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L uckily, the next couple days sped by. And, despite Typhon’s aloof behavior in class and his and Liam’s inability to give us any more lessons themselves, our little group seemed to be more determined than ever to step it up.

For ourselves.

For the Neverthorn Nine.

But mostly, for Zeed.

And we were actually killing it. Sure, rune crafting was still super labor intensive for me.

It took me twice as long to learn them as it did the others.

But once I got it down the resulting magic was typically the strongest of all of ours.

Even Nikita was having a hard time finding fault with us.

For the first time since I’d gotten here, I was starting to wonder if maybe we did have even the slimmest chance . ..

“You’ll need to gather all your ingredients and prepare them at your table.

” Doyenne Parunah’s voice droned on like a hive of honeybees.

It was hard enough to concentrate when I couldn’t wait for this last class to end.

Phyllis had told me the night before that the potion should be ready by the end of classes today, and I’d already made a plan to meet up with Liam that evening so he could help me trigger my Quirk.

I was champing at the bit to see if her potion worked.

“Every item needs to stay completely separate until the right moment, or the poison you are creating will be nulled,” Doyenne Parunah continued.

I did as I was told and gathered up the ingredients, making sure nothing touched.

“That’s a hell of a lot harder than she made it sound,” Ross muttered from his circular table across from me.

He was balancing a large chunk of a dark-brown root – heart of pine – and the sap was dripping everywhere.

This class was specifically for us, teaching us poisons we might be able to use in fighting Nocta and his army.

Not exactly something you’d teach the average teenager.

I took the smallest piece of root that I could and put it down on the edge of my table, away from the other ingredients and from my heated cast-iron frying pan.

From behind me I heard Marina snicker. “We look like we’re a bunch of Dims out in the woods trying to whip up a meal.”

Her assessment wasn’t far off. “We’re missing marshmallows,” I said.

“Quiet! This is a test, you hooligans!” Doyenne Parunah snapped.

Ross chuckled. “Hooligans?”

To my left, Fable raised her hand.

Doyenne Parunah smiled thinly at her. “Yes, student?”

Student. She still didn’t know any of our names after three months of teaching us.

“Does the bergamot seed have to be intact? Mine’s cracked.”

Doyenne Parunah let out a sigh and gestured to Phyllis, who was closest to Fable.

“Can you take care of this? My gout is giving me fits today and I don’t want to get up.”

Phyllis leaned over to inspect Fable’s table full of ingredients as I turned my attention back to my own.

“So long as more than half the seed remains, you’re fine,” Phyllis explained patiently.

I met her gaze and raised my brow in question as she moved back behind her own station.

She pursed her lips, but then tipped her head in a little nod.

It was ready. Score!

For the next forty minutes, I managed to put my thoughts about Phyllis and the coming evening on hold while I did my damnedest to produce a poison that would make my enemy’s tongue swell like a balloon and block off their airway just long enough to finish them off.

The only way to tell if it was going to work? My least favorite part of potions class ...

“Check, please,” I called, raising my hand.

“With ten minutes to spare, hmm?” Doyenne Parunah stood with a harrumph and hobbled her way over, wincing as she moved. She was a bit crotchety, but I still liked her well enough. I couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t any Dwimmer who could help with her pain.

“Go on, then,” she said with a wave, squinting at me through her oval specs.

“Down the hatch,” I muttered, before downing the thimble full of thick, black liquid.

I stood there, face scrunched, waiting for the inevitable, but nothing happened. I slumped in disappointment.

“Damn. I must’ve mixed up the – glerg !”

I dropped the vial in my hand and clutched at my throat as my neck expanded like a threatened pufferfish.

Dimly, I heard the murmurs of my classmates over the rush of blood in my ears.

I must’ve looked as terrified as I felt, because Fable lurched toward me, her expression panicked. “Holy sheet balls!”

Doyenne Parunah held up a staying hand and I caught sight of an approving nod before my vision started to go dark.

A pfffthppp sound echoed through the room, and then suddenly, the pressure was gone.

As I swiped at my watering eyes, I could see the others exchanging nervous looks, but Doyenne Parunah was beaming.

“Well done ...” she eyed me expectantly.

“H-Harlow. Harlow Daygon,” I croaked.

“Well done, Ms. Daygon. That was a real cracker of a poison. Keep up the good work.”

How silly was it that her words had my throat aching almost as much as the poison I’d mixed? How I’d longed to hear those words from someone my first time here at Neverthorn ...

