Ouch.
Cosmo doesn’t reply, just starts walking.
As soon as we’re outside of the dining hall and down the wide steps, he swivels to face me. “About her,” he says, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t take anything she says to heart.” He looks up. “I’m sorry.”
I nod. “Don’t worry about it. Water’s off a duck’s back.”
He grabs me by the arm. “No wait. I’m trying…” Cosmo lets out a frustrated sigh. “I’m trying to apologize to you, Theodora. About everything.”
Like one apology makes things right.
“I’ve changed, I’m not the same person I was. You’ve changed me…fuck, against my fucking will you have transformed me to someone I don’t even recognize anymore. But I’m better for it.”
Hmm, words. Just words.
“Don’t we have a class to go to? Oh, and how’s your sister?”
Cosmo starts walking again. I watch his face flash through a myriad of emotions. “She’s on the mend, thankfully, but scans show she’s got a heart murmur. The smoke inhalation did a number on her lungs and affected the circulation in her aorta.”
Shit.
“A mix of regular medical intervention and healers are getting her back on track,” he continues. “The ankle break is already mending. That’s the good news.”
“So you’re saying there’s bad news, further than her heart problems?” I ask.
His face clouds. “Thomas Crankshawe.”
“The dude at the ascension—the dean’s brother? Looks like he should live in Transylvania?”
“Yep. I think my father has promised him my sister.” Cosmo shudders. “When she turns eighteen.”
I picture Aurora, swearing her head off as she lay collapsed on the ballroom floor. “No! That can’t happen. Your baby sister and that…old monster? You can’t let it happen.” I shudder at the thought. Poor, poor Aurora.
“I’ll do everything in my power to stop it, but it’s complicated.” He pauses and switches to an internal conversation.
—How can I rebel against my father, when I’m supposed to be under the spell of dark energy?—
Much as I’m pissed with Cosmo, he’s a fucking arrogant bully, I’ve nothing but sympathy for his sister.
“I’ll help,” I tell him. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” Her ice blue angry eyes flick into my mind. “She seems like quite the spitfire.”
“You have no idea. Crankshawe went in to visit her at the hospital; she threw the bouquet he’d brought at his head. She’s her own worst enemy. No control over her temper at all. Theodora…”
“Yes?”
—Thank you. I know you don’t owe me a thing, but thank you. And I’ll find Ludo, get him out of there—
—This is not a negotiation or deal. I’ll willingly help your sister. I would hope you’d willingly help Ludo.
“Of course,” he splutters. “I didn’t mean it as a trade-off.”
I press my lips together. “Hmm, well it certainly sounded like that.”
Cosmo gives a frustrated sigh then changes the subject. “What about Wes? You think you can burn away the control they have over him?”
That’s the question of the hour.
“I hope so. I’ve managed to get to the ‘real him’ a couple of times, but it’s bad. He’s been spelled with the dark energy in a way I can’t really…pick through. Of course, I’ll keep trying.”
