I cocked my head and dismissed her antics, having another swig of wine. We spent the evening being absolutely abhorrent and eventually found another bottle of wine stashed in her wardrobe.
As I was falling asleep, passing out somewhere in Roslyn’s room, I realized that was the first time in ages that I’d felt like I was having fun. Which was ironic, because I went there to figure out what happened to my mom and me, but every time I did that, I only found more questions. It was like I’d chosen a path into the darkness that never ended, and finally, tonight, I stopped and found some light.
Perhaps my quest wasn’t meant to be done all at once. Maybe it was in these moments, the ones in between, that the real healing would take place.
The next morning,Isabella was waiting for us in the common room.
I blinked hard and rubbed my eyes, still not fully awake.
“Bella?” I called.
A glowing smile spread across her face as she used her thumbs to lift her vest from her torso. I looked at the crest on the vest pocket, seeing the swirling “A” now embroidered under the Nightfall insignia. My jaw dropped.
“Are you an Adept now?” I asked, my brain fog instantly vaporizing.
“In the flesh.”
“What? How?” I asked, approaching her and looking over her new uniform.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she said, her voice serious.
A rush of adrenaline coursed through me. This was unbelievable. She knew secrets that she couldn’t tell me—all Adepts were bound from discussing their classes or acceptance into the program.
My hands trembled as a mix of emotions flooded my senses. How had she made it and I hadn’t?
“So, what’s it like? What can you tell me?” I asked.
I stood there with my hair sticking out and my robe hanging open over my tank top and shorts. I caught a glimpse of myself in the glass pane of the cabinet in the kitchenette. I looked like an alcoholic heading to the liquor store at six a.m. that couldn’t comprehend why they weren’t open.
Isabella shook her head, and a pitying smile splayed across her lips. “Not much, but I’ll say this. It changed everything, Anna. And I mean, everything.”
My thoughts ratcheted through my mind like they were trapped within the gears and cogs of a machine ready to explode from overuse.
Isabella touched my shoulder, and a calm came over me.
I looked at her, stunned.
“You need to relax, Anna. Stop worrying,” she said. “You’ll get there. I promise.”
I backed away, fighting the energy swirling within me.
I wasn’t sure that I wanted to get there.
What if “there” was the end for me?
I awoketo a chill in the air and shivered. Finals were officially over, and winter break had begun. I needed to train. Perhaps talk to Roslyn about what I needed to do to reach Adept. I pushed the covers down and placed my feet on the floor. My room seemed brighter than usual, and I glanced out the window. Falling through the air were perfectly crystallized snowflakes. I got up and approached the window, squinting from the glare of the fresh snow.
Despite the unease in my shoulders, it was beautiful. The trees and the rooftops were all covered with a layer of glittering snowflakes. It reminded me of home during winter. Fresh-fallen snow in the mountains was always beautiful. My mom would take me outside every year and have a snowball fight. She rarely managed to hit me, but in retrospect, she was probably going easy on me.
My door burst open. “Anna! Our dresses are in!”
It was strange.
I wanted to feel Isabella’s joy, to enjoy an evening of youthfulness and forget, even if only for a moment, that this place wasn’t the winter wonderland that it appeared to be. Even if Cody’s death were explained, Skylar’s disappearance wasn’t. If she succumbed to something naturally, why was no body found? And Reece. She simply vanished from her hospital bed. Then there was Annabelle—was there a connection? Malakai obviously didn’t have anything to do with that. Maybe they weren’t connected at all… For now, I had to know if Malakai wasbehind this and the chaos and excitement of the ball would be the perfect time to see what he does in his spare time.
“Anna!” Isabella said, “Come on!”
A joyful grin spread across her face, and her excitement was contagious. The guilt was there, but for the moment, I let in her excitement.
