“No? How would I be? I only talk to Skye and Leland.”
“Ah, well,” he said calmly. “That’s what I thought. It might surprise you to know a few of us share the opinion. But there was no way around it. The others, I’m afraid, take the temple far too seriously. Your first strike has been given for trespassing. I’msure I don’t need to tell you you’ll be sent home if you get two more?”
“No,” I said abruptly. “And I won’t. I won’t go back there.”
“Wonderful, wonderful,” he said, lifting the plate. “Cookie?”
“Oh. Um. No, thank you,” I said, politely shaking my head. There wasn’t a single one he hadn’t already taken a bite out of. “Echelon Starvos . . .”
I needed to tell someone I’d heard Jaxan in the shadows at the Blacklight, which I didn’t do at my trial because I didn’t want to be accused of Libel. But I trusted Starvos would at leastlistenbefore calling a trial to punish me. Besides, there wasn’t anyone better I could tell.
“I think there’s something I need to report,” I said. “Something about the Shadowrealm.”
“A report about the Shadowrealm?” said Starvos, sounding surprised I’d bring it up. “I’m afraid that sort of business must only be discussed at Odessa Hall. Security reasons, you understand.” He consulted the clock on the wall behind me. “As it happens, I’m on my way there now for some related business.” He leaned in closer. “I have a meeting with an animal handler to see if a few Familiars can’t locate the missing Aspirants. Why don’t you make your report tomorrow? I have some office hours in the morning.”
I started to open my mouth —
He clapped definitively and stood. “Very good. You’ll want to be right on time for breakfast in a few hours. Tiramisu crepes this morning!”
I tried to hide my confusion as he was already at my chair and showing me the door.
“Wouldn’t it be charming if we found them?” he asked as we walked, stooping a little to add quietly, “But I don’t expect we will. Nevertheless, I was promised I’d get to pet a bloodhound. Do try to stay out of trouble. It would be a shame to lose youbefore the rest of the Council comes around.”
He straightened his jacket with his sights set on the hatch passage, and I didn’t know what else to do besides walk off to the library and hang out there until the cafeteria opened for breakfast.
* * *
I resumed my perusal ofThe Blackburn Artifactsunder dull candlelight. I was familiar with the Blackburns’ Lens of Intentions, the letterboxes, and the Everblade that Jaxan now had, but learning about Helen’s fourth artifact, the Ring of Greatest Fear, sent a shiver down my spine and blood pounding in my ears.
When the bearer rotates the Ring of Greatest Fear’s oval pendant three times, clockwise, their intended target will experience delusions of their worst fears come to life. With enough repetitions, the delusions will eventually trigger on their own, with no proximity to the ring required.
A hollowness swallowed me, my eyes drifted over the page, and deciding there was nothing else I wanted to learn about her, I closed the text.
And jumped back a bit. The front legs of my chair lifted centimeters off the ground as I rocked backward, startled by the presence of a five-pound, white bunny rabbit. Pepper jumped on the table, her bright, black eyes pertinent.
“Oh, hi, Pepper,” I said, offering her a hand to sniff as Belinda poked her head around a shelf.
“Ooo, artifacts,” Belinda said, rounding the shelf and eyeing the text I was trying to forget. “There’s no way the Echelon Helen Blackburn actually uses the Ring of Greatest Fear one, right? Just wears it? I mean . . .” She exhaled a laugh. “Brain bleed and babble? Who would survive being on the receiving end of that!?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, hurrying away from the table, struggling tobreathe as I felt like the walls of my rib cage were caving in. “I can’t — I have to go.”
“But I have to give you your invitation!”she yelled over the stacks.
“Hello,” Rayne said, intercepting me in the arcade. “You look like you could use some flowers.” She used her gift openly. It was one of my favorite things about the Creation Academy. Sweet-smelling flowers everywhere you looked. “What kind should I make?”
I didn’t want this to turn into a whole thing, so I just said, “Snapdragons.”
Rayne made them for me, and on my way up the spiral to shower, I left the stem of peach petals by Belinda’s door.
* * *
I ran into Leland at the bacon station a few hours later. “Strike?” he asked, swinging tongs to my plate and loading it with a heap of bacon. From fifty feet away at the fourth-year table, Vyra skewered us with a stare.
“Yep,” I said. “Trespassing.”
He nodded, not surprised by this. “How’s research going?” he asked conversationally. He’d had a thirty-minute walk to ask me this this morning, but for whatever reason, he wanted to discuss it now.
“Hard,” I replied, focusing on the concerningpopof grease as his arm hovered over the sizzling stainless-steel serving pan.
