“Esther knocked our cauldron over!” Marcus spat. “She did it on purpose. She must know what we have planned.”
“I doubt it,” Ava said. “She would’ve made worse threats if she knew. I bet she saw us leaving the Witch Tower and snuck in behind us. When she couldn’t figure out what we were brewing, she dumped it to make sure we couldn’t use it.”
Marcus paced around the room, sounding distressed. “This changes everything.”
“The potion isn’t our only problem,” Ivy said in a chilling voice. “I’ve got news.”
It better be fucking good news, because Esther’s littleaccidenthad pissed me off to high heaven. We had no back-up plan, which meant our attempt at escape had failed. We were supposed to be getting out of here in the morning, and now, we were fucked.
Ivy drew a deep breath, then said, “I just got word that Erasmus was found dead this morning— tortured, by the looks of it.”
Fuck!“I thought vampires were immortal,” I growled. How the hell had this happened? And what else could go fucking wrong?
“There are a few ways to kill them,” Ivy said. “Which means this was a targeted attack. Witnesses couldn’t identify the men they saw fleeing the scene, but they looked like angels. My father doesn’t believe this had anything to do with the job Erasmus was on.”
“The Warden did it,” Marcus blurted.
I gritted my teeth. “I wouldn’t put it past him. The phone lines are tapped. If he got word we were trying to contact Erasmus, he might’ve put two and two together.”
“And he killed him before we could get answers!” Ava raged.
“I came to tell you, but… then we foundherhere,” Ivy sneered.
“We can’t sit around here and talk about it,” Kallie said. “Esther’s gone to get the Warden, and he’ll be back any minute with guards.”
“Kallie’s right,” Ava agreed. “We need to go somewhere private.”
We ditched the Witch Tower as fast as we could. My friends and I avoided the guards and made our way outside, then snuck into the trees. After making sure we weren’t followed, we ducked into the Liar.
We hadn’t been here in what felt like ages, because for the longest time it didn’t feel safe, not with the Warden’s eyes on us. Right now, it was the only place we were getting any privacy.
Ivy hadn’t been there before. The Lair had always been a place just for the four of us. Ivy gasped as Marcus lit a witchlight, and I heard their skirt swish as they spun around to take in all of Marcus’ paintings. The rocks here had become Marcus’ own personal canvas, and he’d covered the Lair from floor to ceiling with his art.
“This place is beautiful!” Ivy raved. “Marcus, you’re so talented. This door you painted looks as if I could open it and step into another world.”
“It’s even better when Kallie uses her illusion magic to make my art come to life,” Marcus said.
“Ooh, can I see?” Ivy asked. They were trying to lighten the somber mood, but it wasn’t exactly helping. We were supposed to be breaking out of here in the morning. That wasn’t possible anymore without the potion, and I was kind of pissed that Ivy was more concerned with the artwork than the problem at hand.
I hated Esther for a lot of reasons, but I hated her even more now. I should’ve ripped her head off before she had a chance to leave the Witch Tower. I couldn’t contain my anger, and I slammed my fist into the rock wall. Pieces of rock chipped and clattered to the floor.
Fucking hell!
I whirled toward Ava. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know.” Ava sounded calculating, like she was trying to work out the pieces in her head.
I felt completely hopeless. “Oberi, any ideas?”
If I had any, I’d have offered them up a long time ago. This potion was our best shot.
“Can we recreate it?” I asked Ava.
“We’re out of time,” she said. “Esther’s gone to tell the Warden we’re brewing something. Even if wecouldget enough ingredients again, the Warden will know what we’re up to. We were supposed to be on the shiptomorrow. The Union reps leave campus in the morning, and if they’re gone before we are, we’ll no longer be protected by their protocols. The Warden will find excuses to keep our bodies at the Institute until it’s too late. We’ve got to find another way out of here.”
I pressed my fingers to my temples. “So we return to the drawing board. Great— the drawing board is blank. Where do we even start?”
Perhaps you have more information than you realize, Oberi said.
