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I kicked the blankets off my sweaty legs and let out a loud sigh.

“If you keep doing that, you’re going to wake Fable,” Bandit murmured with a yawn.

“I can’t help it. Why is it so freaking hot in here?”

But the little bugger was already sleeping again so all I got was silence.

I couldn’t even be mad at him. I was just jealous.

After waking up in the middle of the night to bake for Opie and then spending the rest of my day feeling Typhon’s presence .

.. well, everywhere, I’d fallen into bed exhausted.

The bond to Typhon, though, made it impossible to sleep. I was going to blame him for my second sleepless night in a row. Every time I thought about the bond, and how his hand had felt on my neck, how his heart had beat under my palm ... I started to sweat, and an ache started up between my legs.

I risked a glance at the clock at my bedside and groaned.

Two a.m. Even if I fell asleep in the next five minutes, I was going to be useless the next day. I closed my eyes and tried to meditate, clearing my mind of everything.

You’re in a meadow, with a brook trickling softly nearby.

Brook.

Water.

Death.

Nope.

The spots where his fingertips had pressed the rune into me tingled. This time, though, instead of stopping there, the sensation traveled across to my shoulder, down into my chest and spread, filling me with a neediness that had me sucking in a breath.

What the hell?

My legs swung over the side of the bed, almost of their own accord. The next thing I knew, I was yanking a cotton robe over my shorts and camisole and padding silently out of the room. My brain had no clue where I was headed, but my body knew.

More accurately, the bond knew that I needed to move.

Typhon , something inside me whispered as I made my way down the stairs toward the entrance of the school on autopilot. When I got to the front door and saw him standing there, waiting expectantly, it was like something unfurled inside me.

Relief.

Anticipation.

It wasn’t until we’d walked through the courtyard and out of the front gates that I found my voice.

“Where are you taking me?”

The question was pointless. I knew it didn’t matter. The pull was that strong. He could be dragging me to the river to drown me, and I’d have gone with him still.

I shook my head to clear it and stopped short.

“Where are you taking me?” I said again, more firmly this time. Just in case he did want to drown me.

“On a field trip. We need to test a theory,” he replied.

“Yeah, well, I don’t appreciate the whole vampire, mind-control bullsheet. It’s a total violation –”

“Enough, Harlow!” He wheeled around in a flash of black robes and held me in place with an icy stare, eyes glittering.

“The reason I had to bond us together so tightly is so I could stop you from doing something stupid. Not just to keep you safe but also to keep your fellow housemates and Opie safe. You will get her, and them, killed if you aren’t careful! ”

I winced.

“I’d have loved to request your consent.

We both know you’d never have given it, so what would you have me do?

Let you roam around until you fell into another well and broke your neck?

Or maybe you’d rather I let you stick with Nikita, and she can give you a little kick into one, instead? You left me no choice, Harlow.”

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but he was right.

“It still doesn’t make you the boss of me.” I kept moving until the gravel beneath my feet became soft, cool grass and then I slowed, realizing that I had no clue which direction to head.

“If you stop running, I can show you where we’re going.”

Thankful for the cover of darkness as my cheeks burned, I let him pass me. We continued in silence until the river came into view.

I paused, the first real prickle of fear skittering down my neck.

“Are ... are you going to drown me?”

He didn’t even bother to turn around. “Keep it moving, Ms. Daygon.” So much for “Harlow” ... that had been short-lived, “I’d like to actually get some sleep tonight.”

Interesting. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been awake, all hot and achy like I had been. Would serve him right.

We didn’t stop until we reached the water’s edge. Then he paused and gestured downward.

“This is technically Charon’s territory, but so long as we stay in the shallows where it’s just sand and rock and don’t venture deeper, he won’t bother us.”

“If you say so ...” I clearly remembered the look Charon had given me, just for dipping my toes in.

I’d been hot in bed, and the crisp, early autumn air felt good on my skin, but I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to go wading either, though.

“Remind me one more time why we’re getting in the water?”

“To test my theory.” His expression was thoughtful as he moved to stand closer, his hand going to my bracer.

“We need to go beyond the borders of Neverthorn, where you aren’t being monitored.

The water’s edge marks the end of the school’s territory.

