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She trailed off in a shrug, watching him raise a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose between his fingers as if to alleviate stress.

“Seriously, I’m fine,” Alex assured him, hoping it would help.

“Start at the beginning, Alex,” Darrius said tightly. “And don’t leave anything out.”

Five minutes later, Darrius was still pinching his nose. Alex wasn’t sure if she should be concerned or not.

“All right, thank you for telling me,” he said, finally relaxing his hand and dropping it to drum his fingers on the table. “While Aven’s threat is worrying, it’s no less than we expected. We’ll just have to remain vigilant.”

Isn’t that what we’ve already been doing? Alex thought, but she figured it was best to keep her mouth closed.

“I’m not sure how well you’ll receive this, but I can’t help wondering if perhaps you should attempt to visit Meyasoon,” he said quietly, as if uncertain of her reaction to his suggestion.

Alex had been looking down at her lap, but his words caused her head to snap up so fast her neck cricked.

“What?” she asked, rubbing at the pain behind her ear. Surely she’d heard wrong. “You can’t be serious?”

“Didn’t the Library say you would be venturing there at some stage?”

Alex regretted not keeping those words to herself. She’d only told Darrius about it over the holidays because she’d wanted him to tell her how crazy the idea was. No one had seen the Lost City for millennia, let alone been there. She had no idea what would happen if she tried to find the right doorway and step through it.

“Yes, that’s what the Library said,” Alex admitted reluctantly. “But Darrius, it’s aLibrary. It doesn’t know the future.”

“Who says?” Darrius returned, with a knowing twinkle in his silvery eyes.

Alex opened her mouth but no sounds came out. Was it that much of an impossible jump to believe that the Library was omniscient?Uh, yeah. She couldn’t begin to follow that line of thinking in her current state of mind.

“Okay, let’s say I do decide to hop, skip and jump over into Meya,” she said, trying to keep her sarcasm in check. “What then?”

“That’s why I suggest you at least consider the idea,” Darrius said, “because I don’t know the answer. It might be good to get some kind of information about what we’re facing. Or, even better, to see if there’s anyone there who you can warn about Aven. If his family line is still ruling, they’ll need to be made aware of his intentions.”

“You do realise that the last humans to set foot in Meya were murdered in cold blood, right?” Alex asked, somewhat heatedly.

“I know, Alex. Truly, I know,” Darrius said, holding her irritated gaze and returning it with his own soothing expression. “I don’t ask this of you lightly.”

Alex blew out a breath and ran a hand across her face. She knew that Darrius was probably more worried about her than she was.

“Why can’tyougo?” she asked, her tone almost pleading.

“For starters, I’m unsure if I’d be able to access the doorway since I’m not Chosen like you are. But even if I could, until the threat of Aven has passed, I must remain on campus to ensure the safety of the students. The academy wards are at their strongest when the headmaster is in residence. I strongly suspect that if Aven decides to, he’ll be able to break through them again. But nevertheless, I’m unwilling to leave and take that chance.”

“But you left over the holidays,” Alex said, and this time she really was pleading; pleading for him to understand that her reluctance stemmed from fear, and pleading for him to offer to go in her place so she wouldn’t have to deal with the challenges the future might bring.

“I only left once, and that was to help relocate your family and assist with the moving of their belongings,” Darrius said. “Even then I didn’t risk staying away for long, nor were there any students on campus at the time. You know that, Alex.”

She tried to think of another argument but nothing came to mind. She knew Darrius would never ask something so dangerous of her without thinking it through. But that didn’t mean she was thrilled by the idea. Quite the contrary, considering the potential death-or-dismemberment scenario she could face on such an expedition. Fun times.

“I’ll think about it,” she agreed finally, not trying to hide her unenthusiastic tone.

“That’s all I ask,” Darrius said, rising to his feet.

Alex rose with him, bid him goodnight, and headed back to her dorm building, mulling over his words and ignoring what she knew her answer would ultimately have to be. She already had enough to worry about, so as far as she was concerned, her decision about Meya could wait for another day—preferably one in the very distant future.

. 1D;

Five

“Are we all ready for what promisesto be a brutal day?” Jordan asked cheerfully at breakfast the next morning.