Page 117 of Eternal Ruin

“Who are you going to vote for?” she asked, staring Yusef in the eye.

“Wow, not even an attempt at small talk. At least try to charm me.”

It would be easy to joke this away, sink into their familiar routine, and Kidan wished she could. But every time she found a trace of joy, the world loved to crush it under its heel. She had to become something she didn’t want, guarded, always cautious.

“You look very handsome,” Kidan said with a straight face. “Who are you going to vote for?”

He gave her a small grin. “Better. You know for two people at odds, you and Slen have the same approach.”

Kidan scanned the area for the familiar jacket. “Did she come talk to you?”

He nodded.

Damn, that was fast. “What did she say?”

“I look handsome,andI remind her of a young Picasso.”

“Yusef.”

His smile smoothed out, his tone lowering. “She wants me to vote her way.”

Kidan tried to keep her expression neutral, digging her fingers into the stone. “And?”

In the distance, a few protesters were taking a break, gathered around a bench. Yusef’s gaze lingered there.

“I understand why you both want to win. And one of you will. But what about them? How does either of you winning help them?”

Kidan picked out a few familiar faces from last semester. Most of them were failed graduates of Dranacti.

“Have you ever visited the university lodgings after hours?” Yusef asked, surprising her.

Kidan shook her head.

“If you fail Dranacti three times, your house can no longer shelter you. You move to the lodgings, or as they like to call it, ‘the Reject Pit,’” he said. “It’s messed up, isn’t it? To remove you from your family because you didn’t understand some fucked-up philosophy? I used to visit it every day, joke that I’d soon join them until… I graduated. They come up to me now and think I’m a hero. They barely sleep, most are drunk or high and keep begging me for help. And what do I do? I give them the same bullshit answer every graduate gives.Study hard or look for deeper meanings. Because we can’t tell them the truth, can we?”

Kidan was silent, absorbing his words. She was seeing him in a new light, a heaviness around his eyes. Was it mastering his house that had faded his carelessness? When had Yusef started to feel the responsibilities of his position?

“Uxlay separates families, Kidan. It destroys relationships. What do I want to do now that I mastered my house? I want to make sure my children never come here. I can’t let them become murderers. And I don’t want them to be punished for not being one. I don’t want them to fight over the power of houses. I want them to be free.”

Her eyes blinked, taking in the firmness to his jaw. Eyes made of steel.

Her first thought was: GK would be proud of this Yusef. The bone crinkling sound returned in her mind and GK sounded close, watching them both. He might be disappointed in Kidan, but Yusef was at least doing what GK wanted. Staying off the path of darkness.

“Nothing but dreams.” The words came from behind the thick pillar, flat and cold as a sheet of ice.

Kidan flinched, surprised, before anger spread in her veins. How long had Slen been standing there?

Yusef’s eyes dimmed, though his lips tugged at a corner. “That’s what you said when I told you I’d master my house before you.”

A flare of annoyance lit Slen’s dark eyes. “The only way to be free of Uxlay is to surrender your house to the dean and leave. Otherwise, it’s just a dream.”

“You think I won’t leave?” Yusef challenged.

Her mouth pressed into a line.

Even Kidan was shocked, asking, “You’d throw it all away? After everything?”

“GK did.” Yusef glanced down to his page.