I gave her a false smile. It was obvious she recognized me; her face had scrunched up like a prune.

“Rachel Morgan,” she said.

“Here,” I said, my voice flat.

A wisp of annoyance flashed over her. “I know who you are.” Low heels clicking, she came to stand before me. Leaning forward, she peered at Jenks. “Who might you be, pixy sir?”

“Uh, Jenks, ma’am,” he stammered, his wings moving fitfully to tangle in my hair.

“Jenks,” she said, her tone bordering on the respectful. “I’m glad to make your acquaintance. You’re not on my class list. Please leave.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, and much to my surprise, the usually arrogant pixy swung himself off my earring. “Sorry, Rache,” he said, hovering before me. “I’ll be in the faculty lounge or the library. Nick might still be working.”

“Sure. I’ll find you later.”

He gave Dr. Anders a head bob and zipped out the still open door.

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Anders said. “Is my class interfering with your social life?”

“No, Dr. Anders. It’s a pleasure seeing you again.”

She pulled back at the faint sarcasm. “Is it?”

From the corner of my sight I saw Janine’s mouth hanging open. What I could see of the rest of the class looked about the same. My face burned. I don’t know why the woman had it in for me, but she did. She was as nice as a hungry crow to everyone else, but I got the ravenous badger.

Dr. Anders let her papers fall to my table with a slap. My name was circled in a thick red marker. Her thin lips tightened almost imperceptibly. “Why are you here?” she asked. “We are two classes into the semester.”

“It’s still add/drop week,” I countered, feeling my pulse increase. Unlike Jenks, I had no problem fighting authority. But as the song went, authority always won.

“I don’t even know how you managed to get the approval for taking this class,” she said caustically. “You have none of the prerequisites.”

“All my credits transferred in. And I got a year for life-experiences.” True enough, but Edden was the real reason I had been able to skip right to a five-hundred-level class.

“You are wasting my time, Ms. Morgan,” she said. “You are an earth witch. I thought I had made that very clear to you. You don’t possess the control to work ley lines beyond what you need to close a modest circle.” She leaned over me, and I felt my blood pressure rise. “I’m going to flunk you out of my class faster than before.”

I took a steadying breath, glancing at the shocked faces. Clearly they had never seen this side of their beloved instructor. “I need this class, Dr. Anders,” I said, not knowing why I was trying to appeal to her stunted compassion. Except that if I got kicked out, Edden might make me pay the tuition. “I’m here to learn.”

At that, the prickly woman picked up her papers and retreated to the empty table behind her. Her gaze roved over the class before settling on me. “Having trouble with your demon?”