I duck behind the building, heart pounding. Hopefully he didn’tcatch sight of me.
He never looks back.
I remain outside the dining hall until Edith is heading down the steps. I trail her as she returns to the berserkr campus and goes directly to her dorm, then wait outside until I’m satisfied she’s in for the night.
I finally have proof that Edith is the killer—straight from the mouth of her victim.
Father sits at his desk, poring over some documents. I approach him, eying the large taxidermy wolf displayed proudly in his office. The first berserkr he ever killed. I’ve never asked him how many more he’s killed since. A deep crease forms in his forehead when he looks up. “Amund, I wasn’t expecting you.” He sets the papers down slowly. “What is it?”
“Edith is the killer,” I say with no preamble. “I have a witness.”
“Who?”
I try to catch my breath. Once I was sure Edith wasn’t going anywhere, I sprinted across campus, needing to get here as fast as possible. In my haste, I didn’t think through this part fully. I’ll have to tell Father Irina was using her seer ability.
“Emilía.”
Father narrows his eyes. “Is this your idea of a joke?”
“Of course not,” I say quickly. “One of the witches is a seer. She contacted Emilía’s spirit in a séance and asked her who killed her.”
Father’s frown deepens. “And you were part of this?”
“Edith was,” I say, deliberately leaving Nils out. “I followed her to Freyja Hall and overheard the whole thing. When Edith asked Emilía who her killer was, Emilía clearly saidyou.”
He considers that for a long moment, steepling his fingers. “Who else was there?”
I swallow hard. “What do you mean?”
“I know someone else was there,” Father says. “At least three people are required to perform a séance. So I’ll ask again. Who else was there?”
My gaze flicks to the portrait of my uncle. Father must know because his brother was a seer. I’d failed to account for that. “I don’t know,” I hedge. “I didn’t see them.”
“Hmm.” Father looks me over, considering. I suspect he knows exactly who I’m protecting. To my surprise, he lets it go, continuing on instead. “Even if she did say this, it’s still not evidence. Spirits cannot be trusted.”
“But—”
“Bring me something solid next time,” Father says as he stands.
“Where are you going?” I ask as he brushes by me.
“There’s something I have to take care of.” Father stops in the doorway and slowly turns his head toward me. “One last thing,” he says, his expression hardening. “Stay far away from seers.”
CHAPTER NINETEENEDITH
I wake up with a splitting headache. Wonderful. A migraine to kick off my weekend.
I pop a pill quickly and lie back in bed, staring at the ceiling. It’s amazing I managed to sleep at all last night. I can’t stop thinking about the séance. About the accusation in Emilía’s voice as she confirmed my worst fear.You.
I didn’t want to believe it before, but after Emilía’s words… Could I really be a killer?
A loud knock on my door makes me jump.
“Hey, I’m going to get breakfast with Kris,” Tala calls out. “Want to come?”
My immediate response is no, but I stop myself. Now that I know Emilía was dating a berserkr, I can see if Tala knows anything about who it was. Maybe I won’t have to wait until class on Monday to figure out who she was meeting.
“Sure,” I say, getting dressed quickly.
