“Then why do you linger? Why aren’t you running to see your Memi or whoever it is you say misses you so bad?” Zora’s suspicions stoke a fire in me. I’ve wondered the same, but if he is telling the truth, he has valuable information. We could use that if he trusts us. I cup her wrist and lean in for a whisper.

“I am skeptical too. But my grandmother used to say that you catch more flies with honey than you do with salt.”

She nods in agreement and relaxes her weapon.

My wrist vibrates. Glass crunches under my feet and I push the door handle, but it doesn’t budge. Blasting this door off its hinges with my magic would make too much noise.

“Bri, anything?” I ask.

She nods, moving toward the entrance. Zora’s head is on the swivel.

“Give me a few.” Bri rummages through her bag at the door, and I swipe up on my watch. Maybe it’s news about Tasha?

Julius: T said she thinks she wants a dog. But her daddy ‘nem ain’t having it. And random—I was thinking about that time we rolled through Rickey D’s for a milkshake during 3rd period and you just HAD to go inside and use the restroom. You remember?

I snort laughing, and Zora cuts a sharp glance at me. I hang over my watch arm, savoring the remnants of home, comfort, for the brief moment I can.

Me: OMG I’m still scarred! I told you we shouldn’t have skipped that day.

Julius: How was I supposed know Ms. Thomas and Mr. White was dipping out during 3rd period too for they own lil “milkshake” sesh in the Rickey D’s restroom.

Me: OMG STAHP!

Julius: I ain’t had a Rickey D’s milkshake since.

Bri grunts and something clicks. “Got it. Rue?”

“Coming!” I say.

Me: Same. Ruined it for me. Tell Tasha I might be able to sell Ms. Leola on a small dog. Gtg!

I hurry through the opened door and stop dead in my tracks. Totsi’s bookshelves lie in piles, toppled over, the stuffing out of her couches is in heaps, and the door to the back room where I used to hang is ripped off its hinges. Books are ripped apart, scorched in mounds all over the floor.

“If you ever find you’ve nowhere else to go, you come here to these books and find yourself.” Totsi’s words from the last time I was here rattle through my memory.

“Uhhh,” Bri says. “Rue?”

“Who would do this?” The words leave my lips in a whisper, more shock than secret.

Bri runs her gadget down the wall. “This place has remnants of a protection enchantment. Whoever did this likely tried but couldn’t destroy this place. Not entirely.”

“Protection? It doesn’t look like it worked very well.”