In order to retain their longevity and remain robust, any wards or spells that are cast from the school stop right here.

” He tapped the tip of his boot on the bank of the river and slipped my bracer off.

Bugger, it had taken me three weeks to get my first bracer off on my own.

Part of me felt like I should trust him, but only the gods knew why. Liam didn’t trust him, and I trusted Liam. I should believe what he said about Typhon.

Shouldn’t I?

On the outside, it seemed like nothing had changed. At that moment, a dull ache reverberated through my rib, as if I needed another reminder of the kind of damage Typhon could do.

He shrugged his annoyingly broad shoulders.

“We both know, if I wanted you dead, I could’ve killed you a dozen times by now.

And if I wanted to force you into the water, it would take nothing but the wave of my hand.

I know this is hard for you to believe, but I’m actually trying to help you here. Work with me, Harlow.”

So now I was Harlow again.

I hated the fact that hearing it from his lips made my pulse stutter, every time.

“Fine,” I muttered. “What do I have to do?”

“The way it’s going, you’ll be killed the second Nocta lays eyes on you, and where will that leave Opie? Where will that leave –” He broke off and stepped back, jerking a finger toward the river. “Just get in the water.”

I yanked off my robe and got in the frucking water. Ignoring the chill, with Opie at the forefront of my mind, I turned my back on Typhon and lifted my hand, poised to whip off a simple rune.

“No! Not shorthand, Harlow.”

I squeezed my eyes closed, trying not to let hot tears of frustration leak out.

“Why are you so against it? Tarquinius, I get. He’s old school.

Traditions and all that. But you ... why are you so against me doing things my way?

I know what you think of me, but it’s not just me trying to be difficult.

I genuinely struggle to –” I let out a growl of frustration, not even realizing he’d closed the gap between us until he took my hand in his.

“Go ahead. Do it your way one last time and I’m going to show you why it can’t continue.”

I chewed at my bottom lip, trying not to let the warmth of his finger laced with mine distract me. Then, with our fingers interlocked, I threw a rune meant to illuminate the space around us. It worked, albeit barely. It took me a second to realize Typhon was muting my spell with one of his own.

“Dang it, I’m tired of you people doing this ...” I trailed off as the circle of dim light I’d created flickered and changed into a distorted image that slowly came into focus as Typhon pulled his hand from mine and manipulated it with his fingertips.

“Do you see it?” he whispered.

I squinted, trying to make out what I was looking at.

“It’s ... is it a cellar or a dungeon? And I’m not sure ... a huge spiderweb?”

Only it was moving. Pulsing and rippling, some of the tiny, silky strands snapping, before it finally went still again.

“That’s the weave, Harlow. The only thing separating us and the black magic of Everdark.”

I shivered. Everdark where all the evil and the monsters of the Dwimmer world had been locked away.

“Why was it pulsating like that?” Almost as if it were alive.

The image he’d shown me flickered and disappeared as he lowered his hand and met my gaze. “Because of you, Harlow.”

I blinked at him as the words sank in.

“The way you throw runes is similar to Everdark magic. The weave can sense it ... the chaos, the darkness ... and it reacts. Every time you do it, there is a ripple in the weave. The more energy you give the rune, and the closer you are to the weave, the stronger the response. If it tears, and we aren’t able to repair it quickly enough . ..”

A sense of dread closed over me. “So, whenever I throw an unsanctioned rune, I’m putting my friends –” and Opie , “in danger?”

His mouth was set in a grim line as he nodded. “Yes.”

I bit my lip, trying not to think about what could’ve been.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that? I would’ve stopped sooner.”

“We didn’t think you were strong enough to truly hurt anything, until .

.. well, until we realized you were. You have to understand, while we want you all to be prepared for what’s to come, we also can’t have our students using Everdark magic.

It’s a lot to take in, and you all have enough to deal with getting ready to face Nocta.

The details about the weave are need-to-know.

I realized tonight that you needed to know. ”

I’d given him no choice. Because Hecate forbid, I just do what I was asked for once without fighting back.

I blew out an unsteady breath as I tried not to think about what was on the other side of that weave. What might have been released into our world ... our school, if I’d been left to my own foolish devices.