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Chapter Thirty-Five

B riony

With half of the shadow weavers gone, the atmosphere in the academy changes dramatically.

It’s as if the tension hovering around the campus dissipates slightly. People walk with their heads held a little higher, their shoulders a little lighter. They’re freer with their words and with their actions. Even the teachers seem a little more relaxed.

The academy plods along without them and we could almost fool ourselves into believing they were never here in the first place.

Except they were. And I catch myself looking for Dray in my lessons before I remember he’s not there, or searching for Thorne out on the field. Several times I even find my feet carrying me towards their tower only to find it empty.

It’s crazy how quickly three people can infiltrate your life like that. How used you can become to having them around. The days seem a little grayer without them, a little longer. But the days keep coming, keep passing by. One day, two days, three days, a week …

Luckily, I also have a lot more time on my hands.

Time I can spend caring for Blaze, wondering what the hell that was with Fox, and reading through the books with Clare.

Apart from that mention of the kid who was banished, we’ve found nothing else of interest or of help.

It’s frustrating and as the days drag on, I start to feel more and more irritable.

“Jeez, someone is miserable as fuck,” Fly says over dinner, when I snap at him to pass the salt. “Those Princes can’t return soon enough, Cupcake. Someone needs to get laid.”

“It’s not that,” I say, shaking salt aggressively over my food. “We’re not making any progress with my sister.”

“Uh huh,” Fly nods, “sure that’s the reason.”

Maybe I do miss them a little? After years of no one caring for me, touching me, loving me, perhaps I was starting to get used to it. Even greedy for it. Shit, a few heady orgasms and I’m as good as an addict.

“I’m reading as fast as I can,” Clare protests.

“I know me too. It’s just frustrating that we haven’t found anything.”

“We can spend tonight going through the books some more if you like,” Clare says. “The next trial is a while away still and maybe if we combine what we’ve learned so far something might pop up.”

“Thanks, Clare,” I say, trying my best to smother my frustration.

It’s not my friend’s fault we haven’t got anywhere.

If anything it’s my own – what with the princes and now a baby dragon.

But she’s right, maybe a bit of brainstorming might help us.

“I have to pop back to my room for a bit, but then I’ll be over,” I tell her, earning another suspicious look from Fly who can’t understand my sudden willingness to want to spend time in my horrible room.

Maybe because I don’t want to keep my friends waiting, but I hurry back from the forest after playtime with Blaze later that evening and must not take my usual care, because there waiting for me as I step off the field and onto the path is Odessa.

She’s wearing a fur-lined coat with matching hat and muff.

If I didn’t know she was from Iron, I’d assume she was a shadow weaver.

Okay, she doesn’t have the magical aura about her but she most certainly has the clothes.

I curl my toes inside my worn boots and hug Blaze more tightly to me inside Clare’s old winter coat.

I also pretend I haven’t seen her. I don’t want an altercation, or even a brief conversation right now.

My friends are waiting for me and I’m not sure how long I can keep the dragon inside my coat from wriggling and giving me away.

However, Odessa is determined to catch my attention, stepping right into my path as I try to avoid her.

My heartbeat starts to thump inside my chest. Odessa would be probably the worst person in the world to discover my secret.

The absolute worse. Anyone else I might be able to reason with, or influence.

Potentially even bribe. I won’t be able to do any of those things with Odessa.

Maybe Blaze senses my apprehension, because he remains completely motionless as Odessa eyes me.

Please don’t notice the odd-shaped nature of my coat! Please don’t notice. Please just dismiss it as crappy Slate fashion!

“What are you doing sneaking around in the forest, Slate slut? ”

I try my best to calm my nerves, glowering at her with my chin raised. If I come across all meek and passive now, she’ll definitely know something’s up.

“I wasn’t sneaking around.”

“You don’t even have a light.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “Neither do you. Are you sneaking about?”

She snorts. “As if! I’m on my way to have tea with some of the shadow weaver girls who didn’t go off on the training expedition.”

She swishes her hair like this is the greatest honor ever awarded anyone in the history of the realm. Like she’s going for tea with the Empress in the actual palace.

“Sounds lovely,” I say, with a ton of sarcasm and my biggest fake smile. Which is probably dumb considering I shouldn’t be provoking her if I want this conversation to end quickly.

She ignores my tone, swishing her hair the other way. “Kratos and the boys were keen to see I was well looked after while they were away. They asked the girls to take care of me and I’ve made quite an impression.”

“I bet you have.”

“I notice you haven’t been invited,” she sneers with a smile

“I’m obviously devastated.”

“Those Princes obviously don’t care much for you.

” Her smile grows wider. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re planning on dumping you.

Especially when they find out you’ve been sneaking off to the forest for a secret rendezvous.

Is it that boy you’re always with? Is that who you’re fucking behind the Princes’ back?

I should have known – you’re such a slut. ”

I glare at her. I know how this goes. I know what she’s planning. I can practically see the evil wheels spinning in her head. She’s going to tell everyone who will listen that that is what she saw and before you can say fuck-a-doodle-doo it will be the gospel truth with ten more eyewitnesses.

