Page 23

“ S o, what was it like?” While the others were sprawled out on various pieces of furniture dotting the Phoenix House common area, Fable had dragged a chair directly in front of mine and was staring at me intently.

And even though she’d already peppered me with questions about it as the day progressed, this was the first time it seemed like she really wasn’t going to take a shrug for an answer.

“I don’t know,” I said, stalling for time. “It was ... stressful, mostly. Especially at first.”

Having my deepest thoughts probed had made me feel a little like a beetle on its back, and part of me was thrilled when Tarquinius had interrupted the session, because I wondered how much Liam could see in my head.

But the other part couldn’t help but wonder what might have happened if I’d gotten the chance to finish the job . ..

No. It was definitely better this way. I was already feeling squidgy about Liam poking around in there.

It had taken everything I had not to even let Nocta cross my mind just in case Liam could read my thoughts.

If he didn’t know Nocta was my father already, I certainly didn’t want to fill him in, unwittingly or not.

“Did you get any sense at all of what might happen when you pulled the lever?” Fable pressed.

“Uh, not really.”

“Not even an inkling?”

“Should we switch to Spanish, because this is starting to feel like the Inquisition.”

She pulled back and pressed a hand over her heart, cheeks going pink. “Oh my gosh, Harlow. I’m so sorry. I can get a little intense when I sense a mystery afoot. I would be obsessed if I was in your shoes. How could you think of anything else other than that frigging lever?”

“Same,” Marina said from her perch on the love seat in the corner. “It would drive me bananas.”

“I will say this,” I continued, “When I was about to pull the lever, I didn’t feel afraid. I felt ... hopeful. Like it was a way out of the intense situation I was in.”

Fable blew an amber curl from one eye as she nodded. “Okay. So, a positive vibe from it, then. Well, that’s something at least. After this afternoon, I’ll take even a shred of potentially decent news.”

Rune crafting class had gone ... not excellent.

My expectations had been pretty low, but it was even worse than that.

Each and every one of us had botched some aspect of almost every single rune we tried.

It was almost like we’d all gotten even worse at the skill than when we’d been at Neverthorn the first time around.

If I’d been permitted to do them my way instead of theirs, I could’ve shown them, but every time I tried to broach the subject, Doyen Eryn shot me down, his eyes hard.

“Magic needs to be three things, Miss Daygon.” He’d held up a hand and ticked them off. “Teachable. Repeatable. And traceable. What do you think would happen if a bunch of poorly trained wizards were out there just slinging home-crafted runes around like it’s the Wild West?”

I wanted to tell him that they might be pretty good cat burglars, but he’d smacked a hand on my desk and lowered his head to glare at me, jowls trembling with outrage. “I’ll tell you what! Somebody would get hurt. You would be no better than Nocta!”

I couldn’t help the flinch. No better than my father ... but I didn’t believe that. A rune could be used for good or bad, it was a tool, nothing else.

I wish I’d stopped by his desk at the end of class and told him how much the two hours we’d spent there doing it his way had hurt us all.

By the time it was over, any lingering good feelings we’d taken from Doyen O’Connor had been shattered, leaving our whole house feeling small and defeated if the hung heads and rounded shoulders said anything.

“I’m not sure I would want to pull the lever at all,” Ellie murmured from her spot cross-legged on the floor, pulling me from my thoughts. “What if it was one of those Pandora’s box type deals? What if I found something I couldn’t stuff back away again? Something really bad.”

Zeed tossed a kernel of popcorn in his mouth and shrugged. “I think we have to try to trust the process, like Doyen O’Connor said. He’s supposedly the expert in this field. If he can shake loose a Quirk that might help us face off against Nocta, I’ll pull whatever he wants me to.”

Ross let out a crack of laughter. “That’s what she said –” he broke off with a squeak when a pillow launched by Marina hit him square in the chops.

I looked around the room at the glum faces.

“With the prophecy being what it is, we’ve all got to move forward with the assumption that we have some bad-asterisk latent Quirks. We just need to have a little patience. We just got here, guys.”

“And if Harlow is right, I for one can’t wait to find out what they are,” Gary announced, pushing himself off one of the sofas. “But I’m fried. This day has been plenty long enough for me and my brain is like mush. Anybody want to eat junk food and watch a mindless sitcom until bedtime?”

