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He stared at the lamp, then at me.

“I am my only protection.”

With these words, I pushed past the tall Ruisangor and hurried out of the hallway into the east wing.

I turned around three times, spotted him twice, standing there, a pitch-black silhouette. The third time, he was gone.

Chapter 21

Emely

Hysteresis

Angus MacRae

I had stood here for about twenty minutes listening to Bayla, asking her questions, without her making a single stupid comment, unlike what I was used to from the Quatura.

Secretly, I admired her for how easily she was able to tell me about all the drama in her life, as if we were high school classmates who had been sitting next to each other for years but only now had a reason to talk to each other.

Bayla made me feel like I could open up to her too, and I didn't know yet whether that was a good or a bad thing. I wondered if her friendship with Julian had developed in exactly the same way.

In any case, the content of what she said indicated to me that she had quite a few family problems without realizing it herself.

Her mother obviously had secrets that she had left behind in this town for almost two decades. But as was often the case with secrets, they haunted you and wouldn't let you go until you were confronted with them.

I had to admit to myself that things weren't any better in my family, especially when it came to my uncle.

Bayla had told me about Julie, about her father. The male Quatura no one talked about and from whom she had inherited a rare and powerful element. He was dead, and she also seemed to have a hard time with her family, the Circle, and the Councils.

I took a deep breath.

Since when did I care about other people's problems? Especially those of Quatura, who wanted to see us rot in hell? What had this university done to me?

“You can still leave.”

I looked at Bayla, who was holding my uncle's book, sitting on the wide windowsill that faced the snow-covered courtyard.

A raven pecked at the window, and Bayla turned away, not without giving the animal a suspicious glance.

I shook my head.

If I left now, I would never find out what secrets my uncle was keeping. This was my chance to either give him a thousand more chances or have a serious talk with him.

However, a slight uneasiness within me prayed I would find nothing that could shake everything I believed I knew about him.

There was only one thing I feared even more...

“It's not too late. No one has...”

Just then, the door opened and my greatest fear entered the room along with his sister.

“Emely?” Larissa's eyes widened. “What is she doing here?”

The question was directed more at Bayla than at me, which gave me time to focus on him. Necessarily.

I took a deep breath and tried to avoid his gaze.

This had to work. Everything had worked so far when I had been in control.