“Wow,” he says. “That’s incredible.”
In the chaos, the professor comes upon us. “Aspen! Oh, thank goodness. Did you get rid of the spirit?”
He’s about to explain when I interject. “Yes! He did! He was amazing!”
Aspen shoots me a confused look, but I shake my head, and he keeps his mouth shut. Our little white lie.
14
Atticus
Silence is safe.
—Wilkie Collins,The Woman in White
Today calls forpizza. Lots of pizza.
When Dorian and I heard about what happened at the Rosette—word spreads fast on campus—we were sick with worry for Raven and rushed to find her. We found her safe and sound outside the library, where a group of advanced wizards were reassembling the broken stained-glass window, the tiny fragments sparkling like glitter as they floated up into the air. Good as new.
We spend the rest of the day at my place, sprawled on the window seat, gorging on extra-large pepperoni pizzas, just like old times. A fire demon can set a friendship back to rights, who knew. Raven explained what happened, the evidence—ash and the smell of sulfur—still on her clothes.
“I found out more about your mystery woman, too,” Raven says to Dorian. His eyes widen, and he freezes, a slice raised to his lips. “Her name was Adelina Ward.”
“Ward,” he repeats.
“Aspen mentioned she was the daughter of some rich family who donated to the school, but I don’t know anything more than that. The Rosette doesn’t have any more info.”
“How’d Aspen know about her, then?”
Raven shrugs. “He’s good with the archive. He remembered seeing her name. But it seems like her files are missing now. He invited us to St. Ad’s Halloween party, by the way.”
I nearly fall out of my seat. “You mean St. Adolphus Hall? The secret society?”
Raven smiles at me curiously. “Yeah, you’ve heard of it?”
“Professor White warned me that they were trouble, but I’m dying to know what those rich kids get up to.”
“So you’re coming? Both of you?”
“Aspen will be there?” Dorian asks. He can’t hide the edge in his voice, no matter how casual he tries to be. I don’t have to be able to read his mood to know that.
“He’s my…date.” She tiptoes around the word as she averts her gaze, raising it slightly to look at me, gauging my reaction. I’m not sure how I feel. She’s moved on. I can’t be surprised. I shouldn’t be. What went down between us, on this very window seat…Maybe it’s best we don’t mention it again. Pretend like it never happened.
“Sure,” Dorian says after a long moment, watching me. “We’ll come.”
Raven beams. “Oh, and it’s a masquerade,” she says. “Atticus, think you can paint us some masks?”
Dorian is still staring at me, unaware of the vast sea of unsayable things between me and Raven. When he looks at her, his eyes soften. We’re almost back to normal. Almost.
“Sounds fun,” I say, and pop a rogue pepperoni in my mouth. “Can’t wait.”
—
Professor White clicksher tongue. “Shame,” she says.
“What?” I ask, momentarily confused as I look up from her schematics.
For a fleeting, heart-stopping second, I thought she was talking about me, but Professor White is frowning at the collapsed scaffolding inside Arches. “It seems that our efforts are stymied once again.”
