Page 42

I leaned against the door to my dorm for a long moment to catch my breath. Why was it that every time I was around that man for more than a few minutes, he found a way to steal it, one way or another?

“Geez,” Fable said, letting the book she’d been reading fall to her side as she sat up. “Did you get chased by a ghost or something?”

I shot a glance to my other housemates, who were all gathered around Gary’s bunk with a pile of playing cards between them, paying us no mind. Caterina threw her cards into the pile. “I win!” They all groaned and started dealing out again.

“Nope. I’m ... I’m fine. Just really tired.

” I shook my head and made a beeline for my own bed, where Bandit lay curled up tight.

For someone who hated lying to people I cared about, I sure was getting a lot of practice lately.

But there was no point in telling Fable about my suspicions.

After all, they were nothing more than that. Suspicions.

“Where were you? They made an announcement right after you left dinner that we had to be back in our quarters by dark. Some safety drill or something. I was actually starting to get worried about you.”

“I had to talk to Ty–” I broke off and swallowed hard, “Doyen Moreno about something.”

Her eyes lit up and she leaned closer. “Is he planning another field trip for us?”

It had been all my roommates had been able to talk about since the other night.

Everyone except Zeed, who had been uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn.

I peered over at him to find that hadn’t changed.

While the others laughed and carried on about their game of Uno, he seemed to be in his own world.

There in body, but somewhere else in spirit.

I made a mental note to talk to Typhon about it in private.

“Why do you smell weird?” Bandit mumbled with a yawn.

My skin prickled as Fable stared at me. “Harlow Daygon ... Have you been drinking?”

It was like someone had cut the speakers off at the exact right moment, because the entire room went silent.

“Holy sheet,” Marina blurted, tossing her cards on Zeed’s bed as she faced me and Fable. “Did you manage to smuggle booze into this place?”

“Please say yes,” Zeed added, suddenly much more engaged than I’d seen him in days. “The stress is literally killing me. I could drink a whole bottle of ... anything right now.”

“No!” I shot back, suddenly panicked as I tried to think of another lie.

What a tangled web we weave ... “Mrs. Wickersham had a bottle out for the brandy cream sauce she made tonight, and I took a couple swigs. Medicinal, of course,” I added with what I hoped was a convincing grin followed by a wink.

Marina frowned. “Bummer.” A few seconds later, her face lit with fresh hope as she eyed me speculatively.

“I overheard Elmwood talking to Tarquinius. She was saying that, since all has been quiet since the whole Nocta attack, it would be best to get back to normal. They are going to end the rule of two and move on, business as usual. Tarquinius said there was one more thing they had to deal with, and we’d be in the clear.

They aren’t worried about Nocta as he’s been spotted near Heathermoor again.

Samhain is next weekend.” She unfolded her long legs and rose to stand.

“I’m sick of being cooped up. My brother told me there’s this fairy circle hidden somewhere on the island.

That if you find it, they might even come out and play.

You snag a bottle of that brandy, and we sneak out for some fun. ”

With nearly a dozen pairs of hopeful eyes on me, I was loath to say no. Especially when it would be so out of character.

“A couple of you are underage. I don’t want to break the law.”

Ellie, who was the quietest of the bunch, even piped in. “Weren’t you literally a professional cat burglar?”

Initially, I’d told them I’d done odd jobs, but as we grew closer, I’d come clean.

Now I wanted to bite my tongue off for ever sharing that with them.

But luckily, I was armed and ready. Using a line I’d used a dozen times with my runaways, I shrugged.

“I’m not a role model. I’m a cautionary tale.

Do as I say, not as I do. Besides, what if something happens to one of you? That’s on me.”

“Well, we’re going whether you join us or not,” Zeed shot back as he crossed his arms over his chest.

The others nodded in agreement, and Marina grinned. “Yeah. How bad would you feel if we went without you, and one of us got hurt?”

“How bad would you feel if I ratted you out right now, and instead of doing something fun, you were all on lockdown for Samhain?” I countered.

A bluff.

And damn them, they knew it.

“Didn’t you once tell me that the only thing lower than a buddy frucker was a snitch?” Fable asked, eyes narrowed.

Et tu, Fable?

They’d backed me into a corner.

“Fine. I’ll make you a deal. If the rule of two has been revoked, and there are no other incidents between now and Samhain, we can sneak out to find the fairy circle.” The room erupted into cheers.

Marina headed over to my bunk and held out a pinky.

“Deal.”

For the next couple of hours, I tried to read beside Fable while the others talked and played their game. But when the clock struck midnight, another hour after that, I was still wide awake. Tossing. Turning. Thinking.

Which was why I was the only one who heard the soft, pitiful voice calling outside our door.

“Help. Please . . . help me.”

I stared at the door for a long moment, straining to hear over the sounds of snoring all around me.

And there it was again. A second, weak cry.

“Please . . . help. Someone.”

Sheet.

I scuttled to the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb a drooling Bandit, and rolled off the edge of my mattress.

This is not your problem Harlow, a tiny inner voice chimed in. But because I’m myself, I shut that sheet down immediately.

I reached for the bond with Typhon, just checking to see where he was. Somewhere below me on the sixth floor. Asleep or on watch? I couldn’t tell.

Besides, I was just going to peek my head out there and see what was what. For all I knew, a student from another house had just had a run-in with whatever nightwalker was stalking our school and needed my help.

I crept across the room, stopping to snatch a heavy candlestick from the dresser as I approached the door.

“This is fine,” I whispered under my breath, laying a hand on the knob and turning slowly. “No big deal.” But the second the door released, I snatched my hand back and fashioned a quick blocking rune to have at the ready. I was still considering backing out when the low voice moaned again.

