Page 51

I swished with some mouthwash, ran a brush through my hair and then headed out with a quick wave to Bandit.

Liam and I had agreed to meet in his quarters, which, as luck would have it, were on the same wing as my dorm, but on the first floor.

While he wasn’t happy about the idea of me taking a potion from Phyllis, he’d agreed it was the best way to block Typhon.

I made my way down the stairs and, after a quick check of the hallway, scooted down to the first door and tapped on it lightly.

It swung open almost immediately and Liam tugged me inside.

“Do you think anyone saw you?”

I shook my head.

“Everyone is basically at dinner, the halls were empty. Phyllis’s potion worked.” Maybe too well, I thought as the ache in my chest flared again. “I think we’re in the clear.”

He frowned and then leaned closer, swiping a thumb over my bottom lip. “Were you drinking red wine?”

“I wish,” I said with a snort, trying to ignore the little zing that shot through me at his touch. “I was supposed to swallow, and I chewed instead. It’s fine. I have so many questions to ask you,” I said, rushing to take a seat in the postage-stamp-sized living room of the studio-like apartment.

He grabbed my hand and dragged me over to his window. “This way.”

I almost laughed at the ridiculousness of sneaking out his window. “Don’t the kids normally sneak into bedrooms these days?”

Liam chuckled and just threw his leg over the windowsill. I followed, knowing we had very little time. We needed to be outside of Neverthorn’s grounds so that Tarquinius didn’t figure out what we were up to.

Without a word we both broke into a jog as we headed to the west of the school, toward the Dark Wood.

Of course, all that silence left my mind to wander.

To consider what it would mean to have a Quirk.

Would it help me keep Opie and my friends safe?

That was the goal of course but what if .

.. what if it was something dark and terrible?

Bile swelled up from my belly and I had to work to push it down, breathing carefully.

The massive trees of the Dark Wood rose up in front of us, shadows and fear lurking beneath the ferns and leaves. I shook my head at the direction my thoughts went.

“Here,” Liam said. “We don’t have to be far over the line.”

He stepped behind a couple of trees and held out his hand to me. Of course, there were only two of us, we didn’t have to hide the entire House of Phoenix like Typhon had done.

Thoughts of him did nothing to calm my nerves. But I had time. We had time. I couldn’t feel a single twinge of Typhon’s bond to me.

I put my hand in Liam’s and let him tug me forward. And I found myself stalling.

“When we saw you the other day, you seemed surprised Zeed had gone home. Why?”

His dimple flashed as he stood across from me.

“You are too sharp for your own good, Harlow.”

“Exactly, so don’t bull sheet me. Is Zeed okay? Fable has already started sending him letters, but I’m sure it will take a week or so to hear back. If you know anything –”

“I know that I have a gut feeling that something isn’t right here at Neverthorn.”

His expression was stark, his dark eyes full of worry, and my stomach did a flip.

“Agree.”

“As for Zeed, I get the sense that he’s alright, but again, I can’t say for sure.

It’s all just intuition, which, given my Quirk, tends to be pretty good.

It’s possible that what they’re saying is true.

Gaining a Quirk through something traumatic the way he did can definitely take a toll.

What bothers me is that Tarquinius knows he has an expert at his disposal in me.

Why did he send Zeed home before I could even speak with him?

” He tossed his hands in the air. “Makes no sense, unless of course he really doesn’t trust me.

I do know he doesn’t see eye to eye with the Senate, so my being here at their behest makes us wary colleagues at best. I have some feelers out with friends in the Senate that have agreed to send word once they have confirmation that Zeed is, indeed, home and safe. ”

I released a pent-up breath. One more thing. The conversation between Typhon and Tarquinius about Lucinda had been rolling around in my head.

“That’s ... that’s great. That will definitely help all of us feel more settled.

Do you think you could ask your contacts about a Lucy?

Lucinda Azalea Maura? The wraith that was supposedly haunting the school.

She was a student here for a short time, but I also overheard some things that make me think she might have come through the weave between Neverthorn and Everdark. Is ... is that possible?”

It was the only explanation I could come up with, when thinking about how Tarquinius said she’d been freed, and they’d been talking about the weave.

He scrubbed at his jaw and then nodded slowly. “It’s definitely possible. But typically, dark Dwimmers from the other side would be considered interlopers and dangerous. She certainly wouldn’t have been sent a letter to attend Neverthorn. I will definitely look into it.”

I bit my lip and looked away.

“Look, I know it’s hard not knowing, but I’m going to get answers for you. It’s just going to take a little time.”

“And I appreciate it.” I took a breath and looked up at the underside of the trees. “I don’t mean to be ungrateful. It’s just been a lot.” Even more than I could tell him ...

He took my hand and gave it a squeeze. “If we want the best shot at getting to your Quirk, we’ve got to get started. I don’t know if you’re aware, but you’ve got a stubborn streak a mile wide that makes mining for yours kind of like trying to chip away at a wall made of diamonds using a spork.”

I almost laughed.

“I don’t doubt it. So go on. Do your best.”

I leaned back and he held my hand a second longer, brushing the tips of his fingers along my wrist.

The zing was back.

Sheet.

