As best as I could, I told him everything I remembered from West’s insane tale of souls and progeny. Ayaz shuddered again, but whether from the pain or the news that he’d been intended as a child of the god, I couldn’t tell. When I finished, he didn’t say anything for a while, just kept gasping his shaky breath.
I hit Ayaz with the last piece of the puzzle, praying that I’d read him right and he really was back on our side. If he betrayed us to the Deadmistress, it would be all over. “Ms. West wants us to be her pawns so she can force the Eldritch Club to break the sigils that trap you in the school. She doesn’t know that we can already get past them.”
“You can?”
“Yup. But I want her to keep believing we need her as much as she needs us. We can’t do anything without control of the school. For that, we need you.”
Ayaz laughed bitterly. “After you burned the auditorium, didn’t you summon that crazy pillar thing? Courts told me about it. I’d say you’ve got control.”
I shook my head. “People are afraid of me. I like it, actually, but I know from the Bloombergs that having followers who fear you isn’t the same as people who adore you. I’ll deal with the god and his weird pillar and his soul-eating ways, but I need you to convince the others to listen to me. You’re loved at this school, Ayaz. The other students look up to you. I think it’s no accident that Ms. West targeted you with her… charms, and that you had your memories of me wiped. Of all the Kings, you’re the most dangerous, because people actually trust you. And now you’re the only King left.”
Ayaz’s eyes swam with pain and confusion. “Is it really all true… Ms. West swapped part of my soul with the god?”
“I swear it on a mountain of bacon.”
The corners of my Turk’s mouth twisted up into one of those rare, dazzling smiles. “Then whatever your plan is, count me the fuck in.”
Chapter Ten
No way was I leaving Ayaz alone. Quinn and Trey stayed in the hall, keeping watch, listening for the return of the students. I searched the infirmary cupboards and found a couple of scratchy wool blankets and a supply of Scotch hidden in Old Waldron’s desk drawer. I crawled up on the bed beside Ayaz and slipped under his arm, placing the blanket over my knees and being careful not to touch him anywhere below the waist.
“You’ll heal, right?” It was hard to tell if his burns had actually improved or if the horror of looking at them had simply faded a little.
Ayaz shrugged, then winced. “I fucking hope so. In twenty years I’ve never been this badly injured. I can feel things happening down there, but I’m too afraid to look.”
“He’ll heal fine.” Quinn strode into the room and tossed me my mobile. “Once Trey cut my arm off just to see what would happen. It took a week but it came back. Hurt like you wouldn’t believe.”
“I bet. What’s this for?” I stared down at the phone, not understanding why Quinn had brought it. Outside the walls of the school, I had nothing and no one. Deborah… maybe? But who was she apart from a stranger who got caught up in something she didn’t understand. I didn’t know how much we could trust her. Judging by the way Quinn immediately slid into the corner of the room – as far from me as he could get – I wasn’t sure I still had all my Kings.
If the students are all as afraid of fire and that creepy pillar as Quinn is, I’m going to have a hell of a time getting them to trust me.
Which was super annoying, because I wasn’t used to needing others and I didn’t know the first thing about inspiring trust. At my old school, I didn’t give a fuck about the other kids. I was perfectly happy flying under their radar, especially since half of them were in gangs or worse. But if I was going to pull this off, if I was going to find out why I was the key and what the pillar unlocked, I needed the Miskatonic Prep students on my side.
All of them.
Even though it would be easier in the end, I couldn’t do that if Quinn was afraid of me. I searched his face for some clue as to how he was feeling, but apart from the distance between us, he appeared his normal, happy-go-lucky self. No trace of the ice king from earlier.
“I went back to the dorm to see what was going down. While I was there, I went to our rooms for supplies,” Quinn’s familiar grin churned me up inside as he emptied his pockets, revealing my knife, several smushed Twinkies, and a box of condoms. “The phone was beeping.”
“How are the other students?” I asked. “Have they come back yet?”
“They’re starting to trickle in. Everyone looks horrible – like they’ve been living feral for months. Court’s is holding court, of course.” He tried to smile at the feeble joke, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“They haven’t hurt Loretta or Andre?”
“Nope. They’re mostly standing around in a daze. The girls are gathered in Courtney’s room, whispering and crying and holding each other. I thought maybe Ataturk would like to go back with me in case it devolves into a pillow fight?” A hopeful eyebrow shot up as Quinn locked eyes with Ayaz.
Ayaz’s chest heaved as another spasm of pain shot through him. “Perhaps another time.”
“You two should go back to the dorms,” I said. “Your presence could do a lot of good. I don’t want them to think you abandoned them after our performance, lest they get any wild ideas about my loyalties.”
Trey plonked down in the wooden chair I’d left. “I’m staying right here.”
“Ditto.” Quinn pulled open the infirmary door. “I mean, I’m going to be outside, keeping watch in case anyone wants words with Hazy. But that’s basically here.”
Ayaz managed a shaky half-smile. “Thanks, guys. I probably would have missed you if I didn’t believe you’d been brainwashed by a witch named Hazel.”
The door closed behind Quinn. The audible click of the bolt sent a shiver down my spine, as if it foretold a void between us. I hoped Quinn knew he could find his way back to me, as soon as he was ready to step through the door and face what that meant.