“Someone . . . anyone?”

So much pain. No ... agony and fear filled that voice.

Fruck it.

I opened the door the rest of the way and gasped as a figure appeared directly in front of me.

A young woman with white-blonde hair in a tangled mess around her too-pale face.

She was wearing what looked like a formless black sheet.

For a second, I couldn’t move, and that was all the time she needed to wedge her foot between the door and the jam before I could slam it shut.

“Don’t go! They’re going to get me and take me back!

I just need someone to help me!” she begged, her voice barely more than a weakened whisper as she clutched at my wrists with clawed fingers.

Her fingernails were long and ragged, as if she’d used her hands to climb up the side of a rock face . ..

Or from the bottom of a grave.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, shaking free of her grasp and pushing her backward. “I can’t help you!”

Even though I hadn’t pushed hard, she was so slight – so frail – that she went flying across the corridor to crash against the opposite wall. Then she let out a strangled gasp and fell to the floor in a heap.

I dropped the candlestick and let my dorm room door close behind me as I ran to her side.

“Sheet,” I murmured, casting a sputtering, poorly working illumination rune to see her more clearly as I knelt beside her.

In the light, it was clear as day. She couldn’t have been more than nineteen or twenty and was in a weakened state, her gaze almost feverish as she tried to sit up.

Most likely a student I didn’t recognize, in need of help.

I would never forgive myself if I’d truly injured her.

Frucking Typhon with his cryptic, useless warning.

“I’m so sorry ... I thought you were ... I didn’t realize you were a student. Are you okay?” I took hold of her bony upper arm and gently helped her to stand. Thank the rune goddess, she was able to stay on her feet, albeit a little unsteadily. “Where does it hurt?”

Her teeth chattered violently as she latched onto me again with both hands. “Everywhere. I’m empty and they keep taking and taking.”

Her eyes were a blue so milky and pale they looked like they belonged to a woman eighty years older than she.

“Please. I’m starting to forget who I was, and soon I’ll be gone forever. You have to hide me somewhere before he finds out I’m gone.”

Her panic was so all-consuming that it became my own.

“Slow down,” I whispered, patting her tangled hair as soothingly as I could manage with my own trembling hand. “You’re alright now. Just slow down and tell me what happened from the beginning.”

“There’s no time. Please!”

“Move away Harlow!”

Illuminated by his own magic, I looked up to see Typhon standing a few yards away, blood running in rivulets down one arm, nostrils flaring. His face was pale, and he was shirtless, his chest covered in sweat.

“Typhon? What –”

“Harlow Daygon! Step back from the wraith immediately!” another voice bellowed from further down the long, dark hallway. The lights flicked on, and I squinted against the blinding brightness.

“Noooo!” the girl howled, covering her head as Tarquinius, Typhon, and Nikita slowly moved closer, hands raised like a trio of gunslingers.

What the actual fruck –

Unsure of what to do, I went with my gut and turned my back on him, covering the girl’s slight form with my own. If she was a wraith – whatever the fruck that was – there was no way she could hurt me in this state.

Or, at least, that’s what I was betting my life on.

“Talk to them. Help them understand, you’re not here to do anyone harm,” I murmured, tucking her closer to my chest. “It’s going to be okay.”

“I can’t go back.” She pulled away, tipping her tear-stained face to mine. The wildness had faded from her eyes, leaving behind only sorrow and an acceptance that physically hurt me to witness.

“My name is Lucy. My parents are ...” she trailed off and shook her head slowly, letting out a bitter laugh, “I don’t remember their names anymore. I thank you for your kindness, Harlow Daygon.”

I could sense Typhon, so close now, but before I could turn and beg for mercy on her behalf, Lucy yanked herself away from me. I watched in stunned horror as she took half a dozen steps and hurled herself through the glass pane of the window at the end of the hall.

We were on the seventh floor. My heart plummeted as her scream rent the air. I lunged for her, as if I could stop what was happening.

Everything after that was a blur. Typhon grabbed me and pulled me close as he whispered soothing words I couldn’t quite make out beyond the buzzing in my ears.

“Are you hurt?” he murmured. “Harlow, talk to me, are you hurt ?”

I clung to him, his warmth drawing me in, driving away the sudden cold. I didn’t answer him. Couldn’t. That girl ... she was only a few years older than Opie.

“She was too young.”

His hands moved over me, checking for wounds. I started shivering, bare legs and arms covered in goosebumps as the shock set in.

The only thing anchoring me in that moment was Typhon. The rest of the world seemed to have faded. “Who was she?” I whispered up at him.

The pain in his eyes was reflected down the bond connecting us, and again, his mouth didn’t move. If I’d been unsure whether he was rune gagged, I now knew for certain he was.

Tarquinius grabbed my arm, tugging me from that bubble of safety and grounding that Typhon held me in. “Back to your room.”

My roommates, awakened by the shattering of glass, piled out of our room, freaked out, asking if I was alright, their voices filling the space. Ellie caught my arm first, her hands gentle as she tugged me forward.

“Come back in, Harlow, we need to get you warmed up. You’re in shock.”

Tarquinius shifted his focus from me to Nikita. “Go check if the wraith survived.”

Nikita all but saluted him before she turned and ran for the stairs.

As if ‘the wraith” could have survived the seven-story fall. She was no wraith, just a little girl.

And I’d failed her, spectacularly.

By the time I was safely tucked back into bed an hour later, I could almost convince myself that, like my dream about Opie the week before, it had all been a figment of my imagination. A terrible night terror that I would forget about come morning.

But deep in my heart of hearts, I knew the truth. The girl wraith called Lucy had plunged to her death right in front of me.

And her screams on the way down would haunt me for the rest of my life.