School was even more of a drag than usual with all of this going on. At least it hadn’t made it to school itself this time.

Yet, anyway. No fires, no Tyz’vel pretending to be a student. None of the hunters were in the school. Oh, and no weird teachers.

It was boring, but at least I could hope everyone would be safe. Except Clara, who wasn’t in class.

Which meant…I had to do something I never did. Bail on school. I had to find her. She still wasn’t answering her phone, I noted as I sneaked out, using magic to keep anyone from particularly noticing me. No. She was in trouble.

And I couldn’t safely go after her. Nor could Thea. And I couldn’t call Kanesha out of class.

So? I called Mike. “I know you aren’t supposed to act, but Clara’s missing.”

“What did she do?”

“She was looking into that narrow minded bunch of hunters. I think they might have abducted her.”

“That’s not good. What’s your evidence?”

“Not in class, not picking up her phone. I’m going to go check her home now.”

“Alright. I’ll see what I can do.”
Trusting Mike to handle it, I hung up and walked towards Clara’s home. I knew where it was. Knocking on the door made me slightly nervous. They could report me for being truant.

Her mother answered. I hadn’t met the woman, but the likeness was so obvious that Clara knew what she would look like in twenty or so years. “Hello?”

“Is Clara home sick?”

She frowned. “No. I called the cops, but they won’t do anything. She was hanging out with some friends yesterday.”

“Damn. I was hoping…she’s not at school.”

The woman opened the door. “You’re a friend of hers?”

“Yeah. Don’t tell anyone I’m ruining my attendance record.”

She considered that, “I would do the same thing so, no, I won’t.”

“I called the cop I know. He can look into it off the record.” I couldn’t tell her Clara had got mixed up in something…it was my fault.

The woman sighed. “She’s mixed up in something.”

I let out a breath, then nodded.

“I thought if I didn’t tell her she’d never find out. But she’s still my daughter.”

I felt a sense of relief. “Tell me you’re training her now? And tell me you can do a tracking spell on her? Seb’s supposed to be tracking her, but knowing him, he went in to rescue her and now needs rescuing himself.”

“I should be able to.” She studied me. “…you can’t?”

“I don’t have a strong enough connection to her,” I admitted. “She’s just a friend.”

“Then let’s find her.”