Rooming with the Wicked

13 | where's my dew juice?

The door to Professor Flamel's office was closed, but I could hear footsteps on the other side. I raised my fist to knock when none other than Professor Renis opened it from the inside. His surprised facial expression likely mirrored mine as I blinked up at him and slowly lowered my hand.

"I've been running into you a few too many times lately for it to be a coincidence," he mused, retreating into the room. "But I suppose, you're not here for me."

"Correct," I said, smiling to cover my embarrassment. Running away from him hadn't exactly been a peak moment for me, but whatever. I had bigger things to worry about.

The calming aroma of sweet hana tea drifted over to me as I peered into the well-lit office. Professor Flamel sat behind his desk with both elbows on the pristine surface, a steaming cup between him and his folded hands. His raised shoulders were the only indication that he wasn't as calm as he looked.

Professor Flamel's tired but no less piercing blue eyes settled on me and he inclined his head. "Good to see you, Ariel."

"I can come back later if now is a bad time," I said.

"I was just leaving," Professor Renis declared. He adjusted the collar of his cloak and excused himself, but not without casting a meaningful glance at Professor Flamel. I would bet my remaining ebrius dust that whatever they'd been discussing had to do either with the portal incident or what was going on in Ardua.

"You look well," Professor Flamel remarked once the door shut behind me.

"If you see past the dark circles of death around my eyes, sure."

"Tea?" he offered, already moving to the cupboard behind him. "I'm guessing this isn't a social call."

"Please," I said, settling into the chair opposite him. "You're right, it's not. I primarily came to ask about long-term side effects of soporis..."

He placed a fresh cup in front of me and started pouring the pale pink liquid. "There aren't any. The antidotes I gave you were more than sufficient to nullify the remaining poison in your system."

Great. So, it was just me. But I couldn't have imagined that weight on my legs...right?

My palms were clammy and I was grateful to wrap them around the warm cup. "That's, uh, great," I said.

"You're not sleeping well?" he asked, reaching for the box of dew drops. "You almost died, Ariel. It's perfectly normal for you to feel nervous."

"Right, how could I forget?" I grumbled.

His gaze softened. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on."

I took a sip of the delicious tea and sighed. "I know. Look, I recently found out that I haven't been, uh, hiding my heritage very well...and it's making me paranoid."

"You think this is about your father." It wasn't a question.

"It makes sense, doesn't it?"

He popped a dew drop in his mouth. "It also gives us a helluva lot of suspects."

"Us?"

"Please"—the candy clicked against his teeth—"you think I'm gonna sit by and give someone another chance to murder my favorite student? Besides...if this is about your father—which seems likely—I might be able to find out why."

"How?"

He smiled. "I may not be an ambassador anymore, but that doesn't mean I lost my connections."

Professor Flamel might just be the best—and only—friend I had in this world. Still, revealing that I suspected my roommates and the guy across the hall was out of the question. For now anyway. I needed actual proof. At least with Dad being the real target, finding a motive should be a lot easier, especially with Professor Flamel's help.