While Cody takes a few sips from a thermos Seth placed on the desk for him, I consider what I can share with the Sinners before saying, “There’s a group of guys. I don’t wanna out them, but they know about the Sinners. They told me about the group last year and asked me to spy on you for them.”
“How did they find out about us?” Brad inquires.
“I couldn’t tell you. I don’t know their secrets, which now that this has happened, you can see why that was a smart idea. Even if Seth does try to push on me, the most he’s gonna get is their names.”
“So you were spying on me all last semester?” Luke asks, his hurt evident in his tone. The betrayal of someone he thought was his friend.
But it’s time to face the truth. “Yes, I was. I thought itwas to protect you from them. Even that night at Alpha Alpha Mu, I thought the Sinners were planning to do something to you, which is why I went out to the woods. Then I saw you and Cody running and raced to catch up. I thought maybe Seth and Brad had done something.” I’m being evasive, leaving out the part where Preston and Finnegan asked me to meet them in the woods, so I don’t accidentally out them to the guys.
Luke studies my expression, as though he’s deciding whether to believe me. “We did wonder why you were in the woods that night. That makes more sense.”
“So why were you working with this group?” Seth asks.
“I needed something, and they offered to help me if I did.”
“What did you need?”
“It’s not really any of your business, is it?” Matteo snaps, which seems to take Seth by surprise.
But I’m glad he said it because I don’t want to go there. “That’s a boundary for me. What I can share is that it was taking them too long to follow through with their end of the deal, and after how Cody saved me last semester, I realized there was more to all this than they led me to believe. I also didn’t have any indication they were gonna give me what they promised, so I took something from them I thought would help me do what I needed without them. And Matteo found out I was planning to perform this spell. He was worried about me doing it alone, so he did it with me. And then after we tried it out, that’s when this Farras thing came up.”
“So now that you know what he was up to,” Matteo says, “maybe we could get some answers about what this Sinners shit is all about.”
Seth groans. “Feels like we just did this with Luke. Freshman year, Cody stumbled upon a book, and we all started learning how to use these powers. It was benefiting all of us, and then Cody started having horrible visions. We were trying to prevent something terrible from happening, and after Luke arrived, he had visions too. They’re what helped Luke kill that thing that attacked you in the woods. But that same night, we got a message that something even worse is on the way, and we’ve been meeting up more frequently to train in hopes of stopping whatever the hell that is.”
Brad glares at Seth. “Nice and subtle.”
Seth shrugs. “We don’t have time for this.”
“We think,” Cody adds, “that whoever asked you to spy on us might be why that monster got out last year.”
“Got out?” Matteo asks. “From that place you guys talk about—the Rift?”
Cody nods.
“Well, the guys I was spying for think the Sinners did that,” I say.
“We’re the bad guys in this?” Seth asks.
“I mean, you have kind of made this hard on yourselves,” Matteo adds. “You call yourself the Sinners.”
“That was what the original Sinners called themselves because the school was still more religious and this was blasphemy,” Seth explains. “They weren’t doing anythingwrong. They just thought it was fun and cool.”
“It’s certainly not helpful advertising,” Matteo assures them.
“We’ll take the note.” Seth’s not attempting to disguise his sarcasm.
“Let’s say you’re not the bad guys here,” Matteo continues. “You saw what happened to me after one ritual. I can’t imagine what might happen if you practiced this stuff all the time.”
“I can appreciate your concern,” Brad says. “But given that Luke’s and Cody’s visions have come to pass, and the warning we’ve received about something worse coming, what are we supposed to do? Walk away? And then if that happens? How will we live with ourselves?”
He has a point.
“How are you supposed to stop this bad thing from happening?” Matteo asks.
“There’s something from the other side of the Rift,” Cody answers. “A guide named—”
“Kysar?” I ask, recalling the name from other times I’ve spied on them.
