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“I hardly know him, really,” Alex said. “He just sort of turns up whenever I need him.”

Jarvis laughed. “Yes, he does seem to have a bit of a sixth sense about him.”

“Thankfully that sixth sense led him to me tonight,” Alex said. “He saved me from a difficult situation at Chateau Shondelle, and bada-bing, here I am.” She then pointed to the ComGlobe. “He also mentioned you’d be able to get that back to Professor Marselle.”

“I’m sure he did,” Jarvis murmured. In a louder voice he asked, “Do you want to tell me what happened to your neck?”

“Just part of that difficult situation I mentioned,” she said, not wanting to elaborate.

Jarvis waited to see if she would say more, and when she didn’t, he pursed his lips and said, “I can see you’re tired, so I’ll let it go for now. But Iwillbe discussing this with the headmaster.”

“Discuss away,” Alex said, unsure why Professor Marselle would even need to know about it. Or care, for that matter.

“You should go and get some rest, Alex,” Jarvis said. “You’re a bit pale.”

I’m sure I am, she thought, suddenly exhausted.

Alex bid him farewell and stumbled down the staircase and out of the Tower, heading straight to her dorm building. Her visit to Fletcher would have to wait until morning since she was too tired to go anywhere but to her bed.

Bathroom first, she corrected,then bed.

Thirty-Three

“What are you doing here?”

“Mmmghnfffff…”

“I said, what are you doing here?”

The voice was annoyingly insistent. Alex pulled her pillow over her head, hoping to block out the sound.

“You’re bleeding,” the voice said again, this time not as loud, but definitely closer. “Why are you bleeding?”

Alex groaned when the questions continued to interrupt her peaceful sleep. She moved the pillow away from her face and opened bleary eyes, surprised to find her roommate standing over her.

“D.C.?” she said in a sleepy voice. “Why are you in my room?”

“It’sourroom. And what areyoudoing here? Students aren’t due back until tomorrow afternoon.”

Alex sat upright, remembering that she wasn’t at the Ronnigans’ house anymore. She rubbed her eyes, feeling the cut on her neck pull with the movement. “Ow.”

“What happened to you?” D.C. asked again. If Alex didn’t know any better, she would have thought that the other girl seemed concerned. But that wasn’t possible.

“Nothing,” Alex mumbled, dragging herself out of bed. She quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a thick woollen coat before she looked over at her roommate. The other girl seemed almost disappointed by the lack of explanation but Alex wasn’t sure why, since D.C. never usually cared about anything Alex had to say.

“And you’re back early because…?” D.C. asked again.

“Why are you here early?” Alex asked, turning the question around.

“I never left,” D.C. answered.

“You stayed here for Kaldoras? On your own?” Alex asked before she could stop herself. “What about your family?”

D.C.’s expression tightened and Alex regretted asking something so personal when they were barely even on speaking terms.

“My family is away on business,” D.C. said. “And I wasn’t alone. There were other students who stayed here.”

“Right,” Alex said. “Did you have fun?”