I walk back until it turns into my hallway again, then continue past my room until the hallway changes abruptly to the wood-paneled one again.

Impossible. I’m back at the door. I grab the handle and jiggle it again. Nothing.

I’m turning around once more with a frustrated sigh when the door creaks open.

Roman stands there in his slacks and no shirt. His eyes look half asleep, and his dark auburn hair curls wildly around his head, leaving shadows on his face from the dim light given off by the wall sconce beside his door.

“Ava?” The question reaches his eyes. There’s a hope in them that makes my heart speed up and ache at the same time.

“I…” I step back. I don’t like how badly I want to step inside. I want to show him everything I just shared with Willow and Nadine.

“I ended up at the wrong place.” The magic’s supposed to take you to where you want to go, so the fact that it kept taking me to Roman’s door doesn’t make sense. I’m with Xander. I like what I have with him. It’s not complicated.

Roman’s expression droops like a wilted flower before he straightens and nods. “Of course.”

“Sorry to bother you.”

“You’re never a bother,” he says softly.

I start to turn away but then spin back to face him. “Why’d you take the blame for the dress? Willow confessed.”

“I guessed it was her. She kept looking at you like she’d done something.” He shrugs. “I thought it’d hurt you more if it were her. I didn’t want you to lose another person.”

“Thanks,” I whisper.

I do walk away then, telling the magic to take me to my room, wondering if it will take me back to Roman again. It doesn’t. I don’t like the twinge of disappointment I feel when I find my own door again.

CHAPTER 24

The ballroom has transformed, if it’s even the same room at all. I can’t be certain of anything here. The banquet table is gone, replaced on one side with a large stage—black except for the twisting golden roses around the edge. Gold drips off them and streaks down the side of the stage as if they were painted just moments ago.

Today the competition continues. Today we’ll each perform in our chosen specialty and show these people what we can do. I drew last. I won’t go until the end.

Everyone clusters around the stage except Lucius and Annalise, sitting on a raised platform in the center of us. Lucius, his face unreadable, taps his long fingers against the deep mahogany wood of his throne. Annalise stares straight ahead with her vacant, pale eyes. It’s hard to imagine her as the most powerful apprentice in her day.