“It’s complicated. She may not be here at all.”
She tilts her head. “What do you mean? She wrote me this note. You’ve been seeing her. Of course she’s here.”
“New ghosts are quite strong.”
“Ghosts? That sounds ridiculous.” She holds up the note. “Ghosts can’t do this. There’s no way. You should’ve been in that room when she slammed herself into my door. She has to be corporeal.”
Eyes softening, he says, “Claudia, I don’t think—”
“No.She’s alive. I can feel it.” She presses her hand to the space between her ribs and her belly. “In here. In my soul.” Claudia needs Odette to be alive. She needs the fatal destiny of the bargain to be another one of Sidarphion’s lies.
She needs to believe she can survive.
“If she’s truly alive, ask yourself why Odette hasn’t come to speak to us directly. Why communicate in these cryptic ways, unless she has no choice?”
“But Malevimus told me—”
“You said it yourself that you misheard him initially. And that was months ago. You could be misremembering, or Malevimus could’ve meant something else. We cannot guarantee your interpretation of his message is correct.”
“Why are you so against this? I thought you would be thrilled.”
“I saw Odette’s body. I watched them lower her into the ground. I saw a death that was just like all the others.” As his words ring in Claudia’s ears, he leans back and holds his face in his hands for a moment. “I knew in my bones that Sidarphion was not dead. I just can’t believe how many of us he’s killed.”
“You think he made bargains with all the members of the Eyes of Andromeda? And did the same routine every time?”
“I’m sure he mirrored his promises to their individual ambitions, but yes. I think he killed them all.”
She’s silent as the realization burrows into her bones. “So, that’s it. I’m next.”
Lamour doesn’t say anything in response. He stares blankly at the far corner of the room. His quill taps rhythmically on the papers that litter his desk. Hope fades from Claudia’s heart when she sees a tear slip down Lamour’s hollow cheek.
“I’m sorry. I never should’ve sent you away. I had no idea how much you needed me. I let you down.”
“I let you down,” she argues. “I deserve it.”
He nearly leaps across the desk and grabs her hands. “No, you do not. Absolutely not. Don’t ever think that you deserve to die for this. You are a good, bright young woman and you deserve a long, happy life.” He wipes his tears with the backs of his hands. “And we’re going to get that for you. Do you hear me? We are not going to give up. We are going to use the time we have left to fight.”
“How?” Her voice breaks over the word.
Wind howls outside, making the windows shake. “You could free him.”
A wave of icy terror runs through her blood. “And kill Cassius? I refuse.”
“He is going to keep killing until he’s free. He’s already killed nearly every natural-born celestial witch. You could stop that cycle.”
“You sound mad! Who knows what Sidarphion will be like when all his power is restored. He isn’t good, Lamour. Freedom and power will only make him worse.”
“You know how maddening the Realm of Nightmares can be. Once he’s free, he will soften. I promise.”
“You’re not listening to me. The only way to free Sidarphion is to kill Cassius, and I will not do it. I will not let him die.” Through gritted teeth, she says, “I would killforCassius if it came down to it. So long as I’m still breathing, no one is going to hurt him.”
“All right. I understand.” He stares off again, tapping his quill, pondering.
Standing abruptly, he drops his quill and mumbles, “Let me try something.” He moves to the blackboard behind his desk and picks up a piece of chalk.
He writes, erases, rewrites, and redraws different celestial spells for half an hour. The chalk wears down to a nub. Once the board is covered in circles and stars and dust, Lamour turns around with bloodshot eyes and a wide, toothy smile. “I have a plan.” He draws arrows between different constellations, but the board is so cloudy that Claudia can’t deduce what he’s discovered.
He motions for her to come stand beside him while he murmurs inaudibly to himself before saying, “If I’m right—and I believe that I am—you don’t need to kill Cassius. You don’t even need to destroy the constellation of Dracoemagyl, nor do you need to break your bargain.” With his hands braced on her shoulders, he says, “All you need to do is unbind Sidarphion from the constellation that keeps him trapped.”
