“Um.” Mina glanced at Pixit. He nudged her foot with his nose and filled her mind with encouragement. “Well, I’d like you to talk about what we’re not supposed to talk about and do stuff that could get all of us expelled. And I think the first thing we need to do is cross the border and visit the outsiders.”

All of them stared at her again.

She wished she could read their minds. She worried that they didn’t believe her, that they were going to yell at her, that they were going to turn her in, that they were going to say no.

“Cool,” Jyx said.

As the four of them trudged out to the practice field, they whispered to one another. “So we aren’t going to actually tell anyone we’re doing this, right?” Ferro said. “That part’s secret?”

“Right,” Jyx said as Mina nodded.

“And if we’re caught?” Zek asked.

“We aren’t going to be caught,” Jyx said.

Mina loved her confidence—​and the lightning-guardian recklessness of all three of her friends. They’d been quick to agree to this crazy plan. Jyx might have freaked out when they broke a rule by accident, but she didn’t hesitate when it was time to break that same rule on purpose. All she needed was a good reason.

Up ahead, their four storm beasts were waiting for them. Mina felt Pixit’s anxiousness ripple through her—​he’d been so nervous he hadn’t eaten a single potato for breakfast. She’d pocketed a few in case he got hungry later.

“But if we are caught?” Zek said.

“Then it was an accident, and we’re really, really sorry,” Jyx said. She grabbed Mina’s arm. “Okay, Mina, you’re up. There he is.”

Following Jyx’s gaze, Mina spotted Professor Dano across the field, deep in conversation with another teacher. “Maybe someone else should talk to him.”

That was part of the plan: one of them was going to ask Professor Dano to distract Vira so they could fly to Dern. Except not in those words. Last night, flush with the excitement of sharing her thoughts with her friends, Mina had agreed to be the one to talk to him—​Jyx had insisted that Professor Dano liked her best. But now that it was time . . .

Clapping her on the shoulder, Zek gave Mina an encouraging nod.

«You can do it, Mina. We all believe in you.»

It was her idea. I can do this. She wasn’t addressing the entire school. All she had to do was talk to one teacher whom she’d talked to plenty of times before.

She jogged across the field toward him.