The Seventh Classroom

At forty-six, she's learning magic. Someone would rather the seventh classroom stayed hidden. For twenty-three years, Roxanne Dempsey has been the person who knows what to do at the Esplanade Hotel. Then a concealment peels from a service door, and opening it reveals snow falling on an indoor staircase. At forty-six, she has magic—and a chance to learn. The College of Second Arts occupies a former seaside resort above an estuary, with tiled halls, a reading room that always overlooks low tide, and adult classmates bringing decades of experience to unfamiliar lessons. Roxanne tells herself she only wants an explanation. But success is exhilarating, failure stings, and a friendly locksmith gives her another reason to linger after class. Then the outline of a seventh classroom appears beside a corridor with only six permanent rooms. When a classmate fails to return from a routine errand, curiosity becomes urgent. As her teachers work to reach him, Roxanne follows traces of recent use that don't fit an abandoned room. Her eye for detail matters. So does knowing what she hasn't learned yet. Helping to bring her classmate home will take careful evidence, imperfect skills, and the one thing Roxanne finds hardest: letting other people see how much she wants to succeed.