“Are you sure he quit?” I asked. “Maybe the witch hunter …” I left my sentence open, and Janine smiled reassuringly.

“Yes, he quit. He asked if I wanted to buy his magnetic chalk if he got the job. The bookstore won’t take them back once you break the seal.”

My face went slack in sudden, real alarm. “I didn’t know I needed chalk.”

“Oh, I’ve got one you can borrow,” she said as she rummaged in her purse. “Dr. Anders usually has us sketching something or other: pentagrams, north/south apogees … you name it, we’ve traced it. She lumps the lab in with the lecture. That’s why we meet here instead of a lecture hall.”

“Thanks,” I said as I accepted the metallic stick and gripped it along with my book. Pentagrams? I hated pentagrams. My lines were always crooked. I’d have to ask Edden if he would pay for a second trip to the bookstore. But then remembering the cost of the class he would probably never be reimbursed for, I decided to go pick up my old school supplies from my mom. Swell. Better give her a call.

Janine saw my sick look, and misunderstanding it, she rushed to say, “Oh, don’t worry, Rachel. The murderer isn’t after us. Really. Dr. Anders said to be careful, but he’s only going for experienced witches.”

“Yeah,” I said, wondering if I would be considered experienced or not. “I guess.”

The conversations around us ceased as Dr. Anders’s voice shrilled from behind the door, “I don’t know who’s killing my students. I’ve been to too many funerals this month to listen to your foul accusations. And I’ll sue you from here back to the Turn if you slander my name!”

Janine looked alarmed as she picked up her book and held it to her chest. The students in the hallway shifted from foot to foot and exchanged uneasy looks. From my earring Jenks whispered, “So much for keeping Dr. Anders in the dark about her possible suspect status.” I nodded, wondering if Edden would let me drop the class now. “It’s Denon in there with her,” Jenks added, and I took a quick breath.

“What?”

“I can smell Denon,” he reiterated. “He’s in there with Dr. Anders.”

Denon? I thought, wondering what my old boss was doing out from behind his desk.

There was a soft murmur, followed by a loud pop. Everyone in the hall but Jenks and me jumped. Janine reached up and touched her ear as if she had just been knocked a good one. “Didn’t you feel that?” she asked me, and I shook my head. “She just set a circle without drawing a real one first.”

I eyed the door along with everyone else. I didn’t know you could set a circle without drawing it. I also didn’t like that everybody but Jenks and I had been able to tell she had done it. Feeling as if I was in over my head, I picked my bag up.