. “You really need to start looking for things.”

Skye tugged a few from their strings and trudged out the door. Alex followed so closely behind her that she accidentally stepped on her heel, no doubt eager to get away from the snake.

Banana slugs were easy to find, even though they camouflaged among many of the plants. Skye could walk right up and yank them from the branches. Admittedly, they were pretty cute. One of them really liked her, she could tell, so she decided to keep it for a pet. Lulu, she called it, perched on her shoulder like a parrot.

“Skye?”

“What?” She could barely hear Alex. Her face was buried in the depths of leaves and dirt through which she was furiously sifting.

“Are the Darwins always so well behaved in ABC?” Alex sounded amazed.

“They really aren’t the monsters you think they are.”

“The other day they hung a boy from a gargoyle on the top of the school! How is that not bad?”

“He must have done something to make them angry,” Skye reasoned in her most innocent voice. She plucked a slug from the ground and said hello to it before placing it in a tube and wiping her hands on her pants. “They don’t usually act without reason.”

“How are you finding those slugs so quickly?”

“I always get jobs like this,” Skye complained. “I’ve gotten used to finding needles in haystacks.”

“Yeah, but how do you know the slug is under two feet of dirt?”

Skye stood up and flicked a slug into the container. “They leave a trail.”

“Where?”

“Use your eyes.”

“Oh, my fault,” Alex joked sarcastically. “I’ve been trying to see with my ears.”

Skye gave her a stern look. “I guess the more accurate advice would be to use your mind to see, since that’s what you’ve used all along, spirit or not.”

“You’ve lost me,” Alex groaned. “It’s too early in the morning for a lesson.”

This was Alex acting like she still had a body. “Concentrate on the ground. You can see much farther now than you ever could before, right?”

“I suppose.”

“It’s the same thing with something right in front of you. Don’t limit yourself to what is just on the surface.”

Alex squinted.

Skye stepped closer, studying Alex’s face. The slugs smudged the ground with a fluorescent yellow slime like highlighter ink, but Alex would never see it using her eyes instead of her mind. Skye was a natural at seeing and believing the unbelievable. Chalk it up to her upbringing in nature, but Skye knew objects had their own energy, their own history. “Refocusing isn’t going to help. Eventually, you’ll learn to use your mind to push through the ground.” Skye flicked one last slug into the container. “That’s it! We have plenty.”

“Why the rush?”

Skye hadn’t even noticed she was practically running. “Oh. If we get back early enough, Duvall will probably let us help her mix the serum.”

“What?”

“That stuff in the glass bowl on her desk. She’s always making some sort of concoction, whether for students, or the Patrol, or for the doctors at the medical center.”

Once they reached the learning center, Skye hurried down the hallway en route to Duvall’s room, so preoccupied with holding the container steady without dropping Lulu that she completely collided with Alex, who had stopped abruptly. She placed a hand on the wall to steady herself, and she felt a rippling ambience of concern and heard the murmuring of voices. Why would the wall be worried? She tilted her head towards the door to indicate that they should move closer.

She heard Duvall speak first. “You think it’s the real thing?”

“We don’t know,” a gruff voice answered.

“Westfall,” Alex mouthed to Skye.

“Who could possibly be in charge?” Duvall asked.

“A lot of people wanted her dead. The possibilities are limitless.” Westfall sighed loudly. “The Ardor Service questioned a few of the spirits who lived in Paradise at the time of the original members. But nothing out of the ordinary came up. I saw those spirits firsthand. I watched Van Hanlin
hand pick
those who left Paradise. This seems too juvenile for them.”

Skye heard the clinking of Duvall’s bracelets. “Have you considered that perhaps Van Hanlin is the reason they sent you here? To keep an eye on him?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. He’s made some crucial mistakes. But I think it’s more because of Alex Ash.”

Things were getting interesting. Skye eyed her popular friend, who listened ardently.

“So you agree with me about her?” Duvall asked.

“No,” Westfall replied. “If Alex was who you think she is, she would have moved before I even planned to throw the orbs at her. It doesn’t matter if she stopped them in midair. She isn’t who you think, Lucia. Besides, the incidents began before she died.”

“Are you forgetting that Alex’s arrival was predicted? This is certainly the year!” Duvall exclaimed. “We were told specifically, ‘the year of the siblings.’ Or have you been around for another class of newburies with so many family members? There hasn’t been a group of siblings since the DeLyres! She predicted it, Ardor! And don’t you dare lie to me and tell me you don’t believe this is the year! Why else would you have arrived here, my dear? I’m guessing you heard about the multiple sets of siblings and came running!”

Skye was in awe of Duvall. No one spoke to crotchety old Ardor Westfall in such a way.

