CHOOL FOR G IRL
E DUCATION AND E NLIGHTENMENT
Agatha closed and reopened her bleary eyes, for she had seen wrong.
It still said âGIRL.â
âHuh?â
Sophie stood up beside her. âThatâs strange.â
âWell, âGoodâ and âGirlâ arenât so far apart,â Agatha said. âMaybe one of the nymphs got confusedââ
But then she saw what Sophie was looking at. At the halfway point across the bay, Goodâs lake slimed into Evilâs moat. Only the moat wasnât black, like it used to be. It was rusted red, the color of the cesspool in the Woods and guarded by the spiny white crocodiles she had seen eat the female deerâat least twenty of them, lurking in the sludge, black shark teeth glinting.
Slowly Agatha looked up at the School for Evil looming above the moat. Three bloodred towers, jagged with spikes, flanked a smooth silver tower, twice as tall as the others. Atop the four towers, flags crackled in the fog, emblazoned with scarlet snakes.
âThere used to be three Evil towers,â Sophie said, squinting. âNot four . . .â
Voices rose across the bay and the two girls ducked into the lilies.
Out of the Woods stormed men in black through Evilâs castle gates.
They were wearing red leather hoods.
âThe School Masterâs men!â Sophie cried as they faded into the fog.
Agatha whitened. âBut that meansââ
She whirled back to the bay.
âItâs . . . gone ,â breathed Agatha, for the School Masterâs sky-high silver tower, once guarding the halfwaypoint between moat and lake, had simply . . . disappeared.
âNo, itâs not,â Sophie said, still eyeing the School for Evil.
Now Agatha saw why there were four towers there instead of three.
The School Masterâs tower had moved to Evil.
âHeâs alive !â Agatha cried, gaping at his silver spire. âBut howââ
Sophie pointed. âLook!â
In the towerâs single window, veiled by fog, a shadow stared down at them. All they could see of its face was a gleaming silver mask.
âItâs him!â Sophie hissed. âHeâs leading Evil!â
âAgatha! Sophie!â
The girls swiveled from the lilies to see Professor Dovey running from Good castle in her green high-necked gownâ
âCome quickly!â
As the two girls hurried behind her through Goodâs golden gates, Agatha glanced back at the School Masterâs tower and the masked shadow in the window. All they had to do was kill him again, and her mistake would be hidden forever. Theyâd go home safe, her promise to Stefan kept, and Sophie would never know what sheâd wished for. Looking up at that shadow lording over Evil, Agatha waited for her heart to rage with purpose, to propel her into battle . . . but instead her heart did something else.
It fluttered.
The way a princessâs did in storybooks.
When she saw her prince.
UNCORRECTED E-PROOFâNOT FOR SALE
HarperCollins Publishers
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5
The Other School
A s she and Sophie sprinted behind Professor Dovey into the mirrored corridor, Agatha tried to find her breath. Professor Dovey was a famous fairy godmother. She had to give them answers.
âWho are those red hoods?â Agatha askedâ
âHow did the School Master survive?â said Sophieâ
âWhy are the Nevers on his side?â said Agathaâ
âQuiet!â Professor Dovey snapped, erasing their footsteps with her magic wand. âWe donât have much time!â
âYou donât seem surprised to see us,â Agatha whispered, but her fairy godmother didnât respond as she rushed them into Goodâs deserted foyer, magically boltingdoors behind them.
Only months ago, Sophie had eviscerated the hall in her witchâs revenge on Agatha and Tedros, blasting
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