“I was referring to you,” Uncle Berilo corrected. “I do apologize for my earlier skepticism and lack of decorum. I hope this does not tarnish our working relationship in the future.”
My little spiral of self-doubt vanished. He was apologizing to me, even though we all heard something crack. I broke something. But it wasn’t a big deal.
Don’t do that.My least favorite words came back to me before sliding off.Do that!
A little zing of excitement lifted my world, and I stepped away from Cayden. Magic. My magic. I wasn’t the old Quinn. I wasn’t crazy for believing in myself. I was right to.
Uncle Berilo held out his hand. “Raw materials, please.”
I nodded, withdrawing my finger from the glass jar in my pocket, which I’d nestled with three others, each containing the preciousmetals and diamonds we’d painfully separated from my old toys. I’d never been so thankful I’d destroyed a phone before in my entire life.
The sparkle of my hair dimmed, and I froze. Until this moment, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to the world beyond getting my magic and protecting myself from the Architect. But Uncle Berilo was unknown to me. The kid in the turtleneck rubbed his neck again, exactly where my collar had been.
“You trust me, right?” Everly put her hand on my bicep.
I realized I was rubbing the same spot my collar had been while staring at this poor teenager. I lowered my hand and looked at my friend. Her lips were in a flat line with little wrinkles of stress at their corners, and she looked at me with wide, pleading eyes that begged me to do something.
“I do.” I handed Uncle Berilo my only connection to my magic before gripping my friend’s hand and meeting her gaze. “Thank you. It couldn’t have been easy to get your family to work with the Architect.”
“It wasn’t. We, um. Yeah.” She grimaced and also looked at the teenager. “But it will be worth it.” She turned her full attention back to me and grinned.
Cayden elbowed me and pointed at Uncle Berilo. “Assure him you’re not offended unless you are.”
I jerked. “Ah, right, no tarnish,” I managed to spit out eloquently. “Everly’s my friend, so you’re okay.”
Could I have said anything stupider?
“I appreciate your patronage.” Uncle Berilo gave me a polite nod. “Please call on me at any time. I will have your piece completed this afternoon and brought to Everly, as requested.”
I managed to pull myself together and gave him a sincere thanks, before turning. I met Rowan’s gaze, and his words came back tome. Yesterday. We hadn’t seen each other yesterday; I’d spent hours sobbing in Cayden’s arms about my dad.
Rowan knew.
I opened my mouth, but he shook his head.
I cursed Angela’s name, but nodded. Later, he would have a lot of explaining to do.
With a tug from Cayden and a lightness in my no longer magically overloaded steps, I returned to the library.
Three days later, I walked through the cold winter rain, warm. It was the dumbest thing I’d ever been proud of, but the reason no one else ever seemed cold was because they weren’t. Magic was ever moving. Between my new piece of jewelry and trial and error, I’d figured out how to direct the flow and heat myself. It had limits. Too hot, and I’d run a fever and die, but just a little heat to stay comfortable was essential.
I didn’t always get it right, but I was learning. I’d even counted my pile of gold and paid back my friends, so I wasn’t in debt to anyone except the Architect—the man who’d saved my life and still not come forward.
Ezra said the Architect knew about my belly button ring, my own personal magic converter. Instead of keeping me too busy to think, the Architect had put everything on hold for me and Cayden so I could focus on understanding my magic. He’d shifted from relentless pressure to endless patience.
It was… uncharacteristically kind. And that, more than anything, made me uneasy.
However, he was apparently still too busy to meet with me. Like the weather, this situation was getting old fast.
I found my friends standing outside The Rooster, staring longingly at our usual table, which was filled with faces we didn’t know.
Brit came out of the pub, scowling. “There’s not even standing room. This entire castle is full to bursting. We need a second pub or maybe a proper canteen.”
No one disagreed, and after only a heartbeat, Everly took charge. We soon found ourselves lounging in her dorm, which was nothing like mine.
Posh. A word so fancy I’d never had reason to use it until now.
She had four rooms to my one, including a private bedroom and bathroom. The sitting area was spacious, with two couches, two lounge chairs, and a heat cone at the center. Hero moved through a real kitchen at the far wall, apron tied casually at his waist.
