I didn’t have the emotional energy to worry about Drayven right now. Yes, I was attracted to him, but attraction wouldn’t get me through the grading. It wouldn’t get me into the vault.
I was glad he’d backed off. Now I could focus solely on my goals without having my heartstrings played with.
We slipped under the arch that led to the quad surrounding Bramble, and from this angle, it was easy to determine which windows belonged to my floor and which specifically belonged to me. I’d left my lamp on, and the gentle glow was visible. The light stuttered and a moment later a shadowy figure appeared in my window. I was sure I’d locked my door. “What the fuck?”
“What is it?” Jay asked.
“There’s someone in my room.” I broke into a sprint across the quad.
CHAPTER 33
The bodies of the dead littered the battlefield, rot and decay permeating the air. Pools of crimson dappled the earth as if the earth itself were bleeding. Nameless, faceless, the lost. There is no triumph in war.
UNKNOWN AUTHOR (THE VAULT)
My door was locked, which brought me up short. If it was locked, then how could anyone be inside?
Brek and Jay exchanged skeptical glances as I unlocked and pushed it open.
The room was empty. But Jay checked the washroom and under the bed anyway. He raked back his thick, dark hair. “All clear.”
“You must have gotten the rooms mixed up,” Brek said.
My scalp prickled, nape tightening. “Yeah. Must have. Sorry about that.”
They wished me luck for the grading tomorrow, said their goodbyes, and left.
I closed the door and leaned against it, scanning my room once more, trying desperately to pinpoint the source of my unease.
I spotted it a moment later.
My mother’s box was open on the dresser, Dharma’s ruby amulet beside it.
I hadn’t taken it out.
Someonehadbeen in my room.
* * *
Clary climbedinto bed beside me, and Benedict and Dori got comfortable in sleeping bags on the floor.
“Just let anyone try to come through that door now,” Benedict said, plastering a menacing scowl on his face.
“Yeah, that face will totally scare them off,” Dori drawled.
“Or you could just sing to them,” Benedict shot back.
“Hey!” Dori pressed a hand to her chest. “That’s just mean.”
“Dori is tone deaf,” Clary whispered to me.
“I heard that,” Dori said.
None of them had questioned my suspicions when I explained why I thought someone had been in my room. They simply offered to sleep in here with me tonight.
“That bitch Tamina could have sent someone,” Dori had said. “They might have bypassed the lock somehow.”
Now I had three bodyguards. I’d have liked to say I didn’t feel the need for the company, but I’d be lying.
