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He shrugged, his eyes locked on mine, holding me in place. “It’s my job to protect everyone here, as much as I possibly can – a fact that I’ve repeated multiple times. And that means digging out secrets at times.”

What would I do for Opie? Because if Phyllis was working for Nocta, as a mole, then she might have helped him get into Neverthorn. Opie could very well be in danger of being hurt, or even killed.

The answer was simple. Anything. Even break the trust of someone who I liked.

“Don’t tell Tarquinius,” I said.

“I can’t promise you that.”

I shook my head. “Then I can’t tell you. Take me back to my room.”

He closed the distance between us, and I backed up. He followed, physically driving me all the way across the room until my back hit the far wall.

I was trapped.

He leaned in closer. “If the secret is enough to make you need help overcoming the shock, then you know that you need to tell me. Why are you being stubborn with something that is obviously important?”

“Because she is my housemate. And I like her. And some secrets should be kept, especially if they don’t matter anymore.”

Especially if they weren’t your fault.

His eyes blazing, he leaned impossibly close. “But if that secret is something that will hurt people, then I need to know.”

“Prove to me I can trust you then!” I snapped, the whiskey hitting me and making my eyes do stupid things like get watery.

“Promise me you won’t tell Tarquinius!” I was pinned to the wall, his hands on either side of me as we yelled at each other.

I swallowed hard and tried again, more softly this time. “Promise.”

His body pinned mine in place so I could feel his every breath, see every emotion flicker through his eyes.

“Then you will give me something in return, to prove I can trust you ,” he said. “A trade.”

“I have nothing –”

“Promise me you won’t try to sneak out any longer. And I’ll keep Phyllis’s secret no matter what it is.”

Now that was a sheety deal.

Th smell of whiskey was all that was between us. “Is it a deal?”

I should have said no. He stepped back and I blew out a breath as he twisted his hands into a rune that I didn’t know.

The spell floated between us.

“I promise not to speak the secret that belongs to Phyllis.” His words came to life and were spun into the spell that hovered between us.

Thinking fast ... I started to speak. “I promise not to sneak out ... unless one of our lives depends on it.”

He growled.

The spell broke like a glass shattering, digging little flecks into my skin across my clavicle; it felt as if a shooting star had left behind its trail on my skin. I reached up and touched the small indents even as they began to smooth.

Typhon had the same mark across his chest. “Satisfied?”

“What happens if one of us breaks the vow?”

“The other will know.” He shrugged. “Tell me what Phyllis said.”

“It wasn’t what she said,” I rubbed a hand over the smattering of stars on my skin, wanting stupidly to see if his marks felt the same. “It’s what I saw.”

He waited, I drew a breath and still even with the promise I wasn’t sure.

“They were friends,” I blurted out. “And based on the pictures in her room, maybe even best friends.”

Typhon speared a hand through his dark hair and let out a low hiss. He was silent as he walked over to the small bar and poured a third drink.

“Harlow, if that’s the truth, she could be working for Nocta. Or at the very least possibly giving him information if they are in contact.”

“I know!”

Typhon looked over his shoulder at me. “This is ... you have to release me from the vow. I have to tell Tarquinius.”

“He was the Sage of the school when they were in class together. Surely, he already knows about their connection.” I shook my head. “And besides, she hates Nocta now. He killed someone she loved, just like almost everyone else in my house.”

“That’s what she tells you. What if she’s the one that let Nocta’s men in? What if she’s trying to set up the House of Phoenix to die? What if she is the enemy?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think she is.”

“You don’t know that.”

What I did know was that I wasn’t about to accuse a woman of treachery without knowing for sure. How would I have felt if Fable or Zeed, or even worse, Typhon, did the same to me because I shared the same blood as Nocta?

All I could do was shake my head and curse my whiskey-soaked mind that I’d spilled the beans in the first place.

“I won’t release you from your promise. Not without proof that she’s actually done something wrong.”

He threw the glass at the wall, and it shattered, like the spell across my skin. Only this time there was nothing but an indent where he smashed it.

I spun and was out the door, headed straight for my own dorm.

I could feel him behind me, but I didn’t slow my pace as I bolted for the stairs, climbing them two and three at a time.

It had been a long, emotional day, and I just needed some time alone.

A luxury that was becoming rarer and rarer these days.

“Harlow!” he called sharply from a few yards behind me as I reached the House of Phoenix door.

But I just pushed my way inside and slammed it shut behind me.