Loren typed up three different replies but ended up deleting each one before sending:Fine.
If she was being honest, her arms hurt like hell, and so did the few cuts on her legs. But she wasn’t about to tell him that. He’d dropped her off at the gates of the academy that morning with a fresh roll of gauze and a full bottle of painkillers. She’d had to change her bandages herself that night, which wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as when he did it for her.
Her face flushed at the memory.
Good, he wrote back.Let me know if you need anything.
Loren stared at the message. Realizing she didn’t want to stop talking to him, she wrote:How are you?
A bubble popped up to indicate that he was typing. It disappeared and reappeared twice before he replied with just one word:Fine.
Loren smiled into the dark.What are you doing?
It took him a minute to reply.Just getting home.
It’s two in the morning.
So?
Nibbling on her pinkie nail, she typed up another reply.Sooo, shouldn’t you be sleeping?
I could ask you the same thing.
Loren’s smile turned into a grin.You woke me up,she lied.
You didn’t need to answer me.Darn, he made a good point. She could almost sense him smiling in triumph through the phone, and she found herself blushing.
Have you had much luck deciphering the scroll?
Hardly,he replied.Any chance you could access the restricted section in your academy library for me?
What do you need?
Any books on Ancient Reunerian would help. If I don’t find some answers soon, I’m going to rip my hair out.
I’ll try,she said. And she was blushing again as she added,And you have great hair, so please don’t rip it out.
Ha-ha, you’re adorable.Loren’s smile grew so big, her cheeks hurt. Circling back to their previous topic, he said,Thanks, Rookie. I’ll owe you one.
She typed up three different messages that didn’t involve saying goodbye to each other just yet, before she settled on,I’m going to sleep now.
Same,he replied.I’m beat.A moment later, after deleting whatever messages he’d typed up, he added,Goodnight, Loren Calla.
Goodnight, Darien Cassel.
She was still smiling like an idiot as she clicked off the screen and settled back into her pillows.
It didn’t take her long to fall asleep after that, and when morning arrived, she found herself wondering why—and found herself shying away from the answer.
28
“Hoc puella invisibilia.”Dallas’s soft voice echoed in the corridor outside the mirrored entrance of the House of Salt. Her Focus sparked in the shadows, throwing the smattering of freckles on her nose into stark relief. “Hide that which is visible, make this girlinvisible.”
Loren closed her eyes tight and tried not to puke as the spell rippled over her. The chunk of amethyst at the point of Dallas’s stave pulsed with purple waves. The color snaked over the tree trunks in the mirror’s false reflection and wove around the stones of the corridor.
Dallas wore a grin as she appraised the empty air where Loren had been standing. “I can’t believe I actually did it!”
Loren shushed her. “Do yourself now,” she whispered. It took a couple tries for Dallas to make the spell work on herself, but soon neither of them was visible aside from their shadows, slanted in the torchlight as they began creeping toward the east wing.
