But he had to have noticed the same thing she had: Elizabeth wasn’t in chemistry class today. As far as Nadia could tell, she simply hadn’t shown up for school.

And neither their teacher nor Ms. Walsh had said anything about it.

The bell rang, and Ms. Walsh said, “Okay, everybody, good session.”

“Tomorrow we’re picking up the labs where we left off!” the Piranha said loudly.

From his place next to Nadia, Jeremy Prasad muttered, “She thinks she can get her dignity back if she shouts enough.”

“You’re the one who started taking your clothes off,” Nadia said, grabbing her stuff.

Undaunted, Jeremy grinned at her. He really would have a gorgeous smile if he weren’t such an ass. “You noticed, huh? Guess you liked the view.”

“Spare me.”

She’d assumed Mateo would be avoiding her, but as she walked toward the door, she realized he was hanging back—waiting for her. Nadia hesitated, but only for a moment. “Hey,” she said, as he fell in step beside her.

“Hey. Listen—yesterday—I’m sorry I freaked out like that.”

Was he starting to doubt Elizabeth after all? Had she left too early last night? A wild, painful thumping quickened in Nadia’s chest.

But then he added, “You’re wrong about Elizabeth. But I can see why you’d have to ask. Weird things are going on, Elizabeth’s the only other wi—the only other, um, w-i-t-c-h you know of around here, and so you’d have to figure out if they’re connected. But they aren’t.”

Nadia managed to smile. “I think most people can spell witch by now.” Mateo laughed once, more in surprise than anything else, though he glanced around to see if they were being overheard. “Don’t freak about it. Remember the cafeteria yesterday? You’d be amazed how much people aren’t paying attention to what happens right in front of them.”

“Okay.”

They stepped onto the grounds together, the big quad between the school’s buildings. Different groups were gathering for the lunch break—the rich kids from the Hill glossy and bright around one of the picnic tables, the jocks laughing loudly about a stupid joke, the drama geeks gathering around somebody’s tablet to watch some video or other. Nadia didn’t know whether to go into the cafeteria, or to stand there and wait for Verlaine, or to start talking; the tension between her and Mateo still crackled like static electricity. Amid all this noise and activity, they were motionless. Together alone.

Mateo finally said, “Do you think it’s possible Elizabeth’s in trouble?”

Be objective, Nadia told herself. “It’s possible,” she admitted. “At this point, anything’s possible.”

He didn’t hear the warning in her words. “Like you said, girls aren’t supposed to tell guys about witchcraft. So Elizabeth can’t tell me what she knows. And she couldn’t tell me if she were in danger from whatever is going on in this town.”

“That could be completely true.” Nadia wondered how she’d feel if it really were true. The important thing was to keep an open mind until she knew more—but it was worth finding out how much Elizabeth herself knew. “Did you tell her? About your being a Steadfast, about finding out about magic? About me?”