Somehow, Mathias has gotten a copy of my curse mark. But how?
“You realise you need four strong arcanists to tackle those, right? Even the Librarian can’t read four incantations at once. Who do you have in mind? The liminals who don’t know their asses from their elbows? Or my dashing fiancé?”
Let a Talcott help break my curse? Never.
“Shut the feck up.”
She doesn’t. Of course, she doesn’t.
“The last layer is probably even worse, but Mathias doesn’t want to see talented adepts suffer under such foul magic. No doubt he’ll find the solution. Even if it takes him a few days. He wants us to be strong, not suffering.”
My jaw aches from how hard I’m grinding my teeth together, but I refuse to let loose the fury building in my veins.
She knows. Sheknowswhat this means to me.
Anthea, having made her point, offers me a deceptively sweet smile and a cutesy finger wave as she resumes struttingdown the drive. “Think about it, Leo. Just don’t take too long.”
I wait for her to reach the streetlamp that marks the edge of the concealment spells covering my grandfather’s home, then collapse on the wet earth with a small scream that does nothing to banish the tangle of fear wrapping its fist around my heart.
How did she know? Who saw my runeform? Pierce? Did I leave my notes somewhere one of the many Carlton spies might’ve seen them?
Surely the Arcanaeum would’ve stopped them. Did they break into the house? Did I leave a copy there? Ugh, does it even matter?
What Anthea’s offering is…everything. It’s Lambert’s life, my life.
But at what cost? His safety? Kyrith’s safety? The Arcanaeum?
No. I can’t make that deal.
I need to head back to the Arcanaeum and ask Kyrith how her work on the second layer of the curse is going. She’ll have made some progress by now.
With that thought firmly in my mind, and the conniving bitch’s last words mocking me, I hurry to the nearest house, sparing the inepts within less than half a thought before knocking.
“Ad Arcanaeum.”
I stumble through into the Library already searching for Kyrith. Usually, it brings me out near her, but this time I’m in the Astrology Room. Alone.
“Where is she?” I ask the Library. “We need to get a move on…”
No rustle of books answers me. The shelves are curiously quiet, and I huff out a frustrated breath as I run down the stairs.
I reach the shared living area of the clock tower, but it’s empty of everyone except Eddy, curled up on the sofa with her hot chocolate and a fluffy onesie, watching a soap.
“You seen Kyrith?” I ask, already half across the room. “She up in her tower?”
“Nah, she’s down with North.”
I turn on my heel, cursing the Ackland heir’s existence. Yes, he needs tutoring, but he’s taking up her valuable time. Time I don’t have. Surely, he can learn magic once this damned runeform on my chest is gone?
“I’d leave them alone,” Eddy adds, even though I’m halfway through the door. “He was struggling.”
It’s rude to ignore her, but Anthea’s words are blaring in my head on repeat. I just need proof, that’s all. I’ll leave Kyrith to comfort North as soon as she tells me she’s made some progress.
I take the stairs down to the Solarium three at a time, jumping the last flight. My landing causes whoever’s playing the piano sonata down the hall to pause briefly, and the Library flutters grumpily at the interruption. A book cart skitters to a stop in front of me, but I don’t pick up the single tome resting on top of it or investigate who’s playing.
Why is the Solarium so far away?
“Kyrith?” I call as I shove through the door into the garden.
