To my surprise, Shep’s family sat with us. Vanya squeezed my elbow as they approached and shook hands with Fairfax. A smile filled my face, and my heart trembled, but only because I was surprised at how genuinely enthused Shep’s father and mother seemed to meet us, despite the rumors circulating about me.
It was no wonder Shep was so kind. But as he pushed my chair back in, my attention flicked to the Covingtons’ table, where Rush was staring at me with hard eyes. I looked away, attention on Vanya as she launched into talking about how well I’d done on my last paper.
All evening, Vanya poured compliments on me, as if I were a dessert that needed to be sweetened up. Shep, to my embarrassment, nodded his agreement with her, and by the end of the meal, I wanted to sink into my chair and vanish.
The Covingtons left the Great Hall before we did, Rush gliding out behind his father without a backward glance.
I followed Fairfax outside after dinner, waiting for his questions to turn to the real reason he was here. Gasoline fumes swirled in the air from the long line of waiting cars. Afew carriages pulled by elegant horses stood out among them, vestiges of the old wealth represented at the school.
“Sit,” Fairfax said, inviting me into the car.
Here we go. I climbed in, grateful not to have to have this talk in the freezing cold but no less eager to be finished with it quickly.
“You’ve been here a semester, Arivelle,” he began. “What have you found out about the Covingtons?” At my deep inhale, he added, “You surely have learned something of value? There are people out there as eager as I am to watch him lose. It’s time I start making that a guarantee rather than a hope.”
Gone, like a puff of breath on cold air, were the offers of working together to change the world.
I swallowed. “You’re going to use the information to win a lot of money.” It wasn’t a question. Now Fairfax made more sense to me. Money and the lengths people went through to get it, that I could understand. It was naive of me to believe a nobleman who had everything would want to change the world for those less fortunate.
He shrugged. “So what if I am? You will benefit from the winnings, too, my dear. Now, what have you learned?”
I’d learned that magic existed. That my dragon had it and none of the others here did. That had to be enough to help me win a race—if I could figure out how to use his magic.
But rather than reveal all of that, I said, “I’m close.”
Fairfax laughed. “Close to what? The youngest Covington?”
I balked. Which gave me away. At his satisfied smirk, I moved to open the car door.
“Wait. You didn’t think I would pay to send you to this school, risk a wild dragon wreaking havoc here, without at least some insurance that I would get what I want?”
This man was so different from the man I’d spoken to at the race. Perhaps my mother was right—my hopeful imaginings had blinded me to reality. My hand froze on the door handle.
“I had hoped that my roommate selection for you would result in more information heading my way, but, alas, that didn’t go according to plan.”
“Scarlett? She’s your spy?”
“No, dear girl, you are. Or did you forget?” He clasped his hands and shifted to face me more squarely. It was still freezing inside the car, but I was sweating now. “Scarlett thinks she’s reporting to the duke, not me. Her letters have been as infrequent as yours, but they have revealed that you and Covington have been out late and were spotted on a train together.”
My face burned. From the start, we’d both known Rush might recognize Myth, so that was a risk we’d both taken on. “He remembered Myth. He was going to expose my dragon, but I…prevented it.” I didn’t sound believable, but I was so mad right now that I hardly cared. “And there was a night race; the authorities came. I rode back on the train with him. That’s all.” Because I couldn’t help myself, I added, “Scarlett is infatuated with him. Of course she thinks there’s something going on with us.” I rolled my eyes. “She’s jealous.”
The thought thrummed a note of satisfaction inside me. She must have seen us coming in from the lair one night. I fought the urge to smile.
“Something funny?” Fairfax asked.
“No, sir.” Two-faced as he might be, he was still paying my tuition here. If I had any chance of learning more about magic, I needed to remain a student at Cardan Lott.
“Good. Well, Arivelle, to be clear, you have one semester left to discover how Covington wins and to use that knowledge to beat him.”
“Why is it so important to beat him?”
Fairfax sniffed. “Because no one should win by cheating, or has one semester here polluted your idea of right and wrong?”
I pinched my brow to keep from rolling my eyes. He was trying to parade his morals around again, thinking I was still gullible enough to believe him. “No. I’ll find your answers, sir.”
“That’s the spirit. And I suggest that if there isn’t something between you and the Covington boy, you attempt to make something between you. That sounds like an excellent way to learn his secrets.”
My scrunched face made him chuckle.
