“We have some late arrivals to our soiree,” Kaelis announces. “As you all know, the roads are so much slower now with all the Stellis checkpoints looking for Oricalis’s most wanted.”
A few other nobles trail in after him. My smile immediately falls as my eyes land on one.
Liam.
Fuck.How could I have been so stupid? Overlooked something so crucial? I’m here thinking I’ve evaded all danger when there’s one major, dangling thread.
Liam knows my name—my true name.
The letters I asked him to look for during the Feast of Cups ball before everything went sideways.What was in them?Did he address them to Clara Chevalyer like he had the notes we’d exchanged before he entered the academy? The same notes I was foolish enough to scribble my real name at the bottom of.Does he still have those old love letters I wrote him, somewhere?
My heart begins to race. The whole room tightens around me, the walls closing in. Any of those notes could damn me in an instant, from anywhere in the world, should they fall into Ravin’s hands. And I know Ravin is aware of our connection, given his little ploy at his own soiree last year.
I suck in a breath, Arina’s thin and panicked words coming to me in a rush:I spoke of mother, our time living on the streets, of your first love and the club.
Of your first love.
What did she tell Ravin of Liam?
The crown prince has all the pieces, I’m sure of it. Eventually he’ll put them together and realize there’s an angle he hasn’t tried. Someone who might have a bit of information yet unexploited. And he’ll be right.
A plan instantly forms in my mind, and before I can think better of it, I’m moving.
Chapter 47
Alor and her friend from Clan Tower have been engulfed by others, and Sorza is on her own. I make my move by heading toward her, expression neutral.
“Professor?” Sorza startles slightly when she sees me approach.
“Wait a minute. Get Luren. Bring her out the door I leave from.” That door is in the same direction as the bathrooms, so it won’t look suspicious, I hope, especially if we’re all leaving at different times.
“Got it.” Sorza keeps her voice barely loud enough for me to hear but her face calm, as though this is nothing more than a harmless conversation between professor and student.
I don’t linger a second longer. With measured steps, I slip out the door I gestured to. The academy’s once mazelike halls are now so familiar to me that I know exactly where I am, even before I stepped out the door. Just like I knew this door would lead to the bathrooms, I also know there’s an unused office down a little corridor. One I confirm isstill vacant before I wait out of view from the exit to the room where the banquet is being held.
Finally, the door squeaks open. I hear Sorza and Luren talking and step out. My eyes lock with Sorza’s. Luren stops, confusion furrowing her brow. But she obliges as I gesture her around the corner and into the office, Sorza a step behind.
“Is something the matter, Professor?” she asks as I close the door behind her and Sorza.
Sorza wastes no time in making herself comfortable, leaning casually against the old desk. Luren, however, is tense. She clasps and unclasps her hands in front of her, as though she can’t quite figure out what to do with them.
“I have a favor to ask of you,” I say carefully. I’ve the rough outline of a plan and no time to fill the lines in with care. “Something that can benefit us both.”
“All right?” Her tone is still skeptical, but she’s trying so hard to conceal that with a veil of respect for authority.
I take a breath and brace myself. There’s no easy way to get this out, and I don’t have the time to dance around it. I’m choosing to put my trust in her, and I must have faith in that decision. I lock eyes with her. “It’s me, Clara.”
“I don’t…” She squints, takes a step forward and then two back. “I don’t understand.” Forced laughter. “This is some sort of jest, isn’t it? Did Sorza put you up to this?” Luren looks to our friend.
“It’s her.” Sorza nods, well practiced with others’ disbelief thanks to Thal. “Just with a new face.” Sorza glances my way. “I assume that’s why you wanted me here, too, so I could back you up?”
“Indeed.” I nod.
“This is ridiculous.” Luren shakes her head, and her eyes dart to the door, as though she’s considering bolting. “I’m not sure what sort of game you’re playing, but—”
“That night in the library,” I say. There was no one else there that night, so there’s no way for her to write it off. “You comforted me after my sister’s death. You held me as I cried.” Luren doesn’t know Arina’s alive, so I leave it at that.
Luren slowly looks back to me, her jaw gone slack. Her eyes dart to Sorza, and the woman’s calm demeanor keeps Luren grounded. Even if Luren knows who I am, she also believes I’m a deadly criminal,andI have a different face. Sorza will be the rock upon which I rebuild this connection and then use it to my advantage.
