A Practical Guide to Sorcery for Night-Shift Workers novel · Chapter 21 of 24
Chapter 21: Passed
The hearing room was small, windowless and beige.
A folding table stood in the middle with three chairs behind it, and a fourth chair faced them across a strip of carpet.
Anselm sat in the fourth chair with his coat folded over his knee.
His face was gray, his hair was damp, and both of his hands were resting on his thighs, palms up.
They glowed.
Not much, and not bright, but a steady amber that showed through the skin.
He looked at me when I came in.
I had never seen anyone look so tired and so alive.
Duane Pettibone sat behind the table with his clipboard squared in front of him.
The clerk took the seat to his left and folded her hands.
"Ms. Novotny," Duane said. "Thank you. Please sit."
I sat in the chair beside Anselm's, close enough to feel his shoulder.
"I have a question for you, and I'd like a plain answer."
"Okay."
"Where were you for the last thirty-one minutes?"
"In the hall. Holding my wrist."
"Did you speak to Mr. Corday?"
"No."
"Did you see him?"
"No. The door was shut."
"Were you casting, or attempting to cast, or breathing in a pattern meant to influence him?"
I thought about it.
"I was breathing in a pattern," I said. "It was meant to keep me from throwing up."
The clerk made a small noise and turned it into a cough.
Duane's mouth twitched.
"Seven other persons were in the hall with you," he said. "Breathing in unison."
"They were worried about him."
"I see." He made a note. "Then let the record show that you were present only as a worried woman, and not as an assistant."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of A Practical Guide to Sorcery for Night-Shift Workers are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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