“Are they really going to let the games continue after this?”
The answer to the latter, apparently, was yes. Which was whyBaz found himself in the Decrescens library with Clover, poring over their research as if nothing had happened—except everything felt different now, the stakes much higher. The library was busier than usual, as if students were irresistibly drawn to the gruesome site.
All Baz could think of was how, if these disappearances weren’t enough to stop the games, this was only the beginning of what would forever alter the college’s centennial celebrations. The thought almost made him want to quit.
Clover caught him staring off toward the Vault’s archway again. “Could you not turn back time to make them reappear?”
Baz scrunched his nose in thought. “I don’t think so. Too many unseen variables. That kind of magic…”
“Right. We wouldn’t want you to Collapse.”
Baz gave him a weak smile. “Right.”
“I guess if that’s out of the question, then so is using your magic to undo the wards entirely?”
Baz blanched. “We’re dealing with sentient, murderous wards. I’d rather not find out what they might do to someone trying to cheat their way past them.”
“Quite right. Best we stick to our research, then.”
It seemed they couldn’t escape the topic of death even in that.
“Listen to this,” Clover said as he pored overThe History of Aldryn. “?‘It is worth noting the inexplicable deaths that taint the college’s history, especially those that took place in its four libraries. This goes back to the construction of said libraries, during which all four founding members died under mysterious circumstances before the college first opened its doors. Following this, multiple students suffered similar fates over the years. There are those who speculate they were killed over possession of rare, powerful books which were subsequently transferred into the Vault for safekeeping.’?”
Baz stared at him, horrified. “You think students were killed over knowledge?”
“Perhaps they found books that contained things they weren’t supposed to lay eyes on. Books thatshouldhave been locked in the Vault but might have been misplaced.”
Baz thought of the copy ofDark Tideshe’d found in Clover’s room. In his time, he’d had to get permission from the dean to check it out of the Vault. But if Clover had a copy of it now, perhaps the book was not yet considered a title worthy of being kept behind wards.
For Clover’s sake, he hoped it wasn’t one such misplaced book that the wards might kill for.
“This is interesting,” Clover added as he kept reading. “?‘The deaths linked to Aldryn’s libraries have sparked unfounded theories and curious superstitions due to the nature of the holy ground the college was built on.’?” He frowned. “Holy ground? Do we know what Aldryn was built on?”
“Oh! Yes, wait, I think I saw something here…” Baz rifled through an old history book of Elegy that he’d only skimmed, thinking it irrelevant since it was older than the school itself. “It says nearly a millennia ago, there was a temple here, built in the name of the Tides and the Shadow. It eventually crumbled to ruins.”
“If they built the college on the ruins of a sacred temple… Maybe whatever holy power remained seeped through the foundations of Aldryn and affected other magics, like the wards.” Clover drummed his fingers on the table. “I’m sure the fact that Aldryn sits on a ley line only adds fuel to the fire.”
“Aley line?” Why did that sound so familiar?
“A source of power that runs beneath the sea. Some scholars theorize the reason why the landmasses and islands that make up our world are laid out to form a great spiral is that they’re builton this vein of pure power. A spiral-shaped magical thread, if you will, that feeds off our magic, and vice versa.”
“So we’ve got murderous wards, sacred grounds, magical power lines, and deadly books.” Baz pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling like they were right on the brink of something, but still not close enough to see how it all fit together. “Remind me again why we’re doing this?”
Clover smiled. “Knowledge is power.”
Baz found himself wishing Professor Selandyn were here; she would certainly agree with Clover. The two of them would get along well.
“What we’ve yet to figure out is how the wards were even created in the first place,” Baz said with a defeated stare at their pile of research. “None of these founders were Wardcrafters. Surely the person who put the wards in place had the only magic capable of doing so.”
Cordie suddenly appeared, joining them at their table. “Found anything interesting?”
“Are you asking out of politeness,” Clover asked, “or genuine interest?”
“Politeness, definitely.”
Cordie winked at Baz, making him laugh. “If you two are done for the day, I wondered if I could borrow Baz for the afternoon.”
“Me? Whatever for?”
