MORNING CAME AND BROUGHT JAEalong with it.
It was barely dawn, but soon the campus would be flooded with students from all over arriving for the Quadri, and Obscura Hall would no longer be the refuge Baz knew it as. He soaked up his last moments of quietude in the commons, a strong cup of coffee in hand and Dusk, his sister’s cat, nestled at his feet.
“Where’s Kai?” Jae asked as they sat next to Professor Selandyn on the sofa opposite Baz.
“Still asleep, I think.” Baz didn’t want to think about the fight they’d had over the Hourglass. “Any word from Vera?”
For the past few weeks, Vera had been working undercover as a clerk at the Institute, where she kept an eye on the goings-on of the Regulators and their treatment of the Eclipse-born.
“I’m afraid it doesn’t look good.” Jae’s face was grimmer than the grave. “Word is the Reanimator is being moved from the Institute today to be brought to an undisclosed location. Vera thinks thatmeans the Regulators are planning to do tests on her. In an…unofficialcapacity.”
“And we’re just going to let that happen?”
“Short of another jailbreak, there’s nothing much we can do, I’m afraid.”
Baz glanced up toward their rooms. Kai would belividto find this out—and all for the jailbreak, no doubt.
“Now aboutthis.” Professor Selandyn held up Clover’s journal, which Baz had lent her the day before to study. She tapped a ringed finger against it. “I stayed up all night reading it. Clover wrote something that piqued my interest, since it aligns with my own research into the Tides and the Shadow—and coincides with what’s happening out there.”
She gave a jerk of her chin to the window overlooking the sea, and Baz knew she meant the unpredictability of the tides, something she’d been poring over since news of it first broke.
Just then Kai burst through the secret door that led to the cove, still dressed in yesterday’s clothes. “Sorry, I know, I’m late,” he said, out of breath. His bleak appearance and the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes betrayed a sleepless night.
“Kai Salonga,” Selandyn said sternly, “where in the Deep were you off to?”
Kai gulped. “I, uh, seem to have sleepwalked.”
“Did anyone see you?” Jae asked.
“I don’t think so.” Kai tried to meet Baz’s gaze, something pleading and desperate in his eyes. “I need to talk to you.”
Baz glanced at his watch, a confused tangle of anger and worry knotting his stomach. He wasn’t sure he believed the sleepwalking bit. What had Kai been doing out there? Reckless as usual. “You and Jae should go before the Quadri’s opening ceremony starts.”
“Brysden…”
“He’s right, we have to go,” Jae said, grabbing their coat from the sofa’s arm. They squeezed Professor Selandyn’s shoulder. “Beatrix, always a pleasure.”
Baz locked eyes with Kai. He did not want to say goodbye—and Kai, he knew, was not the sentimental type. He wished Kai would make some quip or other, but there was this weird tension between them now that had him fearing neither of them would say anything at all. The thought had Baz reaching for Kai. He pulled him in and held him tight. There was a moment of hesitation or surprise on Kai’s part, but before Baz could think twice about it and pull away, Kai’s arms closed around him.
“Be safe, asshole,” Baz murmured.
He felt the small chuckle that went through Kai. “Right back at you.”
The campus was a flurry of activity at an hour when it would normally be still.
As Baz made his way to the assembly hall, he spotted groups of students he’d never seen before, some of them sporting uniforms from distant colleges. Despite everything, he was excited about the Quadri. This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and he would get to live it.
Though the opening ceremony didn’t involve students showcasing their magic, it was imperative that Baz be there to start playing the part of dutiful Eclipse student who would smile like everyone else as they welcomed student delegations from around the world and—perhaps most importantly—the scouts that would be on the lookout for talent and intellect.
Near the Fountain of Fate, he came across a group of students speaking in what he thought sounded like Luaguan. They seemed agitated—but not with the excitement he would expect. One of the girls looked like she’d seen a ghost. Another was comforting a boywho was in near hysterics. Baz wished he knew what they were saying; Kai would know.
As he found a seat in the assembly hall, it was clear that the Luaguan students weren’t the only ones perturbed. Baz picked up on threads of conversation hecouldunderstand, and though the words made little sense—ghosts, abominations,undead—they still had his nerves fraying.
What in the Deep was going on?
The doors closed with a loud clang that set Baz even more on edge. He’d never been claustrophobic, but something about this didn’t feel right—especially as he spotted two Regulators standing before the doors. Barring the way out.
Other people had noticed and were murmuring uneasily among themselves. At the podium where Dean Fulton should have been giving her welcome speech now stood another Regulator. One that Baz knew all too well.
