Brix walks me all the way to the library—again. At this point, he’s practically escorting me through life like it’s his full-time job. He gives a little two-finger salute before peeling off toward his own class, and… universe help me, it makes something in my chest loosen.
Not the forced “let’s-make-Atticus-lose-his-mind” vibe we planned on. Just… easy. Warm. The comfortable that sneaks up on you.
I shove the door to the tucked-away study room open, the hinges giving their usual squeak. Maddox is already inside, hunched over a stack of notes.
His head lifts, one brow arching. “So do you require an escort everywhere you go now?”
I drop into the chair across from him, rolling my eyes.
“Please. Brix is just a friend. We study, we insult each other’s handwriting, we don’t make out in supply closets. It’s very wholesome.”
He hums—one of those low, judgmental sounds that translates to whatever helps you sleep at night—but he doesn’t push it. Fine by me.
I drag my homework out of my bag and pretend to be a functioning student. Pencil to paper, numbers and formulas… except none of it sticks. My hand’s moving, but my brain’s somewhere else.
Itkeeps circling back to the same things: the potion Maddox is trying to create, the Council breathing down my neck from a distance, the ticking clock no one else can hear but me. Every day feels like sand slipping through my fingers.
It feels dangerous.
Maddox said it would take time… but time is exactly what I don’t have. How long is “a while”? Weeks? Months? Longer than the tiny sliver of the term I have left?
Ryker and I are… something. Nothing exclusive but our friendship is budding into something more. I’m letting him in, piece by piece, and maybe—maybe—he’ll have some sway with his father like he has said.
But a single Councilor tossing me a life preserver while the rest of them are ready to shove me off the edge? Yeah, that’s not a solid survival plan.
And no matter how much I try to pretend otherwise, I can feel it—this steady, frantic ticking under my skin.
I hate bringing it up again. The question sits heavy in my throat until I can’t take it anymore.
“How’s the potion coming?” I ask, forcing my voice to sound casual, though my fingers twist in my lap.
Maddox lets out a slow breath. “If you want the truth… it’s not looking good,” he admits, gaze flicking away before cutting back to mine.
“I’ve tried every method I trust—and a few I shouldn’t—but it won’t stabilize. Nothing holds.”
His jaw tightens, like he hates the words even as he says them. “It’s not working,” he pauses, swallowing hard. “And I don’t know if it will.”
His words hit like a stone dropped straight into my stomach, heavy and sinking fast. The walls of the little study room suddenly feel way too close.
I force myself to breathe, to keep going. I don’t have the luxury of stopping.
“And your father?” I ask, hating how my voice sounds. “If you… brought me up to him, do you think he’d even consider it? Maybe speak in my favor?”
The question tastes awful—like swallowing something jagged. Asking for help like this always feels like stepping onto thin ice: risky, humiliating, necessary. But I need an answer, even if it’s one I won’t like.
Maddox stills, the air around him tightening. He leans back in his chair, jaw ticking once before he answers.
“My father doesn’t… listen,” he says. “Not to me, not to any of us, if we’re being honest. He’s only ever interested in results—what we can offer him, not what we need.”
His mouth twists, something sharp flickering behind his eyes. “If you’re hoping he’d take a request from me seriously, he won’t. He never does. And between us?” He huffs out a humorless sound. “He’ll fall in line with whatever Councilor Willshire decides. They usually vote as a pair. Same interests. Same agenda.”
The words land like a punch.
Of course, Councilor West would follow Atticus’s father. The one Councilor who’s made it perfectly clear that he wants me gone.
My throat burns as I swallow. For a second, I let myself imagine what it will feel like if Maddox is right—if everything comes down to him.
And I realize this is worse than I thought. As it stands, I will not win over the Councilors.
