Edie heard Corrie and Dawn shouting her name behind her, but she couldn’t slow down. None of the people in the center green seemed to have seen her yet. She had to get to the human girl before Gerlina noticed her.
As she ran out onto the lawn, Troy and Link both turned toward her. Then Troy shouted and pointed past Edie, to her right, in the direction that Corrie thought she’d seen Gerlina. So he had seen the teeth, too. Why weren’t the professors doing anything?
The human girl had stopped in her tracks, looking around in confusion. Could she see the teeth? She could certainly see Troy and Link, stopped in the middle of the green, and Edie, pelting across the grass toward her.
Edie couldn’t shout to her, because she didn’t want Gerlina to notice either of them. The plan had been for the faerie to go after Troy and Link, and for the magic professors to catch her that way. If Gerlina went in a different direction, it might mess up the whole plan.
And if Gerlina went after this human girl, she would have no chance.
The girl’s eyes widened and she took a step back as Edie ran up to her. “Get back inside,” she said, grabbing the girl’s arm. “Was there anyone else at that door?” She had no idea whether the door the girl had just come through was the one where the werewolves were lurking, and she didn’t want to get in their way.
“What’s going on?” the girl asked, as though she hadn’t heard Edie. Her voice went high-pitched at the end.
Edie didn’t want to look. “It’s not safe. We have to get inside.”
“Is that… Professor Lal?”
Edie turned around. Sure enough, the magic professors had finally converged in the middle of the green and were flinging their lines of golden light to each other. The lines passed right through Troy and Link and snagged on something invisible in the middle. They created more and more lines until they had the net they’d described, and in the center of it, like a weird insect caught in a spider’s web, was a shadowy mass with teeth.
The werewolves were running up as well—they’d come out a different door, closer to the center. But it didn’t seem that they would be needed. Gerlina was struggling, but the magic professors and their net were holding strong.
Edie let out a sigh of relief and let go of the girl’s arm. “It’s safe.”
“What are they doing? What’s happening?” The girl finally seemed to look at Edie. “Who are you?”
“I’m Edie. Sorry if I scared you.”
“You’re not the one that scared me…” The girl stared uncertainly at the center green, where the magic professors were moving in closer to Gerlina, walking past Troy and Link, who huddled together. The werewolves walked slowly closer.
“It’s okay. It’s over now.”
“But what happened?”
“Um, I’m not sure I’m allowed to tell you. Magic stuff.” Corrie and Dawn were coming out of the magic building now, and Tom out of the administration building.
“Well, obviously. Can I go home now?”
“That’s probably a good idea. Do you want me to walk with you?”
The girl frowned and hitched her backpack up again, hooking her thumbs into the straps. “Um, no.” She walked toward the humanities building and skirted along its wall, keeping an eye on what was happening in the center.
Corrie and Dawn rushed up to Edie. “Edie! Are you okay?” Corrie cried. Without waiting for an answer, she flung her arms around Edie.
Edie hugged her back, then hugged Dawn. “I’m fine. I was trying to make sure that girl was okay.”
“You could have said something,” Dawn said. “We would have come with you.”
Hadn’t she said anything? Now that it was over, it seemed like it had all happened really fast. “I’m sorry. I saw her, and I just… reacted. I didn’t want anyone else to get killed.”
“Dawn,” Professor Lal called from where the professors were still holding Gerlina. “Will you assist us, please?”
Dawn frowned and looked over her shoulder. “Just a second.” She turned back to Edie. “Is she okay? Who is she?”
“She’s fine, though I might have freaked her out a little,” Edie said. “I don’t know what her name is. I didn’t recognize her. Did you?”
“Nope,” Corrie said. “Let’s get back to the others.”
They turned and walked slowly back to the middle. Tom had his arms crossed and looked bored. The werewolves and Djanaea were all staring at the bundle made by the professors’ net, Charlie and his mom with identical curls of disgust on their lips.
“Dawn, we’d like you to confirm that this is her,” Professor Lal said crisply. “What do you see with your Sight?”
Dawn stared at their bundle. “Other than the net, I just see teeth. I don’t know if there’s any glamour to see through.”
“I can see her in trance,” Ginny announced. “It’s just like Meg described—a very thin body made of blue, cloudy magic.”
“But is she truly trapped?” Professor Rook asked, tossing a frown in Edie and Dawn’s direction.
Clare K. R. Miller 
That was strange…
What was she doing there? and why was she so unfriendly? was she suicidal? 😮 or is she part of Gerlina?
I hope they have her safely?