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L iam stared at me. “Harlow?”

I held up a hand, “Oh, wow, yeah. Honored, truly. But I actually have to head out early today. I have some razorblades I’d rather be eating, if it’s all the same to you.”

Liam’s eyes sparkled with a flicker of humor, but he kept a straight face.

“I see where I went wrong. I posed it as a question. Harlow, it’s your turn now. Come on up.”

Dread clawed at my insides as I forced my feet to move toward the front of the classroom. He gestured for me to sit, and I did.

“Close your eyes.”

I let my eyes drift shut and hated it immediately. I could feel everyone’s attention on me.

“I really feel like today isn’t a good day for me. I’m feeling bloated, and my sciatica is acting up –”

“Harlow,” Typhon murmured, just my name and it was enough to still me.

“Okay, let’s go. Relax my muscles, think happy thoughts. Who do I love most? My sister Opie. What do I fear most? Undercooked pork products.”

And getting too close to Typhon Moreno.

I could sense rather than feel Liam’s fingers sweeping away the cobwebs in my mind and was surprised to find it weirdly calming. My body relaxed a little, the low-level headache that had been a near-constant companion since the streets of Rio faded, and I let out a sigh.

“That’s it. Good,” he murmured, his voice soft and silky.

I could almost feel the press of his thigh against mine, the warmth flowing back and forth between us. And I wasn’t sure I didn’t like it.

“Think of the time in your life when you felt most powerless,” he whispered. “When everything inside you railed against the injustice of it all, and your fondest wish was that you were stronger. Strong enough to get out of the situation and change your lot in life.”

“Does right now count?” I whispered back, half-hypnotized into doing his bidding, and half-wanting to fight every step of the way because I knew it was going to hurt once we got into the meat of this little project of his.

“You know it doesn’t.”

I wet my lips as he pressed his finger to my forehead. The magic slid through me, warm and sparkling like champagne in my blood. But then a darkness came, hot on its heels, luring me toward it.

A younger, teenage me, crouched outside the open door of my mother’s bedroom as she spoke to a man in a white coat on a Skype call.

“We can start treatments ASAP, although there are no guarantees. Your family needs to understand, we’ll do everything we can, but it’s spread to your liver and –”

“I understand. Let me tell my daughter first. Please ...”

“I’m there,” I croaked, desperate for it to be over. Desperate for a way out ... any way out.

“There is a lever, a little way down the hall. Walk toward it, Harlow. Reach for it and lift it up.”

How he knew it was a lever rather than a rope was beyond me.

But I saw it, just a few yards away, like a lifeboat in the midst of the stormiest sea. It was like moving through molasses to get there, but eventually, I did.

“I’ve got it. I think I’ve got it,” I muttered, reaching, feeling the smooth metal of the lever, lifting slowly, inch by inch.

Waiting for the sensation when it finally snapped into place –

“It – it’s right there. I’ve almost got it. It feels like a sneeze, you know? Like it’s tickling my nose and about to come out but then I can’t quite –”

A rattling boom had my eyes flying open. The door to the classroom flung open, bouncing off the stone wall behind it. I jerked back in my seat and my eyes shot wide as a chorus of gasps exploded around me. Tarquinius stormed in a second later, a brittle smile on his lips.

“Doyen Moreno, Doyen O’Connor, can I speak to you both in my office? Class, you’re dismissed,” he added without glancing our way. With that, he swept from the room, leaving behind a silence so tense it was deafening.

Typhon’s brows caved into a scowl even as Liam flashed one dimple in a reassuring smile. My legs were still quaking from the emotional rollercoaster I’d just gotten off, and it did little to help.

“Well, it seems as if we’re closing shop thirty minutes early today, class. Why not take advantage and head out to the courtyard for some fresh air while it’s still warm enough that you can’t see your breath?” Liam turned to Typhon. “Doyen Moreno?”

Typhon tipped his head in a clipped nod and stood, heading for the door.

“If you aren’t with your rule-of-two partner, stick with the group until your next class starts.” He shot me a pointed look. “No exceptions.”

The two of them exited the room together, leaving the rest of us staring after them. I was still so shaken; I could barely process what had just happened.

“Holy crow. What do you think that was about?” Ellie asked, tucking a strand of inky hair behind one ear on repeat, until she seemed to realize what she was doing.

“I don’t know but I have a pretty good guess,” Julius said with a chuckle, drawing all eyes to him. “Maybe he finally realized that you guys are useless, and they’ve put their money behind a team of donkeys when they have a whole stable of thoroughbreds waiting in the wings.”

He casually whipped off a double rune and juggled a pair of fireballs in one hand and a trio of snowballs in the other, a smug smile perched on his lips.

Lovely. A true blue donkeyhole, and a Quirk, to boot. Casting two separate runes at once was a highly coveted specialty. Twice the weapons, twice the power. Something a guy like Julius most certainly didn’t deserve.

“Wow, impressive,” Marina said with a low whistle. “You should join the traveling circus. Maybe they will even get you a unicycle and a red nose that honks. Won’t that be exciting!”

Rage flashed in his eyes, and he wheeled on her and lifted his hand, but he wasn’t expecting me, and I was on him before he could execute his attack.

“You might want to rethink that if you plan to carry on that illustrious family name, Julius.”

The knife that had been sticking out of Typhon’s apple was now clutched in my hand and pressed against his groin.

Was he a kid? Not in my mind. At nineteen, he knew better and was old enough that I didn’t feel bad about putting him in his place.

He lowered both hands slowly, the balls of snow and fire disappearing as he swallowed loud enough for me to hear it.

“Must be tough on the ego to have to rely on Dim bar fight tactics to protect yourselves. You’d better watch it, or I’ll set Mortan on you. He’s as crazy as they come and loves to inflict pain,” he mused, playing it off as coolly as he could.

“I’m actually good with it,” Marina said. The others chimed in quickly, agreeing.

“Yeah, whatever works,” Zeed added with a shrug. “Survival is the key. Not fancy moves.”

Julius elbowed me in the stomach, shoving me off him.

“Make your jokes. But you lot are the clowns of this school, prophecy or not, and soon enough, everyone will see it, including Tarquinius. You’ll get sent back to the Unlit world so you can live your unremarkable lives while me and my house restore order here the way it should’ve been from the start. Then we’ll see who’s laughing.”

He stalked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

“Oof. Seems like somebody’s mommy didn’t love him,” Marina said, shaking her head slowly.

“Maybe he missed breakfast and he’s hangry?” Ross added.

Fable shook her head in wonder, still staring at the door. “I just can’t imagine being that mad all the time. Must be exhausting.”

But the chatter stopped as quickly as it started, and the weight of Julius’s words laid over us like a wet blanket.

So far, there was nothing except a thirty-year-old prophecy to suggest that he was wrong.

And as much as I didn’t want to be back at Neverthorn, I wanted to leave on my own terms. Not because they sent me packing.

I jabbed the knife back into the apple and forced a bright smile. “Let’s grab some snacks from the kitchen and get that fresh air before they toss us in another class.”

I needed a plan.

And I needed it soon, before this place chewed me and Opie up and spit us both out.