“No one is to come in or out,” Prospero said, drawing every gaze to her. Once the guards reiterated that they were aware of the rules, Prospero extended a hand to Ellie. “Send me a message by hob if there are more attacks.”
“And remember that thorns won’t stopbulletsif they return,” Ellie added hastily.
15Sondre
The sight of Scylla motionless on the infirmary cot twisted something in Sondre’s stomach. Scylla wasn’t his friend, but she was the force that kept their world safe from discovery.
And they shot her.
He had to be ready to go after the people he’d wrongly thought were trustworthy.I have been a villain all along. Not a revolutionary. A monster.He motioned Monahan forward.
“You—” He paused and pointed at Axell. “—wait out here or go somewhere else. Stay away from the infirmary door.” He wasn’t a bad person, as far as Sondre could tell, but he was troubled. Sondre gave the musician his most intimidating look. He had recommended him for siphoning. The problem was that he had enough magic to stay, and he was a “death risk” if he went back.
Which shouldn’t be a factor in our decision,Sondre grumbled mentally.
“Come on.” Sondre gestured to the door.
“I’m ready. What do I do?” Dan asked, visibly straightening himselfas if he were about to walk into conflict. He might be the size of a sapling, but the boy had courage.
Sondre couldn’t do much else right now other than worry and grumble, so he could wait here for a minute.
Get the boy settled.
Check on Scylla.
Report to Congress.
Maintain the fortification over the school.
Handling the infirmary is the easiest thing on the list; that’s the only reason I’m staying,Sondre lied to himself briefly. But the lie felt heavy in his skin, as if the act of telling himself such things was akin to eating spoiled food.
Sondre pushed open the door and motioned Dan forward.
“I brought the amplifier,” Sondre called out to the healers inside. But instead of going inside, he let the door fall shut behind Dan, creating a moment of privacy outside the infirmary with Axell.
Once Dan was doing what he must on the other side of the door, Sondre stared at Axell for several moments. Objectively, the musician was handsome, but there were a lot of handsome men Dan could get to know.
“If you jab another needle in your veins, I’ll call in a favor to have you sent back,” Sondre said.
“I have enough magic to stay.” Axell pushed off the wall and glared back at him.
“And I have enough authority to make your magical levels not matter.” Sondre prodded the other man in the fold of his elbow, where recent needle bruising was obvious.
Sondre didn’t mention that thereweredrugs in Crenshaw. He considered it. He considered letting Axell know and letting the obvious thing happen. They used to try to keep the drugs out, but Aggie—who had been head of House Grendel—and most everyone else had been focused on bigger concerns of late.
“If you’re chasing a high, you don’t belong here. You don’t deservethe magic in you. If that’s what you want, be siphoned and go. Don’t destroy Dan along the way,” Sondre said pointedly in his chilliest voice.
Axell said nothing. After a moment of silent glaring, he turned and walked away.
Sondre sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the occasional race toward danger or dangerous bliss. He’d been on that route himself—not with needles but with violence. No one could change a person’s self-destructive tendencies, but Sondre thought Dan had enough challenges without adding this one.
And I feel brotherly toward him.
He watched Axell walk away before he shoved the door open to see what solution the doctors had inside now that they had Dan’s amplification to factor into their plans. He paused, magically sealing the door behind him. Logic said all the attackers were gone to the Barbarian Lands, but Sondre wasn’t sure what other secrets the New Economists had kept from him.
Are there dangerous people still here?
Are more attacks forthcoming?
