For a moment, Axell’s expression was torn, as if he was weighing the risks of having this conversation.
“I won’t tell anyonewhotold me.”
“Come.” He walked away, weaving around the new residents until they reached a door that was closed. He glanced back at her and pointed at the door. “Magic the lock.”
It was an odd request, but she understood what he meant. She readjusted the locking mechanism so the door swung open. Inside the room was a stack of binders that she recognized.
“My research!” She grabbed one of her Missing files and flipped it open. Dan Monahan’s face stared back at her. “I have your boyfriend’s information.…”
“Ja.” Axell flopped down on the bed. “You knew about some students when you came here.”
Absently, Ellie flipped the pages. There was an article about Maggie, too. Ellie skimmed it.
MISSING LAWYER
RALEIGH—The search for 44-year-old Margaret Lynch continues this week. “Ms. Lynch careened off the road. Evidence suggests the mother of one was day-drinking,” local sheriff Bill Bamberg explained. “Maybe she caught a ride with someone. Maybe she planned the whole thing.”
Lynch, an attorney, was last seen by her teen son, who was knocked unconscious in the crash. Several campers saw the two that weekend, but there were no witnesses to the accident. “Maggie was in over her head at work, but there were no cases likely to lead to foul play,” her ex-husband explained. “I think this was her cowardice. We were in a custody discussion, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was trying to kidnap our son.” Authorities are hoping someone will reach out with information on Ms. Lynch’s situation.
Ellie ran her hand over the sleeve that held the newsprint article. She had been collecting the stories of the missing for as long as she could recall. She sorted them by type and resolution, updated them. These binders were the work of a lifetime.
Why are they sitting in a sealed room in a castle in Crenshaw?
Ellie looked around the room for a moment. She walked to the window and saw a tree there. Ellie felt her own magic vibrating from outside the window. She had made the tree.
This was my room,she realized.
For a moment, she remembered standing there before. Not in this exact spot, but near this tree. Maggie was there at that point, too.“Where to next? If we’re going to slip off our ‘campus,’ where do we go?”That meant Maggie had been in this room, too.
But I don’t remember knowing her.
“Why don’t I remember reading this?” Ellie asked, pointing at the binder, which was flopped open to the article about Maggie. “Or making that?” She gestured over her shoulder this time, toward the window.
“Maggie does not remember, either.” Axell held Ellie’s gaze. “You both forgot many things. We are helping her know now that her son is safe.”
“Does everyone know that I… left?”
He shrugged. “I watch the people I like, the peopleDaniellikes… and those he fears.”
Ellie couldn’t figure out what could’ve happened to make Dan fear her, but she suspected that with her power, fear was not a surprising reaction. She was, after all, a research librarian, and here Axell was offering himself up like a book of clues and evidence.
“Did I hurt him?”
“No.”
“Did I hurt you?” she asked.
Axell smiled. “Thatwouldhurt him, but no.”
“Did I hurt Maggie?”
“No. You didn’t hurt anyone, I think. Maybe Lady Prospero.” Axell paused before adding, “I was not where you were, so I do not know all the things. I think you did not, though.”
As Ellie tried to think of the best questions, Axell watched her, and it struck her that he could have just told her more than he did. Instead, she felt like she was pulling the answers from him—but that hewantedher to do that. He obviously was trying to prompt and shape her inquiries.
“Why can’t you justtellme?” Ellie looked down at the fruiting tree. She’d made that. Her power was to shift and create. She remade things.
For a moment, Axell looked wary. “I cannot break all the rules, Ellie. I told you: some people have power, andsomeare disposable.” He looked toward the door, where voices were rising and falling. “And some people have influence.… You have power. I have neither power nor influence. I am a cog here.”
