Soheila nodded, her face a mask of pain. “I’d miss him, too,” she admitted. “But it’s because of him I must go. If I were trapped here without access to Aelvesgold eventually I would be driven to feed on humans. If I ever hurt him …” She shivered despite the warmth of the day. “I’d never forgive myself.”

She forced a grim smile and squeezed my arm. As she turned to continue walking I wondered if that’s how Duncan had felt after he struck me – and if that’s why he’d run away.

We found a small gathering outside the lecture hall. The only sign indicating the event read, “Symposium on the Dialogue of Discourse Determined by the Debatable Dexterity of Dynamic Dissent.” No doubt it was boring and intimidating (not to mention alliterative) enough to drive away any lay people. Caspar van der Aart from Earth Sciences was talking to Joan Ryan from Chemistry, and also some people from town – Dory Browne and two of her cousins and the guy who ran the Greek restaurant, whom I always suspected might be a satyr. I noticed a number of the witches from the circle – Moondance and Leon Botwin and Tara Cohen-Miller – talking among themselves. When they saw us they stopped talking abruptly, as if they’d been talking about us. Moondance, wearing a t-shirt that read “I Believe in Fairies,” approached us.

“We heard the meeting had been moved up and wanted to show our support, but they’re not letting us in. They say it’s a private meeting. I say if this meeting is going to determine the fate of our friends and neighbors we should be allowed to attend.”

“I agree completely,” I said, glad for once to be on the right side of her belligerence. “Let’s see what we can do.”

One of Adelaide’s blond minions was stationed just inside the door to the lecture hall. Soheila strode toward him, but the second her toe crossed the threshold she shrieked and fell to the floor. I knelt quickly beside her to see what was wrong … and recoiled in shock. Her arm was spidered with a pattern like tree branches. As I watched they broke through her skin and wrapped themselves around her slender forearm and wrist, growing thicker and rougher. Bark formed over their surface and leaves sprouted. A tree branch was growing out of Soheila’s arm. I reached forward and touched it gingerly. Soheila winced.

“My God, that’s horrible. How can we get rid of it?” I looked up at the impassive face of the fair-haired man.

“The branch will recede in a few minutes as long as she doesn’t commit anymore infractions,” he said.

“She only tried to walk through a door – a door on our campus! She works here, for heaven’s sake! This is outrageous!”