“But you’re our best hope to save the Clans.” I approach cautiously, remembering Archer’s advice. When logic fails, go for guilt. “The Hunters took everything from me. They murdered my father. They ripped away my magic, and when itfinallycame back, it wasn’t the same. I can’t reach the elements without pain. I don’t know if it’ll ever stop hurting.” My voice cracks, and I don’t bother trying to stop the tears. “Please, Alice. You could do something about this. You could be the one to save us.”
She considers me, and I feel the weight of Morgan’s gaze at my back. Feel the guilt I tried to wield as a weapon turned back at me. I let Morgan believe everything was okay. Now she knows I’ve kept this from her for weeks. Every time she asked if I was okay. Every time I deflected instead of telling her. But if this secures the help we need, I’ll shoulder the fallout.
“Alice...” I reach for her hand, but she yanks away from my touch.
“Get out. Both of you.” She stands abruptly and grabs me by the collar of my shirt.
I stumble behind her, and she shoves me into the hallway. Morgan follows me out.
“Find yourself another savior,” Alice says, and slams the door in my face.
9
SARAH IS WAITING FORus when we get back to our room. “How did it go?”
Her question hangs in the hallway between us, and I don’t even know where to begin. Talking to Alice was a complete and total failure. I settle for a shrug, trying to crumple my emotions like an unwanted Post-it Note.
“Alice wasn’t very... receptive to the idea,” Morgan says, glancing at me. I can tell she wants to talk. Not about my failed mission, either. I can see it there in her eyes, her renewed curiosity about the first time I met Alice, but she doesn’t say anything in front of Sarah. She knows the dangers of being charged with inter-Clan violence.
The Elders might offer us more leeway regarding today’s violence given that we’re here on their request, but I don’t think that’s a risk any of us wants to take.
“What do we do now?” Sarah pulls her phone out of her pocket and checks the time. “Ryan told me not to leave New York without her.”
There’s no way Alice is going to change her mind. A small part of me doesn’t blame her. I remember the dangerous gleam in Tori’s eyes all those months ago, shining as brightly as her blue hair. I remember how much she hurt Alice before I helpedher get away. “Then I guess we’re stuck here.” I jam my keycard into the lock and shove open the door.
“Hannah—”
“Let me,” Morgan says, cutting her off. “I’ll talk to her. We won’t try again without telling you first.”
The door clicks shut, and I perch at the edge of the bed, studying the woodgrain in our polished floor. Discarded outfits still litter the room from when we changed for Alice’s show, and the latch on the door to Sarah’s suite is still flipped open. I consider locking it so she can’t come in, but that requires finding the will to stand up when all I want to do is sink into this bed and never move again.
Morgan’s shadow falls over me, her long lines lengthened by the angle of the wall-mounted lights.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I say before she can ask.
Morgan sits beside me and is quiet for a long time. “I think we should,” she says at last, turning to face me. “Was all of that true? Even about your magic?”
The tears I’ve been fighting finally break free and slip past my lashes.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Morgan reaches for me, brushing my cheeks with her thumbs. “I’m a terrible girlfriend. I should have noticed something was wrong.”
“It works better when you’re around.” The admission dries my eyes, and I wipe my face on my sleeve. “It’s best when you’re using your magic, but even when you’re not, being near you grounds me in a way that makes it easier to reach the elements. There was nothing for you to notice.”
I don’t know what it is about her presence that makes it better, but somehow, it does.
“You could have told me,” she insists. “I would have—”
“What? Told my mom? Told Archer?”
“Tried tohelp. We’re on the same team, Hannah, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.” Morgan reaches for my hand and squeezes. Her magic flows through me and eases the lingering ache from Alice’s attack. “Are you okay?”
“I will be,ifwe can convince Alice to help.” I didn’t come this far to go back empty-handed. I didn’t go through that kind of mind-numbing pain to have nothing to show for it. “But after everything that happened, I don’t see how she ever will.”
Morgan goes quiet again. She rubs tiny circles against my knuckles with her thumb, but her face is stormy with a hundred questions.
A long sigh makes my entire body deflate. “Go ahead. Ask.”
“I’m not—”
