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“You’ll sit with us?” His mouth gapes slightly.
“If that’s okay with you.”
“I mean, sure. We’d love you to sit with us.”
“Great.” Is it stupid that I can’t stop the smile on my face? That I’m making friends here? I turn back to invite Alfie, but he’s already left.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
WILLOW
“It’s not a good look,” Geraldine mumbles after Max heads in. “For you, I mean. You shouldn’t sit with us.”
“Why?”
“You’re a Shadow now.”
“Pah.” I wave the notion off. “It’s ridiculous they think you’re the enemy. Not that I’ve actually seen the enemy, but I highly doubt you four are the epitome of Nightmares. I’m out of good looks, anyway. How are you? How’s the dorm? Have you been treated fairly?”
Has anyone attempted to kill them?
“Same as usual.”
But she avoids my gaze. Something happened overnight.
“Where’s Peggy and Bob?”
“In a different class.”
“Geraldine.” I take her hand. “Is everything all right?”
She forces a smile that crinkles her burn scars. “We’re good, I promise.”
“Okay.” I nod, wondering how much of what I learned from Peablossom to tell. I don’t want to freak them out if it’s not true. But I also want to prepare them if it is. I feel sick from not knowing the best course of action. What if I make thingsworse? “Um. Geraldine, do you know about the mortality rate for Nothings in the tournament?”
“Well, I assume it’s not good,” she replies dryly. At my silence, her shoulders drop. “That bad, huh?”
“How many others are in your dorm?”
“Until last night, there were eight in total.”
My blood runs cold. “What happened?”
“Apparently, she died in her sleep.” Her eyes become empty. “We’d better go in. I don’t want to be late.”
She’s right. It’s one thing for me to ignore the rules in the name of revenge, but she can’t afford to get in trouble.
“What’s with the clothes?” She gives me a sideways glance as we walk, and Fox’s trousers flash through the gap in my cape.
“One of my Radiants pissed me off.”
“Oh my god, you have a death wish.”
She’s not joking. I breathe in and then exhale. “You’re probably right.”
The ground level inside the tower is an empty hall about forty feet wide. At the center of the room, a podium holds a map of the floor plans. The red pulsing veins in the walls radiate heat like the Fever Hunt, so it’s much warmer inside, and we remove our outer layers. While I wait for Geraldine, I scan the map and learn a spiral staircase winds around the tower’s internal wall. The next level up is the classroom, followed by a library on the next, then the house commons, dorms, the Shadow’s private room, and temporary accommodations for the visiting noble. There’s even space on the turret for a dragon’s nest.
