“It’s an angel’s puzzle box.” I pulled it toward me and pressed my fingertip to the top, then pushed my neon-blue flames into it. White and gold flames flickered around it, swallowing mine whole. “See. I don’t know . . . smashing it to pieces feels like hella dangerous.”

“Rather impertinent.” Tai shook his head. “I would have to agree with Frankie.”

Mei-Ling rolled her eyes. “This note talks all about breaking rules, so just throwing that out there.”

I pulled my hood up over my head, then pulled the strings so it tightened around my face until only my mouth was visible for breathing. “I’ll think about it.”

“Hey, Frankie—oh shit, you’re not Frankie. Sorry, Mei-Ling.”

“Hi, Birdie. That thing in her hoodie cocoon is Frankie.”

Birdie snorted. “Come on out, butterfly.”

“Fine.” I yanked my hood off and sighed. “Heya, Birds. What’s up?”

“You okay?” She glanced around the table full of open books and one puzzle pig that had to look weird out of context. “Y’all seem tense as fuck.”

Tai smirked. “We feel tense as fuck. I’ve gotta get out of this library before I break something.”

Mei-Ling nodded. “I feel an insurmountable rage building inside of me.”

“That’s probably me.” I groaned and scrubbed my face. “My aura is probably rubbing off on you.”

Tai scowled. “Is that possible or are you being dramatic?”

“Both.” Birdie chuckled. “So, leave the library then?”

Mei-Ling’s face fell. “The Coven is super chill about two humans lingering around, but we’ve basically only been allowed to leave headquarters if we were going to the library.”

“Not that we’re not grateful to be here,” Tai added quickly. “It’s just difficult to adjust to.”

Birdie cocked her head to the side. “Well, it’s Saturday, so most of the staff hide from students, hence why people are talking in the library right now.” The three of us frowned and glanced around. “So, because of everything going on and how Tenn turned our entire focus at school into surviving a war and battle skills . . . all four training sites are open on the weekend during daylight hours for monitored practice.” Birdie gestured to us and smirked. “Perhaps you’d like to join us for a little sparing?”

I grinned. “Really? Who’s all there?”

“Oh, dozens of students and not all Swords. In fact, most of them are not Swords and that’s kind of the whole point. We all want to be ready to defend ourselves if we’re attacked.” Birdie stood and wagged her eyebrows. “At the very least, come punch the punching bags and get some of the tension out.”

Mei-Ling and Tai both looked to me with pleading eyes.

“I’m sure with Coven supervision you can be in the training room.” I winked, then stood and shoved my puzzle pig in the pocket of my hoodie. “Let’s go punch some shit.”