Duvall’s voice became quiet. “At least it justifies the mother’s death.”

Mother. Skye had overheard the Darwins whispering something about Alex’s relatives, but they’d never mentioned a mother. There was something special about Alex, but if Westfall was involved, her past had to be tainted. Westfall was famous for three things: fighting, protecting, and sniffing out criminals.

“We couldn’t have known they would go after her,” Westfall said. “Or that they would make assumptions off of mere resemblance. But again, I blame Van Hanlin. He said he could handle the surveillance in Brigitta.”

“Well,” Duvall said softly, “the girls will be back soon.”

Skye put a hand on Alex’s shoulder and guided her backwards down the hallway. Alex nodded to her, showing she understood. They would make it appear like they were just arriving. No sooner had they reached the edge of the hallway when Westfall stepped from the classroom. He eyed the duo suspiciously, but then again, his face always twisted in such a way.

“Hello, Ardor Westfall,” Skye and Alex both mumbled, sidling past him.

Duvall stood behind a large bowl on her desk. She was staring into space and stirring a liquid that hissed angrily. Smoke rose from the concoction in the form of a gray tongue writhing like a sea serpent. “It isn’t polite to eavesdrop,” she said absently.

How did Duvall know everything? From what Skye deduced, witches were not physic.

“Slugs, please,” Duvall said, holding out her hand.

Skye handed them over and peered into the bowl. The mixture chomped its lips and spat at her. She withdrew quickly, cupping her hand over Lulu protectively.

“See anything new?” Duvall asked.

“Always.”

“You finished even more quickly this time, Skye.”

“The ground was dry. It was easier to see the trail.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if everything that was buried left a trail?” Duvall gazed at Alex meaningfully, and then she pointed to the far wall. “Go into the cabinet above the sinks and fetch two daggers.”

Skye did as she was told and then handed one of the daggers to Alex.

Duvall handed each of them an Erlenmeyer flask filled with brown kidney-shaped objects. “Spear the little critters and collect the juice in a vial. Take your time. Don’t leave any juice to waste.”

Alex didn’t know what she was in for. This should be entertaining, Skye thought. Alex lifted the dagger and prepared to slice the skin. When the blade grazed the Alybon, the seed propelled from the table like a bullet.

Alex whipped back in her seat, shocked. She lowered her chin to the desk, analyzing the seeds, but they remained still. Skye bit her lip to keep from giggling. Alex lifted the dagger again, ever so slightly cutting the nearest Alybon, which cackled in a raspy voice and bent in half, clutching its belly in hysterics.

Alex shrieked, and Skye burst into laughter.

“You could have warned me,” Alex huffed, pointing to the creature. She certainly had a quick temper.

Skye grinned. ”And miss the look on your face?”

Though the corner of her mouth was upturned, Duvall continued to stir intently.

“Hold it like this.” Skye demonstrated how to grasp the sides. “And after you cut, just squeeze a little bit, so it doesn’t tickle it so much.”

“It’s alive?” Alex asked, sticking out her bottom lip crookedly to blow a curl from her face.

“Well yeah,” Skye said. Wasn’t it obvious? “Seeds become trees, you know.”

“Silly me. Trees aren’t usually ticklish.”

“Sure they are,” Skye said. Wasn’t that common knowledge? She’d heard them laughing so many times, even back when she was living. She finished squeezing the first Alybon and placed it back on the desk, where it pulsed up and down, catching its breath.

“Does it hurt them?”

“Does it sound like it’s in pain?” Skye knew that seeds were resilient, much more durable than the saplings they’d sprout after their burial. “They enjoy it. They fill back up in a few days.”

“With what?”

“Alybon juice, of course.”

“Now,” said Duvall, “come on up and pour it in very slowly. One at a time!” She held up one hand to halt them from moving together.

Alex stepped up and tilted the vial, releasing its contents into the steaming mud-like goo. A cloud of brown smoke puffed into the air, carrying the aroma of cinnamon.

Duvall smiled. “Very good, my dear.”

Skye emptied the contents of her vial into the mixture next. The serum turned an incandescent shade of purple. It was liquid sunset. And right as she smiled in delight, the color faded to a dull hue. Fingertips of disappointment pinched her.

“It’s done,” Duvall announced in satisfaction.

“Do you need us to help you package it?” Skye asked, eyeing the rows of tubes waiting behind Duvall. “I promise not to drop any this time.”

Duvall glanced over her shoulder. “No. Go ahead and get ready for your day.” She shooed them off. “And be sure to go the back way.”

Skye clucked her tongue in disappointment. “Why?”

But Duvall already had her head halfway into the bowl.