A potted plant sits on the desk across from a pen holder and a stack of a few books. A larger plant sprouts dark, waxy leaves from its pot next to the window. A light herbal scent that’s meant to settle the nerves mingles with Cole’s cologne.
The latter means the former has absolutely no effect on me.
It doesn’t appear to be calming Professor Raith either. He moves to stand beside his desk, drawing his posture so intimidatingly straight I’d swear he’s two feet taller than me rather than one.
An image from the past wells up behind my eyes.
Professor Raith straightens up as I nudge the office door open. I take in the boxes lined up on his desk, and my heart sinks.
He’s already packed more than half his books.
My voice comes out thick. “I heard you resigned.”
The Divination professor gives a noncommittal shrug. He’s tensed the way he often does when I’m anywhere nearby. “My work here has run its course.”
My fingers tighten where I’m still gripping the edge of the door, not quite daring to step all the way inside. “Is it because of me? Because of...?”
I trail off, my gaze dropping to his gloved hand that I know bears the same bond mark on its palm that mine does.
He hasn’t wanted to show it. Hasn’t wanted to acknowledge me as his match. Has barely wanted to be in the same room as me since it appeared, gritting his teeth through every class and the brief tutoring session he offered.
I can’t even blame him. I just hate the thought that he blames me.
Even if it is my fault.
The professor’s jaw works. His shoulders come down slightly.
He motions me the rest of the way in. “We should talk.”
About how much he doesn’t want to be my match? How any fond feelings he might have been able to develop for me are too tangled up in his brother’s death?
Swallowing hard, I ease inside. The door clicks shut. I stay on the opposite side of the room, respecting the distance the most reluctant of my matches has wanted.
Professor Raith moves a little closer, his eyes holding mine. His expression is still taut, but his gaze feels a little softer than it’s usually been when he looks at me.
“You were good friends with Asher,” he says. “I’d imagine he told you why I took this position.”
I nod. “So Luminary would have to admit him.”
“And now that’s... no longer a factor.” A thread of strain creeps into his voice. “I can’t say I everenjoyedthe work. I don’t think it’s a good situation to be grading you as your match, but even if that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have stayed on longer. You haven’t ruined anything I wanted to keep.”
He says it so emphatically that I believe him. More relief than I was prepared for sweeps through me.
“Oh. Okay. I just… wanted to be sure.”
His throat bobs. For a second, I think he’s going to take another step closer to me, but he stays in place, his hand clenching where he’s rested it on one of the boxes.
“I’m sure this matching isn’t how either of us would have wanted it to go. But I’m not abandoning you, Elodie. I only need to wait untilI’msure what’s right. Until I’m sure I’m doing right by you. We’ll... we’ll sort it out, no matter how it started. All right?”
A burn forms in the back of my eyes...
...and I’m blinking at a Cole two and a half years older but nowhere near as considerate, who’s cleared his throat.
“Are you going to explain your hostility toward Asher, or am I going to have to drag the answers out of you?”
Just like that, a fresh wave of irritation prickles through me, chasing away any affection that lingered from the memory.
I glare right back at him. “If you think you’ve got to protect your brother from me, maybe you shouldn’t have paired me with him in an exercise designed to humiliate each other.”