“What do you need me to do?” I said in a rush, relieved my voice wasn’t husky. “Close my eyes, right?”

“Exactly.”

He snapped a rune quickly, and the dirt swelled as a stump shoved up from underneath the heavy underbrush. “Sit and shut your eyes.”

I did as he asked, then he made a second stump chair for himself, so close that our legs were interlocked. Close enough that I could see the tiny gold flecks in his eyes.

“They’re not shut,” he said, the corner of his mouth tipping as he held my gaze.

“Right. Sorry. Go.” I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath.

“The best thing you can do to help things along is relax. Let the tension drain from your body.”

I could sense as I had before that he was moving his fingers close to me, swiping the mental cobwebs and worries away. After a minute or two, even the deep ache in my chest faded some.

“That’s . . . nice,” I whispered.

“What is it you love most in this world, Harlow?”

Part of me wanted to say in that moment, his minty fresh breath, but instead, I answered honestly as I had before.

“My sister, Opie.”

“And what is it that you want most, in your heart of hearts?”

I swallowed hard and paused for a long moment. “To find out that I have a fanfruckingamazing Quirk that will help me defeat Nocta so I can save my friends and get me and Opie the fruck out of here for good.”

I could almost feel the warmth of his grin and couldn’t help but smile back.

Two hours later, though, no one was smiling. All I had to show for my time was a pounding headache, a purple tongue, and most disturbing of all, the deep and overwhelming sense that I’d lost something I couldn’t identify.

If I didn’t find a Quirk, and soon, it would have all been for nothing. At best we had maybe another hour.

“If you don’t let your guard down this is never, ever going to work, Harlow.”

Liam paced in front of me, his stump chair gone and a line where his feet had pressed the moss down. I couldn’t help but notice that sweat had made his T-shirt cling to his lean muscles in a way that had me struggling not to stare.

“Last time at least we got you to the lever. Now it’s like a vault in there. What’s different?”

“Yeah, well last time I hadn’t seen a girl leap to her death, the murder of nine innocents, and one of my friends go all catatonic.” I scratched at my gritty eyes and let out a groan. “Stuff’s gotten pretty real here, in case you didn’t know, and it’s hard to trust.”

His voice was not unkind, but hard. “You came to me, Harlow. Not the other way around. If you don’t want to do this, that’s fine. But if you do, you better get serious because we’re running out of time. Trust me or don’t.”

I wanted to. Hell, if you’d asked, I’d have said I did trust him. But as it stood, deep down ...

I guessed not, even though he’d given me no reason to doubt him.

“Old habits die hard,” I whispered, knowing that trust was something I’d always struggled to give.

“Cast a rune,” I said before I could talk myself out of it. “There’s got to be something that can help. Like a magical Valium.” I closed my eyes and leaned back, clenching my fists. “Hit me with it.”

“You can’t be serious. That’s not something I would do, Harlow. It goes against every code of ethics I teach. And besides, it might not even work. We could get to the same place we got to last time.”

I opened one eye and glared at him.

“It will work if my resistance is the only issue. When I was more open to this, you said it yourself ... We both saw the lever. We just need to get rid of this block. So do it. I’m giving you permission. Come on. Hit me with it.”

I’d spent the past two months fighting tooth and nail for people to stop trying to control me and now I was begging for him to take control.

If that wasn’t trust, I didn’t know what was.

He stared at the trees again and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like a prayer. Then, he hung his head in defeat.

“Fine. We’ll try it. If you’re sure ...”

“I’m sure.”

I leaned back again and crossed my hands over my chest like a corpse, trying not to let the beginning nigglings of a panic attack take hold.

I kept my eyes shut tight. “Do it quick.”

Liam was nothing if not a good listener. What felt like seconds later, a warm sensation closed over me, and I was floating ...

“Ohhhh, that’s niiice,” I whispered, sinking deeper into my stump chair. “That’s ...” I let out a sigh and my stiff body went slack. “I could really go for a hot chocolate right now.”

“I’ll get you one as soon as we’re done. For now, though, just focus on the sound of my voice.”

“Not a problem. Your voice is like warm syrup.” I cracked my eyes open and boop ed his nose with my fingertip. “Mmm syrup. On pancakes.”

“Which I will also get for you. But first ...”

I got the sense of his fingers tracing shapes close to my forehead again, a mere whisper of a touch.

“We’re going to try one more time, my friend. What is it you fear most?”

In that moment, I almost said nothing. But an image of Nocta shimmered to the forefront of my mind. Not Nocta. Young Nicodemus Oliphant, draining the life from those who cared for him most.

“My father,” I murmured, my pulse pounding in my ears as a long, winding road appeared in my mind. I followed it slowly, cautiously, and then stopped short. There was no lever or rope to pull at the end of it. This time, there was nothing but a fork in the road. A choice to be made.

What did it mean?

“Do you see it, Harlow? The two paths you can take. Choose one.”

I was about to reply when a strange sensation washed over me. Like I was suddenly being watched, even as the pain in my ribs faded and the emptiness began to subside.

Typhon knew I was off grounds. His anger snapped through me and fruck me, he was close.

This ... this was not going to go well.

“We’re in deep sheet,” I whispered.