“I think you’re projecting,” I tell her. “Just because you’re sneaking around the pathways on the way to lick some shadow weaver pussy behind your protectors’ backs, does not mean I am doing the same thing.”

Horror overtakes her face before she schools it into something more neutral.

“Oh, little Slate scum,” she says, pouting, “I know they didn’t educate you properly back where you come from. I know all they did educate you on is how to lie on your back and open your legs. But tea is not the same thing as that.”

I shrug. “That’s what I heard.”

I take a step towards her, for a moment forgetting what I have hidden inside my coat. “So just be assured, Odessa, if you go starting rumors about me, I’ll be starting them about you.”

“Yeah, but the difference is, no one will listen to you,” she says smugly – which is true.

Still, I’m guessing my threat might be deadly enough to stop her.

The last thing she wants to do is lose her protectors and any sort of rumor of cheating is probably too much of a risk for her.

My momentary thoughts of triumph vanish almost instantly though as her gaze drops to my chest and she frowns, observing the lump in the front of my coat. “What’s that?” she asks.

But I’ve had enough. I’m not going to stand here and let her interrogate me.

“Nothing,” I say quickly, stepping around her. “Good night, Odessa. Enjoy your tea .”

Once I’ve returned to my room, I kick off my boots, flop down on the mattress with a relieved sigh, then unbutton my coat and let Blaze out.

“You did so well, baby,” I say, as he clambers over my face, licking my cheeks. “You were so well behaved.”

Except he isn’t that well behaved because I spend the next ten minutes trying to wrestle my left boot out of his mouth – he clearly doesn’t like the idea of me leaving him.

“I don’t want to go either, buddy,” I tell him, shoving my foot back in the boot before he can snatch it from me again. “But I’ve neglected researching my sister long enough and it’s important to me.”

He stares at me with his golden eyes, before curling up right in the center of my bed. I leave him snoozing, and walk through the campus to Clare’s room.

I’m more cautious stepping outside this time but it’s a quiet evening, too bitterly cold for anyone to want to hang outside.

Everyone’s tucked up inside. I swing my head back and peer up at the stars up above.

They’re the same stars that filled the sky back at Slate.

Unchanging, constant. For a moment, I let myself think about the Princes, wondering what they can be doing, where they might be.

Are they staring up at the exact same stars?

Something deep inside me pangs and I suspect I do miss them, but I push that thought aside. Tonight, I’m focused on Amelia.

Clare is sitting in the center of her room with the books all spread out around her. Fly is there too, laid out on her bed and flicking through a novel.

“You were ages,” he murmurs as I enter.

“Yeah, the thing I had to do took longer than I thought.”

“The thing?” he says, eyes narrowing.

“Yeah and I ran into Odessa.”

Fly lifts his head from the pillow. “And yet you have all your body parts. How is this possible? ”

“I have all my body parts, but don’t be surprised if there are all sorts of gross rumors flying around about the two of us tomorrow.”

“Ewww,” Fly says, “do I even want to know?”

“Nope.” I drop down on the floor next to Clare. “So anything in particular you think we should look into?” I ask her.

“Nothing solid,” she says, flicking over a page and pushing her glasses up her nose. “But …”

“But?” I say hopefully.

“I’ve been thinking–”

“Did it hurt?” Fly snorts.

“No.” Clare blinks, confused.

I give Fly a warning look. “What were you thinking?” I prompt.

“Did they ever tell you the names of the shadow weavers who were responsible for your sister’s death? It occurred to me that I never asked.”

“No, they didn’t.”

Fly places his book down. “They never gave you any hints? The kids who came back from the academy never told you who it was?”

“No one really talked to me after Amelia died. It was weird.” I peer down at my chewed fingernails. “Like my grief was an infectious disease nobody wanted to catch.”

“It can be difficult for people to know what to say,” Fly says softly.

“Maybe. But anyway, I don’t know if it just never got spoken about or whether they weren’t aware.”

“There must have been rumors,” Fly says. “Do the books say anything?”

“Not about that, but I’ve been making note of who I think may be the most likely suspects.” Clare pushes her notepad towards me. Written in a neat list down the page are six names.

“Why them?” I ask.

“They seemed to be the most powerful shadow weavers at the academy at the time. The one with enough power to …”

“Kill?”

Clare nods. “Do you recognize any of those names? Did they ever come up at all?”

The six names hover in front of my eyes like six flickering flames and I stare at them so long, they crawl across the page, my vision blurring into a mass of ash. I rifle through my memory, straining for any half-overheard conversations, any whispered words. I find nothing.

Finally, I shake my head.

“Do you recognize any of the names?” I ask.

“No, but then I don’t know so much about shadow weavers,” Clare says.

“Give the names here,” Fly says, holding out his hand and shaking it at us. Clare passes it over and his eyes flick down the list.

“I recognize three or four of the family names. They’re well-known shadow weaver families. Powerful ones.”

“So if they killed someone,” I say, through gritted teeth, “it would be in their families’ and the academy’s best interests to cover it up.”

“I don’t know about that,” Fly says warily. “And these are powerful people to go around accusing of murder, Cupcake.”

“How can I find out more about them?” I ask them both.

Fly sniffs. “That’s pretty obvious isn’t it? The Princes.”