"That's...that's forbidden," Tessa whispers, her voice holding notes of horror as Peace ruffles up on her shoulder, the bird matching her master's terror.

I blink at Astrid, still in shock myself that such a thing is possible. But Astrid looks unfazed, her gaze taking on a serene look.

"What do you suggest we do? If we don't do something, Kara's going to be held responsible," Astrid argues in a low voice.

"Astrid, it's dangerous, I've heard about people going mad or being destroyed by necromancy spells," Tessa counters, "it's illegal for a reason."

"I know what I'm doing. Now are you two in or out?" Astrid asks as she looks each of us in the eye.

I don't know what to say and apparently, neither does Tessa, but Astrid takes our silence as agreement.

"That's what I thought, I have a small piece of black moonstone so it isn't going to last long, the police station isn't far from here, we'll leave after lights out," Astrid continues to plot as she stands and paces, "I have the app to text an Uber driver so we can use an Uber to get over there-."

"Hold up, you actually want to break into a police station's morgue?" Tessa asks as she reaches up and touches the bracelets around her wrists, much like a Christian would touch a cross necklace around their throat as a way to comfort themselves.

"Yes?" Astrid lifts an eyebrow at Tessa, "That's usually where they keep bodies?"

"I know, but how do you suppose that we'll get in?" she inquires.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve, I'm going to need a few energy drinks, some bones-," she trails off as she walks over to her dresser and pulls out a small, black velvet bag from one of the drawers.

She opens it and peers inside before she cinches it shut and nods to herself.

"Scratch the bones, I have some," she turns to me as she tucks the bag away, "Kara, I really hate to ask, but that necklace that you're wearing, does it have magical properties?"

I reach up and touch the necklace around my throat, the trinket forgotten as I haven't even changed out of my clothes from last night and I suppress a shudder at the realization.

"Yes, but my mother has enchanted it so it can't be touched by anyone else," I admit and Astrid frowns briefly.

"I'll have to find something else," Astrid murmurs as she gnaws on her lip.

"What exactly do you need?" Tessa asks as she walks over to her jewelry box and begins to paw around inside.

"Something that contains a trace of magic, I need a lot of it, I can store magic into an item and use it later-," Astrid explains.

"Like a battery?" I wonder aloud.

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Astrid nods, "Exactly, as long as the item has a trace of magic, it'll continue to amplify the magic so it's stronger."

"I have an alligator tooth and chicken foot necklace from my Auntie," Tessa says as she pulls out a necklace and holds it up for us to see.

Sure enough, it's a twine necklace with several multicolored beads hanging off of it, including an alligator tooth and a pale, limp chicken foot that has its talons splayed. I squash the urge to cringe as Astrid touches the foot, her fingers glowing blue as she does so.

She nods after a moment of inspecting it.

"This will do, your Auntie did a good job of enchanting it," Astrid says and Tessa grins.

"I never thought that it would come in handy," Tessa replies as she passes the gruesome necklace to Astrid.

"Today is the day," Astrid assures her, "now come on, we're going to be late for breakfast."

I realize then that she's right and quickly get out of bed and toss the covers away from me. Tessa snaps her fingers and the sheets on the three bunks begin to move as they remake themselves.

I dash for the bathroom, needing a shower to help with washing away the memories of last night. The shower stall is slightly separated with its own wall and door so Astrid and Tessa can finish getting ready as I bathe quickly out of sight, letting the water run as hot as I can possibly bear.

I scrub myself several times over, my hands stinging when I'm finally done due to the fact that I use my nails on them. Though I washed my hands last night before I left the police station, I can still feel the uncomfortable tightness of having dried blood on them as I dig at my palms until I give up.

I dry off and slip on a fresh uniform, briefly touching the insignia of the twin stag heads over my heart before I step out of the bathroom to see that Tessa and Astrid are waiting for me.

"Let's go," Astrid mutters as she opens the door to our room and steps into the hall.

Several other girls are milling about in the hallway as we pass them quickly. Some of them watch me for a second too long and I wonder then if word has gotten around yet. It was the middle of the night when everything happened, but there's still no telling if anyone knows.

Only time will tell when it comes down to it and whether or not anyone heard the full truth. I can feel more eyes on me as we enter the cafeteria and it doesn't take long for Indigo to appear by my side.

"What happened last night?" she hisses in a low voice.

"Later," I promise her, exhaustion still making me sluggish as I grab for a scarce breakfast and move down the line at the serving counter.

"Kara-," she protests, but I ignore her as I walk over to a table in the corner, needing to sit down.

I can hear her footsteps follow me and I brace myself for a scolding as she approaches me.

"Hi."

I glance up in surprise to see that two girls are standing at the edge of the table with trays in their hands. They look hesitant, like they were told to sit with me and a glance around the cafeteria reveals the fact that Eleanora is sitting at a table on the other side of the hall, her gaze flicking to mine for a second before she looks away.

"Uh, hi," I murmur as I look at them more closely.

One of them is older and faintly familiar while the other has tanned skin and dark hair and eyes as she almost looks Hispanic. The older girl is of Asian descent and she smiles as she sits down in the seat next to me right as Astrid and Tessa walk up.

"Grimsbane," Astrid says as she nods to her.

"You two know each other?" I ask, slightly surprised as the girl, Violetta I realize now, smiles back at Astrid.

"I competed in the UK a few times," Violetta says as the other girl sits next to her, "I'm Violetta and this is Sophia."

"Hello," Sophia says in a shy voice.

"We heard about what happened last night," Violetta murmurs in an apologetic tone. "We believe that you're innocent, and we wanted to invite you to go horseback riding later, as a way to take your mind off of this troublesome time. Would you like to come?"

I glance at the others before I nod, "Uh, sure, I could use some fresh air."

"Great! It'll be fun, I promise," Violetta assures me as Indigo suddenly sits at the table.

She doesn't meet my eyes and I vow then that I'll tell her the truth as soon as I have time.

Indi, I'm just confused and scared right now, I think silently to myself as I notice her frown, I'll tell you the truth as soon as I can.