Page 8 of Shadow Prophet (Scythe Grove Academy 2)

The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I spin around, searching for whatever it is that might be causing it. Nothing raises my suspicions. The other side of the street looks just the same as it did when we entered Erica's house.

I shake my head to rid myself of any more superstitions.

"Is everything all right?" Mathias asks.

"Yes. I'm just thinking about the baby," I lie. I'm not sure why I don't tell him the truth. Maybe I don't want him thinking that I'm paranoid? It's better to brush it off and not worry him. "Why don't we head back to the academy and you can show me which forms we need to fill in for this?"

"That's not the most exciting way to spend an evening..."

"You can't do my forms for the rest of our training," I point out. "I need to learn at some point."

A guilty expression crosses his face. He knows I'm right, but for some reason, he isn't ready to admit it.

That's fine, so long as I get my way and we start sharing the workload.

"Fine. Let's go fill out some forms. But after this case, you need to get one of the fancy coffee machines Juliet has for your room."

"We can go halves on it."

"Deal."

He starts to head down the street and I follow, still a little itchy from before. I know no one was watching me, but it still feels as if they were. And even if it was just my imagination playing tricks on me, the effect is something I can't ignore.

5

It's nice to have a night off from searching for Erica's baby. What should have been as simple as filling out one form has turned out to be a bit more

complicated. I'm not precisely sure why, but it seems as if the baby doesn't want to be found. Which is ridiculous, it's not like the baby had any choice in the matter.

After spending a rather frustrating afternoon trying to get hold of social workers, Mathias suggested the two of us switched off for the night and put on a movie with popcorn.

I lean my head against Mathias' shoulder, enjoying the warmth his embrace gives me. I'm not sure precisely when we got so comfortable with one another, but there's something about this situation that feels right.

The film carries on playing in front of us. I'm barely paying any attention, but I don't care. Getting to spend time with Mathias while we're not trying to hunt down a ghost's unfinished business, or having to study for class is a welcome change.

"We should do this more often," I whisper without thinking about it.

"We should," he agrees. "It's nice."

"Even without a fancy coffee machine?" I tease.

He laughs lightly. "We can always message Jules and get her to bring us some."

"How about no. We're not disturbing her evening just because you want coffee."

"All the more reason to get one for ourselves."

"If you like it so much, why haven't you gotten yourself one before now?" I ask.

"Hmm. That's a good question."

"One you don't have an answer for?"

"Maybe that's my unfinished business," he jokes.

"It seems rather mundane," I admit.

"A lot of them seem to be."