“Is he involved?”
“With Antaris? Yes. He has primary custody.”
Veda frowns. “I’ve only seen Simran with him.”
“They have an agreement. She does pickups and drop-offs. He’s with Antaris the rest of the time. He’ll appreciate that list.”
“We went through so many options. I could tell whether he liked or hated something just by his expression. I’d say he’s unfurling like a cat. Keeps watching me like one.”
“Anxiety?”
“Definitely. He’s in therapy, right?”
“Yeah, but that’s a topic for another day.”
Veda nods, eyes on the path ahead. “He draws sometimes.”
Peter perks up. “What does he draw?”
“Doodles on his workbooks and scrap paper. I think one was a cat. Another might have been a flower. A tree and a boat. A house?”
Peter appears amused. “Noted.”
The days are getting longer, but a cloudy gray sky hides the sun. Their decision to leave the school grounds is silent and easy. The forest, lush and green, grows increasingly narrow. Veda considers turning back, not for herself, but for Peter, who is dressed in nice pants and a gray shirt, his white tennis shoes unsuitable for walking in the forest.
“Tomorrow marks six years since Khadijah bound my curse.”
Peter’s apprehension resurrects every bit of tension Veda temporarily freed herself from in the greenhouse. “I should make a not-dead-yet cake, but that’s morbid, even for me.”
“Not if it’s vanilla.” His smile belies his otherwise somber demeanor. “They haven’t found Everett,” he continues. “I was thinking about your file and—”
“My file? The same one yourfriend, Mr. Ellis with twoL’s, has seen,” she cuts in, scoffing as she climbs over a felled tree.
Peter bursts out laughing, then sobers under her glare. “Oh, you’re pissed. But in his defense, he’s part of the investigation.”
ThatHiram Ellis, of all people, has anything to do with the Botanist case is beyond absurd. Since all the victims are Seers, it took years for even a single article to be published. The little public awareness they’ve gained hasn’t produced any real leads.
“Who is he to you?” she asks.
Peter looks uncharacteristically surprised by the question. “My mom worked for his family. When she realized he was just a lonely, misguided kid, she brought me to play with him. I hated him when we first met, but over time, I saw he didn’t have the charmed life I assumed. Prejudice is taught, not innate. We became friends, and he figured out his family—”
“Arehorriblepeople,” she interjects. “Beautiful story of friendship forming from the pits of hell, but you’re a Seer and friends with anEllis. That entire family is infesting the government, using their wealth to get elected into positions where they make life harder for you, my parents when they were alive, and everyone you care about. Why didn’t you say anything about your link to them?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Does Khadijah know?”
“Yes, she knows. Hates it, we used to argue about it early on in our relationship, but it’s been a nonissue until he returned. The Oracle Council knows, too.” Peter glances away and sighs. “I get it. The Ellis family caused a lot of generational harm. They’re the worst of everything you can imagine.”
“An understatement. Your friend’s grandfather argued for harsh laws and penalties against Seers. His father came up with automating the Registration and tied it to a Seer’s Imprint. The Ellis firm defends corporations nationwide that prey on desperate Seers, working them under horrible conditions and draining their magic like fodder. Thefact that anyone in that family even knows my name pisses me off more than anything.”
“I apologized for that.” Peter levels her with a look, then sighs. “My mom managed to stop Hiram’s parents from sending him to Arcadia Academy until she quit to start Weston Academy when he was in year six. He left and barely returned.”
“Am I supposed to empathize?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he fires back, rolling his eyes. “But... it takes a lot to realize everything you were taught is hateful and wrong. It takes even more to actively rebel and separate yourself from it. Hiram did both, refusing to work for their law firm. He spent years away, and—”
“Now he’s come home to Mommy and Daddy.” Veda sits on a wide tree stump, completely unconvinced. “Tale as old as time.”
