“I see.” Her fingers twitched as if rehearsing the next words. “Did Quinn believe Professor Holiday deserved to die?”
I arched a brow.
She scowled. “You’re her best friend. Don’t play dumb with me.”
Best friend. The fact lifted my steps despite the weight of the question.
“She killed him here, didn’t she? You saw it?” She stopped us dead in the courtyard, right where Quinn had unraveled the professor and his monster.
I nodded. “Why are you asking me this?”
“I need to know.” Her voice cracked. Fear rolled off her in waves, sour and sharp. She crouched, fingers brushing a sickly patch of grass that withered under her touch. “How did his body fall apart?”
I stared at the bright pink of her hair, so stark against the dying green at her fingertips. “It didn’t. He became a dragon. The Alun absorbed him.”
A tremor ran down her back, violent enough I almost mistook it for a shiver. “And Quinn… believed he deserved to die?”
I frowned at the terror I couldn’t place. “I don’t know. Once her Majekah starts, it doesn’t stop.”
She shot to her feet, eyes blazing with something too sharp to be only anger. “That’s not what I asked, boy.”
The word cut deep—boy. I’d been through too much to be called that.
“He leeched off everyone. Parasite. Like my Prophet.” My voice sharpened. “It doesn’t matter what Quinn thinks. He earned it.”
I turned on my heel, bile burning at my throat. My hands stayed buried in my pockets so I wouldn’t put another crack in the castle walls, or in her.
Days ago, I would’ve spiraled into a ball of rage, haunted by ghosts. But my past was easing, step by baby step. By the time I sat at The Rooster, the anger still simmered, but it didn’t own me.
The lack of a third body at breakfast drew my attention. “No Everly today?”
Rowan cocked a brow. “Plenty you can rip on, if you’re desperate.”
I scowled, and he jerked his chin at the chair. “Sit. I’m teasing. Mostly. Look, she’s with her family for the trials. Everyone’s picking sides and holding their breath. The real question? Where the hell are you gonna stand?”
“At Quinn’s side,” I said immediately.
Rowan put his hands in the air. “Unless one of your attempts to infiltrate has worked…” He reached forward and pinched my forearm, making me jerk back. “Gonna say you’re here with me. So no, you won’t.”
“Have you seen Ezra?” I asked.
Rowan crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”
I clenched my fist. No one had seen that bastard since he stepped into Xan’s shadow in the Alun. He was with Quinn. Ididn’t know it, but Iknewit. Jealousy and relief warred inside me. I was so fucking tired of feeling two emotions at once I wanted to scream.
“The question isn’t Ezra.” He pointed at me. “Where are you planning on being today?”
A man brought two plates of food to the table and put them in front of us.
“You ordered for me?” I asked.
“You get the same thing every time,” Rowan responded.
Coffee joined the fry-up; my favorite flat white steamed.
“You also can’t pay for it, so yeah, I did my thing,” Rowan added.
I picked up the coffee. “I can’t take Xan’s job. The room’s bad enough.” I clenched my cup. “My damn horse still eats in his stables. Do you know what it costs on The Mile to stable a horse?”
