IWUAaDNW: Party 5.8

By now, Whys had located Jaya. The thaumaturge was in a hallway on the fourth floor of one of the Academy’s wings, and she didn’t look happy.

She was also surrounded by dour-faced Velthian students in a way that I found maddeningly familiar. She spotted the pixie through the window and tried not to make it obvious, but I clearly saw the hope light up in her eyes.

She was almost out of time, it seemed.

She said something to her bullies, then tried to walk away and was stopped by a strong hand on her arm from a male student.

I couldn’t hear a thing they were saying, and I wasn’t that good at lip reading.

I saw her say something again, then she yank her arm out of the man’s grasp before hastily walking away. As she did, she rubbed her arm and winced.

Again, the similarities between this Academy and Winslow struck me.

The students behind her stared at each other, shared a nod and dispersed… but two of them––girls both––obviously followed her. They went down the same hallway, turned a corner, and Whys lost track of them.

Shit. I knew that pattern. Not good.

“We’ve got a problem,” I told Karjn through Naïa. “Jaya’s being followed.”

For good measure, I showed her the exact scene I’d just witnessed.