Page 57

That lasted for the next few days. The notes kept coming.

Some were concerns about others. Quite a few people had noticed either Poppy's, Pascal's, or Ms. Linden's magical shifts.

Most sounded like they were afraid it was a trick.

Others had information that was slowly but surely narrowing down the list of suspects for this group we could only call The Silent.

There was just one problem with all of this: it was exhausting.

We were constantly looking over our shoulders, hurrying around to make sure everyone was safe, putting more effort into our combat lessons, and burning more magic than I was used to.

I felt like every spare second was spent reading the notes, trying to find something in them that would help, and keeping the entire court up to date.

For me, coffee was the solution. A text to my dad resulted in a Keurig being delivered to my room on Saturday. Liam even showed me how to set it up, fill it up, and make a decent cup of coffee. And because my dad was amazing, he'd purchased the good pods to go with it - both coffee and cocoa ones.

Aspen was sucking back sugar. Her Pixy Stix collection had gotten lean, but Liam had planned for that as well.

Ok, so I'd mentioned that in my request, but I didn't mind him getting the credit.

Hawke and Wilder kept disappearing together.

Torian gave them knowing smiles, so I could make an assumption about how they were handling the drain.

But on Sunday afternoon, Aspen fell asleep studying. I tucked her into my bed, convinced Jack to watch over her, then headed to her room so I wouldn't move wrong and wake her up. It also gave me the chance to see when more of those notes slid under the door.

I was reading one of the books I'd missed in the literature class I no longer had when the bathroom door glowed softly. My head snapped up just as Torian sauntered into his sister's room - and stopped hard.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

I lifted a finger to my lips. "She passed out in my room, and we're not waking her, right? "

He ducked his head as a smile took over. "I actually came to check on her, so I'm good with that." Then he made his way closer. "I'm worried about her, Rain."

"Aspen's got this," I assured him, moving over so he could sit on the bed too.

He eased himself down on the edge. "The problem is, we don't have this. The school's security has been ramped up. Poppy's courtiers are keeping their eyes open, teachers are supposed to be on high alert, and we still don't know who's doing this!"

"Shh," I reminded him, tugging his shoulder so he'd slide back and let the wall work as a backrest. "Tor, there hasn't been another attack."

"But we haven't gotten any closer," he grumbled. "We still don't have a fucking clue who's doing this!"

"But we know who isn't," I pointed out. "That's progress, right? Ruling people out should count."

He scrubbed at his face, taking too long to respond. Then, "Rain, I've had two Winter students ask if I could change them to Summer. Something's happening with the magic, and people have noticed. Never mind the idiots who want to swear their allegiance to me!"

He leaned back, tilting his head up to the ceiling. I watched as his eyes slipped closed, proving he was not handling this as well as he wanted everyone else to think.

"This isn't your fault," I said, shifting closer so my shoulder was beside him. "You're not doing anything wrong, Tor. It's just that people actually believe in you."

"What if you're wrong?"

"Look," I said. "Would so many notes come in trying to help us if people thought Aspen was evil?

Would the idea of one court be so appealing if you were?

I'm just saying that being made into the scapegoat isn't the same as being at fault, ok?

And we don't even know if that's happening.

Something is, but we don't have enough information to be sure of what any of this really means.

Right now, we're all strung out because of the stress…

" I tilted my head toward my room where Aspen was sleeping. "...and we really need a good nap."

He sat there in silence for a little too long. "I made her do this, you know."

"You didn't," I countered. "The Huntsman did, Tor. Aspen took the crown because she was trying to save me. If anything, that means my fuck-up made her do this."

"No," he begged, lifting a hand to stop me.

"Rain, I made her come here. I had to see her in person.

I was so sure I was protecting her, but what if I was wrong?

No one even knew she existed before she showed up at Silver Oaks.

Her mother hid her well, and her guardian died keeping that secret - but I didn't want to be alone. "

"Neither did she," I said gently. "Lost in a foreign world, with no one around who understood her? I'm sure finding you was the best thing that had happened to her in years."

"And now," he grumbled, "people want to kill her because of it. They're willing to destroy an entire season to make it happen - and they're wrong. All they'll do is put me on her throne, and that's one thing we can't take back."

"So we make sure it never happens," I told him.

He nodded, staring off at the floor in front of him. "Rain, I don't know what to do."

So I pointed at the pillows. "You put your head there, close your eyes, and let the Morrigan handle it for a bit. Sleep for a couple of hours, Tor. This will all seem better when you don't feel like you lack the energy to even think."

He licked his lips, refusing to look at me. "You going to keep reading?"

"Yep," I said. "My dads got me a coffee maker for the room. There's no way I'm sleeping right now."

Finally, those green eyes of his slid toward me. "Am I going to get in your way?"

"Nope." But I reached over to clasp his upper arm. "Tor, do you want me to stay in here or go back to my room?"

His gaze jumped from one of my eyes to the other and his entire body stilled. "Would you..." He paused to clear his throat. "Is it a problem for you to stay?"

I slid my hand down his arm until I held his wrist. "I'm not going anywhere, Torian. Not anywhere."

"Thank you," he whispered, the T-word feeling even more impressive because I knew how hard it was for him to use.