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in the grasses. Nothing was left standing.
    Though reeling with shock, Dana grew aware of a second horror. The air was singed with a sour metallic smell. A sickly green mist whispered over the stone ruins. The buzzing sound rang out again, like a giant wasp about to sting her. She sensed a malevolent presence that didn’t belong there. And in one heart-stopping second of clarity, she knew it was after her.
    Too late, she tried to back away, to return to the Earthworld. The green mist was beginning to thicken, to take shape. Tendrils snaked toward her and curled around her throat. She began to choke. Drowning in terror, she clawed at the thing wildly, but the more she struggled the tighter it gripped. She couldn’t scream. It was cutting off her windpipe. The buzzing sound was inside her head. She was losing consciousness.
    • • •
     
    Then words rang out like bells in the distance.
    “ Tabernac , So she look out the window. What’s the big deal?”
    It was like a splash of frosty water from a mountain stream.
    With a sickening lurch, Dana fell into her body and was back in the classroom. She clutched her desk as she gasped for breath. Quickly she looked around. What was going on?
    Mr. Crowley’s face was contorted with fury, but his attention was no longer directed at her. It was trained on the young man a few rows over.
    “Ah. Jean Ducharme. Or should I say, Monsieur Ducharme? Our transfer delinquent from Quebec. Swearing in class already. Have you been introduced to your peers who are hardly that since they are so much younger than yourself?”
    The words oozed like an oil slick over clean waters, but their target was not in the least perturbed. Jean Ducharme returned his teacher’s glare with a mild look of disdain.
    “I have fifteen years, un peu older than the others, oui . But my English is not good, so I am agreed to be here. In one year, I will meet my class. Mais peut-être , you cannot see this. You cannot see intelligence.”
    For a moment Crowley looked as if he might explode. Shuddering visibly, he regained control. His face cooled to a mask. His tone was icy.
    “I wouldn’t advise you to keep up that tone. I’ve seen your record. I could have you expelled in an instant.”
    A light smile played around Jean’s lips, but he didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he simply shrugged.
    With a scowl, the teacher turned his back on the class and began to write on the board.
    Wide-eyed, the rest of the class didn’t hide their delight as they exchanged furtive glances. The year had barely begun and it was already showing great promise. They had all been immediately intimidated by the change in their teacher, but here was a new player challenging him. The girls cast approving glances at the hero in their midst. Dark-haired and handsome, older than the other boys, with a French accent and a shady past, what more could they ask for?
    Only Dana was unhappy. Her thoughts raced wildly. She hadn’t begun to absorb the horror of the attack against her and the destruction of her portal, when she found herself facing another dilemma. Like electricity in the air before a thunderstorm, she could sense it around her: the presence of magic. It was in the classroom. Had something followed her from the portal? Was it her attacker? She looked first at Crowley and then at Jean. Her mind was on fire. When the two glowered at each other, a look of recognition had passed between them. Or had she imagined it? No, they were connected, she was sure of it.
    As the first shock wore off, Dana went on the defensive. There might be another assault. For the remainder of the class, she kept a careful eye on both her teacher and Jean. The two did not clash again, but settled into an uneasy truce, ignoring each other. Crowley also appeared indifferent to Dana, sometimes looking right through her as if she weren’t there. She was beginning to think she was mistaken about him, when the bell went off. As she grabbed her books to leave,