I came out of the bathroom, shaking the water from my hands.

  “This is a ridiculous plan.” Wol grumbled. The cat was nervous and it was infectious.

  “Enough about that.” I had to be careful not to let Wol’s worries get to me, or it would shatter what little confidence I mustered up. “This was the best I could think of. You’re sure it’s possible?”

  “It’s possible.” He added begrudgingly. “But it will entirely depend on you, my Practitioner.”

  I looked at the hallway clock. We were in the middle of fifth period now. I’d ended up missing Microeconomics after all.

  But this was important. Or at least, it certainly felt like it was.

  “Ok, I think I’m ready.” I shivered to let off a little tension and started walking over to the opposite end wall.

  “Hey, Jain!” Mina Baek appeared out of thin air.

  I yelped.

  Wol was instantly on alert, feline reflexes allowing him to dart into my shadow and hiss at the girl and her familiar. The Haetae stepped in between Wol and his practitioner, his solid presence matching Wol’s fierceness. A low rumbling started from the beast’s chest.

  Hwari was next to my head in an instant. ‘I did not sense her.’.

  I hadn’t either. I had grown increasingly reliant on my Third Eye to alert me to any presence of the supernatural. Ghosts, staves, charms, circles –even the presence of other practitioners. But Mina had somehow blended into the wall without us knowing. She appeared by stepping forward, the air frothing and disappearing like small bubbles.

  'Stay hidden, Hwari,' I tried my best to send thoughts to her, but there was no way to tell if she got the message

  “She used a veil.” Wol explained without being asked.

  It took a second for me to calm myself but once I did, my brain cranked up every single nerve ending that screamed danger to level eleven.

  “Stop moving your hand.” Mina said quietly.

  I realized my fingers had been inching towards my backpack, towards the gravity knife in my front pocket.

  Once I stopped, Mina flashed a smile that probably broke more hearts than she knew, and then some. “There, now we can talk! Like civilized people.”

  “Civilized people don’t appear out of thin air.” I said cautiously.

  I kept looking down the hallways, expecting Victor to appear any second.

  “If you’re looking for Victor, he’s not here.” Her words carried a self-satisfied edge. “He won’t be bothering us anytime soon.”

  Mina wore a thick wool sweater that hung with just enough room to be fashionable, but hugged her figures in just the right places to draw eyes to her dark skinny jeans. Except for the large kendo bag slung over one shoulder; pony tail, big eyes, slim figure, she had everything that the stereotypical social media asian baby girl was supposed to have.

  “Maybe I want him here.” I said. I backed up a step towards the bathroom. Could she sense the small hum of power from the place?

  “I said don’t move.” Her voice went flat again and the smile disappeared off her face.

  “Technically, you said don’t move my hand.” I argued, but I froze nonetheless.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  She kept the glower up for a second longer and smiled again. It was enough to convince me that she was grade-A crazy on the hot-crazy scale. The hotter the girl, the crazier they are.

  "You left before I could say hi.” She said, “I was looking for you, you know?”

  “Uh, I had to get to class.” I said, making sure not an inch of my body was moving.

  Mina took a step forward, smelling of sugar, spice, and everything else that was nice with a dash of crazy just because. “You weren’t in class.”

  Oh shit.

  Mina had to weigh a hundred and ten pounds; max. But she wasn’t much shorter than my impressive height of five-seven. She had nothing in her hands, no staff, no instrument, and no trinket that my eyes could see.

  But it was the aura around her. My instinct screamed that she was dangerous, and that her popping out of walls was the last of my worries. Another part of my less terrified mind was trying to figure out how she did that and whether she was telling the truth about Victor or not. Was he hiding somewhere in plain sight as well?

  I had to keep her away from the bathroom. “Look, I cut class ok?”

  She paused. “Jain Shin Hallow,” Mina said, then began to rattle off, “Son of Miru Shin and William Everblack Hallow. Straight A student, goes to Charter on a scholarship to which five hundred and twelve other students applied.” She smiled, stabbing a finger in the air, “You're not the type to cut class.”

  I took a deep breath. “I did today. Check the records. Didn’t go to AP English or gym.” I gestured at Wol “He's a bad influence.”

  “Last time I saw you, you weren’t contracted.” Mina smirked, her body language relaxing. “Nice to meet you. I’m Mina.”

  “Wol.” Wol said simply, “Call off your dog, Practitioner.”

  “Not as long as the other familiar is hidden. Where is she? The koi?” Mina looked around.

  I had to distract her. Keep her attention off of Hwari. If Mina found Hwari, all my plans would be for nothing. So I did the only thing I could think of.

  I reached for the knife in my bag.

  Their reaction was immediate.

  Mina stepped forward, hard, and disappeared in a strange bobbing movement. At the same time, the Haetae slammed into my stomach and knocked the wind out of me. Mina followed up with a hard shove against my chest, pushing me against the wall.

  I gasped in pain but I’m no spring chicken. I’ve been in more than a few scuffles. I immediately pushed off the wall, ready to–

  I was stuck.

  My backpack, the back of my hoodie, even my shoulders and elbow; they were stuck to the wall. My first instinct was to pull away and it only tangled me further like I was a rat on a sticky trap. Or fly in a spider's web.

  Wol yowled then lunged at Mina but she easily danced out of reach. The Haetae moved to stand between my familiar and his contracted practitioner.

  “Seoul,” She said, still smiling, “If Jain reaches for his knife again, sic’em.”

  "Mmmhmm." The Haetae, Seoul apparently, rumbled.

  Wol was next to me, careful not to touch the wall. “Practitioner, are you alright?”

  “I’m fine. Except feeling like a fly in a spider’s web.” I gasped, “And getting the wind knocked out of me.”

  “Nothing would’ve happened if you just listened.” Mina said. She paused, studying me. “Do you know what they say about Diabolists?”

  Diabolist. The word that they used to referred to my dad and by association, me.

  Except it wasn’t just by association anymore. The tattoo on my wrist itched.

  “What?” I asked.

  She grinned, teeth very straight and white. “That you guys are dangerous. That when a diabolist appears, all sorts of bad things start to happen."

  "Funny, that's how I feel about everyone else," I said.

  "Right now, my Harabeoji is going around meeting all the important people in this city, trying to get support to keep you from participating in the trials.”

  I bit back my immediate response, which was a swear word one should never say to a lady's grandfather. Instead, I played along and said, “The Table?”

  “If that’s what they call it in this city, sure.” She said. “I think Councilor Valentine is doing the same.”

  I took that information and filed it away for later. Maybe that’s why I hadn’t seen Emyrith. One of the reasons I came to school was because I thought he might be looking for me. But if he was actively working against Elder Baek –Harabeoji had to refer to her grandfather– and Councilor Valentine who wanted me out of the running, it would explain his absence.

  “Ok?” I tried to shrug a shoulder, it was attached to the wall pretty tight. “And what? You’re here to do your grandfather’s job for him? Keep me stuck here until Christmas?”

  She shook her head. “Let's make a deal, Jain Shin Hallow.”