Quinn clutched his chest. “I’m wounded. I shall never recover from this slight—”
Trey rolled his eyes at me. “Maybe we could get back on topic. Hazel, you might as well tell Greg about your key theory, since we can’t focus on anything else.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know how to explain it, but when I was touching the pillar, it’s like I could see right through to the god as he is. The god is sort of… asleep but dreaming – it’s through his dreams that he talks to me and shows me things, and I think that’s how he talks to Ms. West, too. But I saw him as he truly was – like peering through a keyhole.”
“That’s what the rats were trying to show – a key and a lock fitting together,” Trey said. “I’m guessing the pillar unlocks—”
“The god’s prison,” I finished. “I think so, too. Which means this informationcannot leave this room. If any of the senior Eldritch Club find out about this, they’re going to make it their mission to force me to open the lock. I don’t know how to do that yet, but I bet Vincent has delightful ways of finding out.”
“I’m not likely to tell,” Quinn made a zipping motion. “Greg has taught me the value of shutting my face.”
Trey snorted. “You have a mouth the size of the Grand Canyon. You’re a security risk.”
Quinn pouted. “Hazy has no problem with the size of my mouth, or what I do with it—”
I punched him in the shoulder, hard enough to make him wince. Greg and Andre laughed.
“Can we get throughone conversationwithout Quinn being gross?” I touched my fingers to the scar on my wrist.I wish Ayaz was here.“I’m serious – this key idea is just a theory, but it can’t get out. I’m not even telling Deborah when we see her tonight—”
“Who’s Deborah?”
I whirled around at the familiar voice, deep and exotic.
“Hey,” Ayaz hovered in the doorway. Apart from the single crutch he leaned on, his body showed no signs of the literal hell I’d put him through. He held up a set of keys, indicating he’d unlocked the door since it had previously been his room.
“Hey,” I choked out. My throat had dried up. I couldn’t believe he was standing there. It hadn’t been lies. He hadn’t changed his mind.He’s here.
“Glad to have you back, Ataturk.” Quinn slapped him on the back. Ayaz winced as the force jostled his body. Quinn’s eyes glinted with mischief. “We’re off to do something reckless and dangerous. Want to come?”
“That depends. I just need to talk to Hazel first.”
Trey and Quinn exchanged glances. The two of them grabbed the others and backed out of the room, leaving me alone with Ayaz.
Traitors.
Ayaz’s dark eyes regarded me, his expression unreadable. Ayaz always held his emotions close, never giving too much away. “I am sorry I missed you after class. Courtney cornered me and asked me to be her date for the graduation dance.”
A wave of jealousy shot through me. Even now, after everything that happened and our supposed truce, Courtney was still determined to stir shit between us. I guess you couldn’t expect a panther to put away her claws.
It’s a good thing. Ayaz should go with Courtney. She obviously really likes him, and it’s not like I’ll be able to have him after graduation.
I couldn’t help the tightness in my voice when I asked, “What did you say?”
“I said that I didn’t know anything about a dance, or why we’d be having one in the middle of the chaos. I wanted to hear from you first. What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is a Mexican stand-off between the faculty and the Eldritch Club, with us in the middle,” I said. “And that’s exactly what I need them to continue to believe. The teachers and the parents underestimate the students. They believe you’re beholden to the base instincts of the god’s spirit, that you all want to be immortal and powerful and filled with the god’s wrath. But I’ve mostly figured out a way to reverse what was done to you. All the students and teachers would be free.Trulyfree.”
Ayaz’s eyes fluttered closed. Dark lashes tangled together, and I held my breath. “In your scenario, would we be the age we are now, or will we be the age weshouldbe? I don’t want to suddenly be in my forties with a bald spot and wrinkles, complaining about my knees all the time.”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t think even the god knows. You’re refusing his gifts, which apparently has never happened before. I think it’s most likely your physical body will remain the same, but I’m not the expert.”
“I’ll take the chance.” Ayaz swung the crutch as he hobbled across the room. He half-sat, half-fell into the sofa. I’d never seen him so awkward before, and judging by the scowl on his face, he didn’t like it.
“So you’re in? You trust me? But you haven’t even asked what the god wants in return.”
“I don’t care. I’ll help any way I can.” Pain-filled eyes stared up at me, begging me for something I couldn’t give. Ayaz’s brow creased in concentration as he bent his will toward trying to place me inside the gaping hole in his memory.
“You might not thank me when you find out what we have to do. The god needs to give his gifts to others to make more children. That means others will have to become his children in your place. The only people Trey and Quinn are willing to sacrifice are the Eldritch Club.”
