“What are you going to do with it?” Russ asked.
“Put it back where I found it.” That had always been the plan.
“Shouldn’t we tell someone about this?” Anika asked.
“No,” a few people said at once.
“No—what’s the point? Reggie’s dead. Silas is dead,” Seth said, and he was right.
“Guys, that…” Levana shook her head, eyes glossy with tears still. “That didn’t look like someone who would curse the entire world.”
Silence in the library.
“I mean, he shielded Reggie and left himself open,” said Russ.
“He was terrified…” Mimi whispered. “I think I…I think I liked him before.”
Yes, I think I liked him, too.
“Then we can all agree to keep this to ourselves until we know more,” March said after a moment. “Keep it for now. Hide it,” he told me.
Reluctantly, I nodded. Because if I could just find this thing and pick it up in the workshop, anybody could.
“This is ticked up,” Cook whispered, and he always stayed a few feet behind everybody, and he was squatting near the table, head in his hands. “I never saw him do magic—he…he was never in school when we had special projects. I never saw him.”
And now he knew why.
“Let’s go, everyone. Let’s get to bed. We only have tomorrow to rest, and then it’s trial time,” Anika said. “I’m gonna need some ice first…”
I didn’t raise my head, but I knew she looked at me. If she expected an apology, she was going to end up disappointed.
Still, I waited until most of them were already halfway out of the library, and of course, March waited with me. I looked at him, my backpack against my chest.
If only I’d spoken to him first about this.
If only I’d just spoken to him.
Except now, when I opened my mouth to speak, I said, “I don’t need you to protect me, Heartling. I had it handled.”
And now the memory of him with his knee on Russ’s chest and his hand around his neck was at the center of my mind.
“I never said you didn’t.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “So, you’re not only a traitor, but you’re also a thief. What else have you stolen?”
I flinched before I could help it. Why did ithurtwhen he spoke to me like that?
“Nothing. I haven’t stolen anything.” I turned to leave.
He came after me. “You sure?”
I didn’t say anything, only hurried my steps.
“Athank youwould have sufficed,” March continued, and he deliberately stayed a couple feet behind because he could keep up with me whenever he wanted. Easily.
“A traitor, a thief—andungrateful,” he said, and the others were just a corner away. I could hear them, but even so, I stopped. I turned. I was angry and tired and disappointed and embarrassed—but most of all, I was just fed up with this madness.
“And what does that tell you, huh, Heartling?” He stopped—clearly he didn’t expect a reaction. “Let me spell it out for you then—stay. Away. From. Me.Don’t come after me, don’t talk to me, don’t try to be my hero—just stay away.”
To say he was shocked would be an understatement, but he was frozen in place for a good second with his mouth open and his eyes wide, and I took advantage of the situation to practicallyrunall the way to my room. I passed others, too, backpack still to my chest, head down, and I swore to all the seconds that had ever passed that I was going to explode for real if someone else said a single thing to me.
