There’s no answer.
“Callie?” she says, that honeyed Southern lilt sharpening at the edges. “I brought dinner.”
Silence.
“This morning, she said she’d be in the common room all day,” I say slowly.
Alessandra turns to look at me. “She told me she was staying in the suite.”
“Maybe she changed her plans?”
“Maybe.” Alessandra knocks again, harder. “If you’re in there, just say something.”
Again, there’s nothing.
She presses her palm flat against the door and closes her eyes, likely reaching for her emberlink bond, trying to sense Callie’s presence the way I used to sense Oliver’s.
When she opens her eyes, there’s fear in them. Real fear, not the polished concern she usually projects.
“I can barely feel her. But she has to be in Hydra Hall, right? Because of the lockdown?” She shakes her head, turns to the door that leads out of the suite, and continues when all I give her is a shrug. “I’m going to find her. Are you coming?”
No. I want to crawl back into my bed and stare at the ceiling and pretend the world isn’t ending. I want to ignore that the people in charge are lying, and that Oliver is likely dead.
But Alessandra’s looking at me with those scared eyes, and if Callie’s missing too, I can’t let her go through this alone.
“Okay.” I force what I hope is determination into my voice. “Let’s go find her.”
* * *
Hydra Hall is quieter than usual.
The lockdown should be making it so the common areas are packed with bored third-years looking for entertainment. But as we move through the halls, checking study rooms and lounges, we find mostly empty spaces and the occasional person who hasn’t seen Callie since this morning.
With each failed search, Alessandra’s perfect posture starts to crack. Her graceful movements become jerky and rushed, and she starts demanding answers instead of asking politely.
After the tenth person shakes their head, Alessandra stops in the middle of the hallway, her hand pressed to her chest like she’s trying not to break.
“We need to tell someone she’s not here.” She starts walking again, faster now. “Tobias is in charge of Hydra Hall during the investigation. We’ll go to him.”
She spins and starts walking before I can answer, giving me no choice but to follow.
We find Tobias Cane in a study room on the second floor, reviewing paperwork. His dark hair is more disheveled than it was last night, the silver streaks catching the light as he leans over his desk, and my stomach does that hollow flip it did while we were talking during the Forge Party from Hell that Alessandra and Callie forced me to attend.
He found me standing alone near the volcanic rock formations, a drink in my hand that I hadn’t touched, watching everyone celebrate the “good news” that Oliver and Thad were alive. He stood close enough that I could smell sage and parchment on him.
“You’re not celebrating,” he said quietly, leaning against the wall beside me.
I gestured at his own untouched drink. “Aren’t Council members supposed to be above fraternizing with students at illegal parties?”
He gave me a small smile. “Probably. And aren’t worried emberlinked partners supposed to be resting in their rooms?”
The wordworriedgrated against my nerves. Because that’s what everyone kept saying. Worried. Concerned. Hopeful. Words that implied Oliver was coming back, that didn’t match the emptiness in my chest.
“The bond feels wrong,” I whispered, the thought escaping before I could stop it. “It’s different than I expected it to feel if he was just far away.”
Sadness crossed those pale eyes, and I couldn’t believe I’d thought they were unsettling the first time I saw him. Because his eyes didn’t just look at me. They saw me, really saw me, as if my soul was visible and he was the only one paying attention.
Although, I suppose being seen like that makes a lot of people feel unsettled.
