“I did thatafterit gunned for me…” Hadn’t I? The whole incident felt like a blur now. Had I imagined the Horrors' focus on me? Did I have some kind of victim complex? It wouldn’t be surprising considering all the shit I’d been through.
“If Vitra hadn’t shown up in time…” Clary hugged herself. “The Hunters are on a recon excursion for the Carvers today. We’d have been toast.”
But the dragon hadn’t made a move to attack once it had me trapped. Not even when I punched it. Instead, it looked at me with eyes that held thoughts. Feelings. There’d been a presence in my mind. Words that I couldn’t recall now. Had the dragon been trying to communicate with me?
Clary interrupted my thoughts. “I didn’t know nagas could manipulate water like that.”
Vitra was a snake shifter? Those were rare, like one in a million rare.
“I doubt anyone does,” Dori said. “I’ve never heard of him using his power before.”
“I heard he’s a royal,” Benedict said.
“Yeah, he is,” Dori confirmed. “The last of his bloodline.”
Brooms wielded by invisible spectres converged on us, scraping broken glass into dustpans held steady by phantom hands.
“Out,” Pip snapped.
“We didn’t get any lunch,” Clary grumbled as we made our way out of the dining hall.
Our boots crunched on broken crockery as we dodged spilled spaghetti and sauce, stepping onto the scorched part of the floor where the purple flames had cracked the tiles.
How Pip was going to fix this mess was beyond me. My stomach growled, reminding me that I’d missed out on the Onyx hot pot once again. But there was a new hunger inside me now, a hunger to know more about the magnificent Tower Master with the ability to single-handedly subdue a sea dragon.
CHAPTER 19
Power comes in many forms and can be converted or subverted using the appropriate mechanisms.
NOTATION ON NIGHTSBRIDGE ACADEMY SCHEMATICS
Iwoke up the next morning to a growling stomach and no idea how I’d gotten to bed…fully clothed.
I lay under the duvet for long seconds. Gray morning light filtering in from between my drapes, slowly lighting up the room. Images trickled up to fill the gaps in my memory—Darla examining my hand and telling me it was fractured, not broken, much to everyone’s surprise. Benedict saying something about having strong bones. Darla tutting and smearing healing ointment over the swelling before wrapping it firmly. And then… Then she’d insisted I take a tincture for the pain, watching as I drained the vial before telling me that it would make me sleepy.
Everything was a little fuzzy after that.
I guess when she said that the tincture would make me sleepy, she’d actually meant it would knock me out.
The insistent throb in my hand told me that whatever pain relief I’d been given had worn off, and if I could feel it, I’d be in agony. I’d have to be careful and try not to injure it any further.
There was a gentle rap on my door before it opened a crack and Clary popped her head in. Her bangs were pushed back by a headband today, giving her a fresh-faced, youthful look. “Good, you’re awake. Pip delivered breakfast.”
My stomach growled again. “Thank fuck, I’m ravenous.”
I shoved off the duvet and padded into the sitting room after her, breathing in the delicious aroma of coffee and bacon. Benedict and Dori knelt around the coffee table, busy lifting metal domes off plates of toast and bowls of bacon and scrambled eggs. They looked up as I joined them.
“Ah, sleeping beauty awakens.” Benedict handed me a cup of coffee, and I took a spot on the floor opposite him.
“I’m assuming I passed out?” I took a sip of my beverage, sweet and strong, just the way I preferred it.
“You keeled over like a log,” Dori said. “We thought you were dead.”
“You should have seen Darla’s face,” Benedict chuckled. “Thought she was about to have a coronary.”
Clary elbowed him. “That’s not funny.”
He sobered quickly, shaking his head. “So not funny.”
