The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin (Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 1) by L. Jagi Lamplighter

in trouble?”
    “For saving Valerie?” Rachel’s brows arched in surprised. “Why would we get in trouble for saving someone?”
    “With adults, you never know.” Siggy looked around suspiciously, as if expecting accusing adults to spring out of the walls and come for them.
    The princess laid a comforting hand on his arm. “Fear not, young man. If anything should go amiss, I will go speak with the dean. She and the Grand Inquisitor of the Wisecraft are friends of my family.”
    “Wow,” Rachel murmured, impressed. “Your family has some very highly placed friends! The Grand Inquisitor is my father’s boss!”
    At the far end of the room, Valerie Hunt and Salome Iscariot were being questioned by two proctors, whom Rachel recognized, as she had met them the previous day. Mr. Fuentes was a rather good-looking young man of Spanish descent with a big friendly smile. Mr. Scott was shorter and blond with a more serious cast of features.
    “I wish I knew what they were saying,” Rachel mused. She hated being left out of the loop, especially from things that were happening right in front of her.
    “Do you really?” Siggy’s eyes gleamed. “We…are friends, right?”
    “Right!” Rachel turned to Nastasia. “Would you like to be our friend, too?”
    Nastasia tilted her head and gave the proposition due consideration. “A well-born girl and a hero? Both appropriate friends for a young woman of my station.” She gave a little nod, blushing slightly. “I believe our being friends would be most agreeable indeed.”
    “We are all friends, then,” Rachel raised her eyebrows in hopeful inquiry.
    “Right!” Siggy spat in his palm and held it out toward the girls.
    Ah. Another flick of a flame decision. How was her friendship with Sigfried to be? Was she going to let her new friend daunt her? Or was she going to prove her mettle? Taking a deep breath, she grabbed his goopy hand and shook.
    Siggy looked impressed. “Now you are one of the boys.”
    Rachel grinned. Surreptitiously, she wiped her wet hand on her robes.
    “ Noblesse oblige ,” Nastasia murmured. Her blue, blue eyes twinkled with a mixture of amusement and revulsion. With the resolve of a martyr refusing to show weakness in front of a firing squad, she shook Siggy’s still-moist hand.
    “Very good. We’re all friends!” Rachel grinned, relieved that making friends had not proved as hard as she had first feared. “Now we can do important things together, like figure out why someone was trying to hurt Valerie! About the proctors over there…” She glanced in the direction of the door. The two proctors had stepped aside and were speaking privately to each other. Or so they thought. “Siggy, you were saying?”
    Siggy tipped his head down and half-closed his eyes. “The dark-haired guy is saying—”
    “His name is Mr. Fuentes,” Rachel supplied.
    Siggy said, “Fuentes is saying: ‘…new kinds of magic. This ensorcelling paper sounds like yet another new magic. Maybe the scarab, too.’ ” Siggy paused. “Now the blond guy…”
    Rachel said quickly, “His name is Mr. Scott.”
    “Scott is saying, ‘How are the Agents supposed to keep people safe if they are constantly faced with magic no one has seen before. Some of it is very dangerous.’
    “Now, Fuentes is saying, ‘I don’t know, Buddy. But it sure makes our job harder.’
    “Now, Scott: ‘You can say that again!’ ” Siggy paused and then continued as Scott did. “ ‘Do you think there could be something to that report—that someone on campus intends harm to the students?’
    “Now, Fuentes: ‘Nah. If so, why would’ve they risked something so obvious as sending an operative from outside? Why not just attack Miss Hunt surreptitiously?’
    “Now, Scott: ‘Could the last of the Morthbrood be behind this? It’s rumored that the ones who turned State’s evidence gave the total number at three more than were apprehended.’ ”
    Siggy whispered to the girls, “Does he