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Alex still didn’t understand why he needed her permission—or even what that meant—nor did she have any idea why he was so desperate to get to her world. But what she did know was that his reasons must be nefarious indeed if the stoic Maggie was so worried.

When it came down to it, Aven’s purpose didn’t matter, because there was no way Alex would ever let him step through that doorway. She might not have much waiting for her back in Freya, but it was still her world, herhome—and her parents were there. If there was one thing Alex was sure of, it was that she would do whatever it took to protect the ones she loved from Aven, no matter what his plans were.

Thirty-Seven

Neither Jordan nor Bear couldshed any light on why Aven might want to get to Alex’s world, but they agreed that it sounded dodgy enough to be a cause for concern, so the three of them remained more vigilant than ever over the next few weeks. But despite their best efforts, it didn’t take long before they all became distracted by the daunting amount of revision homework they needed to do for their end-of-year exams.

“What are you thinking about?”

“How much I can’t wait to go to sleep,” Alex answered, when Jordan’s question pulled her from her thoughts. “I keep reading the same paragraph over and over again.”

“I think you’ve been studying for too long. I say we get out of here for a while.”

Alex looked pointedly at the pile of textbooks and study notes scattered across her table in the Rec Room. “You’re not serious?”

“Of course I am!” Jordan said. “All we’ve been doing is study, study, study—forever!”

“It’s been, like, a week, mate,” Bear said, joining their conversation. “Tops. We put it off as long as we could, remember?”

“A week too long,” Jordan whined.

“A weeknecessary,” Alex corrected. “Exams start on Monday.”

“Sometimes it’s good to take a break,” Jordan argued. “Too much studying can make you forget everything you’ve learned.”

Alex looked at him sceptically. “I’m not sure that’s how it works.”

“Maybe not where you’re from,” he said, “but here your brain can rot and start oozing out your ears if it’s stuffed too full of information.”

“Ew!” Alex wrinkled her nose. “Graphic, much?”

“Hey, if youwantyour brain to start oozing out of your ears…”

She threw a wad of paper at him and opened her Med Sci textbook. “You’re going to have to try better than that.”

“But Alllleeeexxxx…”

His whiny tone reminded her of a cute but annoying child, and when he started making pathetic whimpering noises, Alex found herself relenting. They had been studying for hours, a little break wouldn’t do any harm.

“What exactly do you have in mind?” she asked.

“Yes!” he cried, fist-pumping the air victoriously.

Bear closed his textbook with a snap and asked, “What’s the plan, Sparkie?”

“I don’t know,” Jordan admitted. “I didn’t think you guys would actually take a break. But now that you’ve agreed, why don’t we go for a walk? Maybe we should go and see what’s happening in the Library?”

He’d said it innocently enough, but still Alex tensed slightly at his meaning. She hadn’t had any more Library experiences since her journey down to the cavern, but she wasn’t willing to tempt fate, especially since she’d begun to realise that it was only when she wentlookingfor some kind of adventure that the Library gave it to her. When she ventured in there just to study—a frequent occurrence over the past few months—she encountered no otherworldly experiences. But she was pretty sure Jordan didn’t intend to study there tonight.

“I thought you wanted a break from schoolwork?” she asked, glancing around nervously. There were too many people still in the Rec Room for them to speak freely.

“You can do all sorts of things in a Library,” he retorted. “Haveall sortsof adventures.”

A quiet snort nearby stopped Alex from replying immediately, and she turned to find her roommate sitting at the next table over, buried in her books.

“Something funny?” Jordan asked the red-head.

“Just the image of you playing hide and seek around the bookshelves,” D.C. said, not looking up from her notes.