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Arthur and Nekane share a grim look. Kallos shakes his head furiously at me and turns his back. “Just go, Elias. We’ll finish this discussion without you. I’d forgotten how insensible you are.”
Low blow.
I leave without another word, not letting Kallos’s cruel words sink too far into my chest.
Only, I don’t walk back to Alkrose just yet. There are four gravestones around the far edge of the broken rock. I bend a knee next to them, letting my fingers brush across the hand-engraved names and stare hollowly at them.
Midas. Camil. Acadi. Serina.
“Hello, old friends.”
26
Terra
Acold breeze draws in from the headmaster’s study.
I shiver and make a face at Raine. He smirks at me and nudges my shoulder with his. “No backing out now, babe. We need to see what he’s hiding in here,” he murmurs softly as he lets his Shadow slowly seep from his fingertips and unlocks the third door we’ve had to get through in order to get this far.
This is why I shouldn’t have told him about the headmaster stealing hearts. Raine is too curious and reckless just to ignore these sorts of things.
“I didn’t think we’d actually go looking for the hearts. It’s probably more metaphorical, anyway. I doubt there are literal hearts in jars in there,” I whisper as I glance uneasily over my shoulder for the hundredth time.
The lock clicks and Raine shoves the door open. I glare at him for being so loud but all that earns me is a silent laugh from him. I do appreciate him trying to cheer me up though; Edgar has been weighing heavily on my mind since he attacked me a few days ago. Arthur pushed our private lesson to today so I had time to recollect my mind.
“Let’s see,” Raine murmurs as he steps through. I follow behind him and shut the door quietly behind us.
The headmaster’s study is dimly lit with black candles that have almost completely burned out. A long desk takes up the space in the center of the room. Old papers, candles, pens, and books lie scattered. He and Elias share that habit.
Raine searches the wall of books while I take to searching Emerai’s desk, pulling out the heavy drawers, not entirely sure what we’re looking for when it comes to the hearts. I find a few notes to compare to the one we found in the library and quickly cross him off the list.
“Hey, come here,” Raine whispers after several minutes have passed.
I close the last drawer and walk to his side. “What’d you find?”
The shelves are dusty and the oak is warped from moisture. The books are arranged neatly in comparison to the mess on the headmaster’s desk. Raine points to a gap between the tops of the books and the shelf above where an inch of space is visible.
“What?” I ask again.
“Look closely.” Raine moves over so I can stand where he is. I narrow my eyes at the space. It’s dark, but there’s a glint of something in the next room. “A secret room behind a shelf? That seems too obvious,” I say hesitantly.
Raine smiles and shrugs. “Tacky or not, we should check it out.”
We each take up a side of the bookshelf and move it out far enough so we can slip inside. The room is cold, the kind that feels drafty and ominous.
It’s too dark to see anything besides glinting from glass or something reflective across the room.
“I don’t like this,” I whisper.
Raine ignores me. He leans down and inspects something close. I watch him so intently that when hands softly land on my shoulders, I yelp.
“Terra, it’s only me,” Arthur says lightly.
Raine stands quickly, his eyes wide with fear.
“It’s okay, it’s Arthur,” I tell him and he settles a bit, keeping his stern glare on his face. My beautiful Raine is so untrusting.
Arthur flicks his fingers and lights turn on above us. It’s still rather dim; they only illuminate the center of the room, leaving the shelves and walls in the dark.
