Which brought me back to the present. Ms. Terwilliger. I had to tell her what I'd found. I called for a third time. Still no answer. Although I often had images of Ms. Terwilliger conducting late-night rituals, it was entirely reasonable that she'd be in bed right now. Was this the kind of thing that could wait until morning?
No, I decided on the spot. No, it wasn't. We were dealing with dangerous, violent magic users - and my car had just been attacked. Something might be happening as I stood there, trying to decide. I would have to wake her up . . . provided I could get to her.
It took only a moment to make my next decision. I called Adrian.
He answered on the first ring but sounded wary, which I couldn't blame him for after what I'd done earlier. "Hello?"
I prayed he was the noble guy I thought he was. "Adrian, I know things are bad between us, and maybe I have no right to ask, but I need a favor. It's about Veronica."
There was no hesitation. "What do you need?"
"Can you come over to Amberwood? I need you to help me break curfew and escape my dorm."
There were a few moments of silence. "Sage, I've been waiting two months to hear you say those words. You want me to bring a ladder?"
The plan was already unfolding in my head. The security guards that patrolled at night would have eyes on the student parking lot, but the back property would be relatively unguarded.
"I'll get myself out of the building. If you come up the main road that leads to Amberwood and then go past the driveway you'll see a little service road that runs up a hill and goes behind my dorm. Park there near the utility shed, and I'll meet you as soon as I get out."
When he spoke again, his earlier levity was gone. "I'd really like to believe this is some awesome midnight adventure, but it's not, is it? Something's gone really wrong."
"Very wrong," I agreed. "I'll explain in the car."
I quickly changed into clean jeans and a T-shirt, adding a light suede jacket against the evening chill. To be safe, I also decided to pack my bag with a few supplies and bring it along. If all went well, I'd simply be warning Ms. Terwilliger tonight. But with the way things had been going lately, I couldn't presume anything would be simple. Bringing the suitcase this time would be unwieldy, so I had to make a few quick decisions about chemicals and magical components. I tossed some in the bag and stuffed others in my jeans and coat pockets.
Once I was ready, I headed down to Julia and Kristin's room. They were dressed for bed but not asleep yet. When Julia saw me with my coat and bag, her eyes went wide.
"Sweet," she said.
"I know you've gotten out before," I said. "How'd you do it?"
Julia's many dates often occurred outside of sanctioned school hours, and both she and Kristin had bragged about Julia's exploits in the past. I'd hoped perhaps Julia knew about a secret tunnel out of the school and that I wouldn't have to attempt some crazy feat of acrobatics. Unfortunately, that was exactly what I had to do. She and Kristin walked me to their window and pointed at a large tree growing outside it.
"This room has a view and easy access," said Kristin proudly.
I eyed the gnarled tree warily. "That's easy?"
"Half the dorm's used it," she said. "So can you."
"We should be charging people," mused Julia. She flashed me a smile. "Don't worry. We'll give you a freebie tonight. Just start on that big limb there, swing over there, and then use those branches for handholds."
I found it amazing that someone who'd claimed badminton in PE was too "dangerous" would have no qualms about scaling a tree from her third-floor room. Of course, Marcus's apartment had been on the fourth floor, and that fire escape had been a million times more unsafe than this tree. Thoughts of Alicia and Ms. Terwilliger snapped me back to the importance of my mission, and I gave Julia and Kristin a decisive nod.
"Let's do this," I said.
Julia cheered and opened the window for me. Kristin watched just as eagerly. "Please tell me you're running off to meet some breathtakingly handsome guy," she said.
I paused, just as I was about to climb out. "Yes, actually. But not in the way you're thinking."
Once I made it to the limb Julia had indicated, I discovered she was right. It was pretty simple - so simple, in fact, that I was surprised no school official had noticed this easy access escape route and chopped it down. Well, so much the better for those of us with late-night errands. I made it to the ground and waved goodbye to my watching friends.
The dorm's back property had some lights on it, exactly for the reason of deterring wayward students like me. It was also along the patrol route of one of the security guards but wasn't a spot he stayed regularly stationed at. He wasn't in sight, so I crossed my fingers that he was busy with another part of his beat. There were enough shadows on the lawn that I was able to stay within them the whole way - until I reached the back fence. It was lit up pretty well, and really, the only assets I had were that I was a fast climber and that the guard hadn't surfaced yet. Falling back on that hope that the universe owed me some favors - especially after tricking me about Alicia - I gulped and scrambled over. No one shouted at me when I landed on the other side, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd made it out. Getting back in would be harder, but that was a problem for later, hopefully one Ms. Terwilliger could help out with.
I found Adrian waiting for me in the Mustang, exactly where I'd indicated. He gave me a sidelong glance as he drove us away. "No black catsuit?"
"It's in the laundry."
He smiled. "Of course it is. Now, where are we going, and what's going on?"
"We're going to Ms. Terwilliger's," I said. "And what's going on is that we've been walking around in front of the enemy this entire time without even realizing it."
I watched Adrian as I related my revelations and saw his face go from disbelieving to dismayed the more I spoke. "Her aura was too perfect," he said once I finished. "Perfectly neutral, perfectly average. No one's is like that. I brushed it off, though. Figured maybe it was just a weird human one."
"Can someone influence how their aura looks?" I asked.
"Not to that extent," he said. "I don't know enough about these charms you guys use, but I'm guessing it was one of those that skewed the way her colors looked."
I slumped into the seat, still angry at not having figured this out sooner. "On the bright side, she doesn't know we're on to her and Veronica. That could give us an advantage."