Everyone raised their hands, and I stood. “Always. And I just happen to have charmed a dozen snickerdoodles from Wickersham at lunchtime for emergencies. I definitely think this qualifies. Be right back.”

Fable pushed her chair back to give me space to pass, and I made a beeline for my room just a little way down the hall. My footsteps echoed in the empty space, and I was just about to open the door to my room when a hand closed over my shoulder.

“Jiminy Crickets, what the fruck!?” I demanded, heart hammering as I spun round.

“Are you supposed to be alone?” Liam asked, his dark brows knit with concern.

“I’m not alone.”

He cocked his head and made a point to search the surrounding area before eyeballing me again. “Is that so?”

I ignored the heat creeping up my neck and pushed my door open. “What I mean is that all my housemates besides Phyllis are literally ten yards away. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count as being alone.”

“Given that I just snuck up behind you and could’ve sealed your mouth and nose shut with a Suffocating Rune long before you managed to execute ... whatever,” he mimicked my karate hands, ‘t hat was supposed to be.”

“You okay out there, Harlow?” Bandit’s sleepy voice called from inside my room.

Liam frowned. “Aren’t raccoons supposed to be nocturnal?”

I held up my hands helplessly.

“Yeah. And they’re also not supposed to talk.

He’s having an existential crisis, I guess.

Look,” I lowered my voice and leaned closer, “Your cryptic little note has been hanging over my head all day. Do you want to tell me what that’s about or did you need to lecture me more about why I’m out here alone? ”

He hung his head for a second and then met my gaze, his deep-brown eyes full of apology. “I’m sorry for the note. I didn’t want to say too much in case it was intercepted.”

I didn’t admit that it very nearly had been.

“And while I worry about your safety after the other day, I know you’ve got plenty of people lecturing you already. As long as you take the threat of Nocta seriously, I’ll lay off, yeah?”

“Believe me, no one is taking it more seriously than me.”

He searched my face for a long moment and then nodded. “Excellent. So do you have a few minutes to talk now?”

“I’m on a cookie run. Let me just drop some snickerdoodles off for the others. I’ll be right there,” I pointed at my door, “and then back here.”

Liam gave a solemn nod, as if I weren’t poking fun at the distance I was technically alone.

My legs felt a little like jelly as I delivered the goods to my housemates, and begged off the TV marathon, citing a headache.

When I stepped out of the common room, I found Liam waiting by the stairs up the hall.

I headed toward him and tried not to let my imagination run wild. What if he was just being nice to get me off his scent? What if he took me to the rooftop, told me he knew I was Nocta’s daughter, and then tossed me over? There was no reason for him to know it, but I couldn’t help wondering.

I’d always had a good imagination, and I was a champion of playing the “what if” game.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we entered the stairwell. “Like you said, I’m not really supposed to be wandering around alone.”

“You’re not alone,” he corrected gently.

“I mean, without my companion.”

“You’re with me ... one of your teachers. Surely, that doesn’t conflict with the spirit of the rule of two. I’ll take the heat for it if there is any. Deal?”

I nodded but a minute later, as we continued upward, I realized he still hadn’t answered my question.

“Where are we going?” I asked, a little more forcefully this time.

“To the roof where we have some privacy.”

My skin prickled and I clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. “We can just sit right here. Plenty of privacy here ...”

“I also have something I wanted to show you.”

We’d reached the end of the stairs and the heavy door leading out to the rooftop squealed open with a motion of his hand.

“Harlow?”

“Yeah, I’m just thinking for a sec.”

Weighing my options, really. If I walked outside with him, any real chance of getting away if he meant me harm would drop to something near zero. But he’d shown no inclination to hurt me, just the opposite. He’d saved me from Nocta’s men. He’d tried to help me find a Quirk. He was a teacher.

You’re being stupid, Harlow. He’s here to help you.

Besides, if you don’t go with him, you’ll never know what he wanted to tell you.

Curiosity got the better of me once again. “Okay, let’s go.”

I followed him out into the cool night air, suddenly glad that I’d donned a House Phoenix sweatshirt after dinner.

I realized as we moved toward the edge, we were at the very top of the northwest wing’s turret.

And it was way higher from up here. I gripped the railing in front of me and swayed a little on my feet as I looked down.

“No, no, if you’ve a fear of heights, don’t look down, look up. Over there,” he said, pointing to my far right.

I turned and let out a low gasp.