It comes out too easy, like he’s repeating something he’s heard a hundred times.
“And yeah, maybe it’s brutal at times, but this is the only place that actually shows us what we’re capable of. Back home, you get the kiddie version, but this is the only place you really get to learn your Threads.”
I watch him for a beat, but he’s dead serious, no doubt, no typical Finn jokes. How the hell does he not see it?
I glance at the body in the corner still twitching, water pooling beneath it.
“I get wanting to learn your magic,” I say. “But does it need to come with a body count?”
He tilts his head like that doesn’t even register as a real question. “Got to weed out the weak somehow.” No hesitation, no guilt. Then, like that’s not enough, he adds, “I don’t hate it here. Serrane’s a bit creepy but his sermons.... they help. Especially when I’m feeling low. When the fog rolls in.”
I don’t agree with any of it, but that last part? I believe him. He really thinks this place is helping. Helping him.
I open my mouth—maybe to tell him he’s not alone, that if things ever get bad, I’m here—but movement near the front row pulls my focus. Class must’ve ended at some point while we were talking. I hadn’t even noticed.
Judging by how fast everyone’s clearing out, I’m not the only one who tuned him out. A few cadets are already halfway to the door, packs slung over their shoulders.
In the corner, the body is finally hauled off. Dead now. No one looks.
Fuck this place.
Out in the corridor,we find Rowan and Ezzy waiting. Ezzy grins the second she sees me, all bright and obvious. I smile back, can’t help it, but a yawn slips out at the same time. Now that I’m not on the edge of my seat watching a cadet choke on his own lungs while a professor claps like it’s a fucking school play, I realise how tired I am. Despite the early night, courtesy of the new, stricter curfew posted for ourprotection, I didn’t get much sleep.
Ezzy and I talked for ages—more Finn drama, obviously—then once she finally dozed off, I just sat there, trying not to think about what and who I left behind. And instead focused on reminding myself I’m here for a reason, that this isn’t a mistake.
And when I'm not thinking about that or reading mum's journals, trying to make sense of Merrin's cryptic comment about reading between the lines,hecreeps in. Talen.
Professor Holloway decided it was best if I started training with Talen first, to get some control of my Threads before unleashing me on Beth. Smart, but something tells me she would have me on my ass before I even blink. It's the scar on her face, the confidence, or maybe just how good looking she is, probably all of it, but she kind of scares the shit out of me.
I was hoping to keep my distance from him, but now not only do I have to fake date him, but he's also going to be training me. Which only makes it harder to believe the Snare Urchin was him, why poison me and then help me improve my magic?
“You’re not listening,” Ezzy snaps, voice low, clipped—meant for Finn, not anyone else.
“But I said I wasn’t even looking at her, I don't understand what the problem is?” Finn’s arms are crossed tight, jaw clenched.
“That's the problem, ugh,” Ezzy fires back, and then she’s already turning, storming off toward the end of the hall.Finn mutters something under his breath, too quiet to catch, then shoves a hand through his messy hair and stalks off in the opposite direction.
Okay then, I blink towards Rowan, who looks just as amused as me “Library?”
“Sure,” he replies.
It’s probably for the best Ezzy’s not with us. I want to get answers, but I need to do it without dragging her into it. She already knows we’re looking into what happened in Ashvale, and she hates it—keeps reminding me the Citadel’s already told us what we need to know, that it’s not smart to go poking where we don’t belong.
I ignore the echo of her voice in my head as Rowan and I cut down the corridor, the air cools the closer we get to the library.
A few minutes later, we shove through the doors and nearly collide with a guard. Tall, all elbows and awkward angles, face I know. Brian. Ezzy’s friend, the one forever going on about his research—Thread Resonance Curves, or transfer, or something equally boring, I never manage to follow.
First question out of his mouth was Ezzy, of course, and then what we were doing. At first, I felt caught off guard, we’re not doing anything wrong, but still, I get nervous. So I kept it simple, said we were doing a background study on dragons for Treaty class, but that it’s not going well.He lit up at that, said his father’s a collector, shelves full of old books.
I could have said nothing. Kept Ezzy out of it like I promised. But those books might actually be useful. And if he thinks she’s involved in our studies... maybe that’s not the worst thing. So I told him Ezzy would love to see them if he had any on dragons that would help. He nodded and left looking way too pleased with himself.
The doors swing shut behind him, and the familiar scent of leather, dust, and old parchment settles thick in the air. Shelves loom on either side, rows of spines worn soft from too many hands. Rowan and I snag a couple of books on our way in, then scan for space. The place is busier now that everyone’s back—cadets hunched over manuals, murmuring across tables, catching up. We squeeze on to the far end of a long table, shoulders brushing.
“Cosy,” he jokes under his breath as I crack open a book on Truth Strings, flipping past the introduction, scanning for anything that might tie them to the stuff going on with Talen or Merrin. I’d asked Rowan about them on the way over, but he's only just learnt them this year too, so he isn't sure.
The text swims as soon as I try to focus, drowned out by the cadets across from us who won’t shut up about Serrane’s last sermon, bragging about how they’ve been applying his teachings, how it’s helping them ‘balance’ their negative energy, or some shit.
Rowan's leg brushes my knee as he leans across to grab another book, his blonde hair falling over his forehead in that same careless way Ezzy’s does. God, it's funny how they look so alike but couldn’t be more different.