“Good job, Harlow,” Ellie called as Fable blew out a relieved sigh.

“Yes, Harlow, congrats. That said, I, for one, will not be drinking mine,” Phyllis added with a sniff.

Doyenne Parunah managed a smile for her.

“That’s fine by me, Phyllis, I know your skillset in this arena and you’re exempt. But the rest of you finish up. Time’s a ticking.”

The others all completed their poisons before the bell, and every one of them worked to varying degrees. Even Phyllis’s, as Ross offered to take one for the team and get poisoned twice.

When class finally ended, we were all on a high.

“I’m starving. I heard Mrs. Wickersham is making a low country boil tonight,” Gary said, smacking his lips as we all made our way to the door. “Sausage, shrimp, potatoes ... I’ve been thinking about it all day.”

I chewed at my lip, realizing I was going to miss out.

“Can one of you guys make me a doggie bag?” I asked, slowing to wait for Phyllis as the others went ahead.

“Sure,” Fable said, shooting me a wide-eyed look. She was the only one other than Phyllis who knew what I was up to, and her poker face was trash. “Have fun studying alone at the library,” she called, tossing a wave over her shoulder.

Phyllis shook her head and smiled. “That one is a peach, isn’t she? I hope to hell the enemy never catches her. I don’t think she could keep a secret for long.”

I didn’t correct the older woman, despite knowing firsthand that she thought wrong. I just nodded and eagerly held out both hands. “So, it’s ready, then?”

“It is,” she said, drawing a tiny, satin bag from the pocket of her dress.

“But remember, it’s not a permanent fix.

The second you can tug on the connection between you again, so can he.

I’d say you’ve got three hours before you should start testing it every few minutes.

Best be back in your dorm before the fourth. And if you get caught –”

“I made it myself,” I vowed, crossing my heart with my fingertip.

“Good luck. I hope you find what you’re looking for,” she said softly as she pressed the bag into my hand. “I hope ... that it’s just been waiting for you to be ready.”

Her words tugged at me – a Quirk wasn’t a living thing, and yet perhaps there was something in what she said. Maybe we both – me and my Quirk – had to be ready.

She headed toward the dining hall, and I went the other direction, toward my dorm.

Phyllis had explained that my attachment to Typhon would remain wherever I was when I took the potion.

He hadn’t seemed too interested in finding me the past couple of days, but in the event he came looking, he would assume I was napping if I didn’t answer when he knocked.

By the time I’d closed the door behind me, my hands were shaking with a mix of nerves and excitement.

“You look weird,” Bandit murmured.

I clutched at my pounding heart and wheeled around to find him directly behind me. “You scared the sheet out of me! What are you doing here so early? Shouldn’t you be trolling the forest looking for a lady trash panda?”

“The ladies are going to have to wait.” He licked his paw and ran it over his face. “I smelled the seafood cooking all day. Fable promised to bring me a plate. Speaking of which, where are you going again?”

“I have to meet with Liam about something. But first ...”

I untied the pouch and peered inside, surprised to find what looked like a purple, oblong pill. I’d assumed it would be liquid in a vial like the poison from today’s lesson ...

“So, am I supposed to chew it or swallow?”

Bandit blinked up at me. “How would I know?”

It was pretty large, so I went with chew, a choice I regretted instantly. It tasted like the bowels of hell, bitter, chalky, and oddly sour.

“That’s awful,” I muttered at my reflection. A second later, my mouth and tongue turned purple and started to foam.

Okay, so apparently chewing was a no-no. Had I ruined it, then? But my fears faded as a strange sensation rolled through me, like someone was running the tip of a knife up my arm, to my shoulder, across my throat and then lower, to my heart.

Snip.

I dropped to my knees as a shooting pain lanced through my ribs.

“Frucking fruck!”

I clutched at my chest, as the pain faded almost as quickly as it had come, leaving behind a deep, aching sense of loneliness.

What was this fresh hell?

“You okay?” Bandit asked, circling me.

“Yup. Just ... yeah, I’m good.” I knelt there for a long moment, waiting for the feeling to subside, but it persisted. Instinctively, I reached for my connection to Typhon, only to find ... nothing in its place. My skin prickled with unrest as I tried again.

Again, nothing.

Was this how I was going to feel for the next few hours? And what happened when I finally broke free for good?

I forced myself to stand. This time was precious, and I couldn’t waste a second of it.