She looks tired but otherwise unscathed. Blinking up at me, she says, “I’m fine.” Her hand rises to touch mine, and she heaves a heavy sigh. “I can’t seem to contain the energy. I’m getting better at it, but...” She shakes her head and steps back from me, leaving my hand hovering there in the ozone-scented air. “But I’m not ready for my next demonstration. IknowI’m not. But I don’t know how to improve.” Her gaze flicks to the cracked railing, and she winces. “I feel...” She lifts her arms, seeming to search for the right word, then lets them drop to her sides. “Stuck.”
“What are you hoping to achieve?” I ask her.
“It needs to hold,” she says. “I need to be able to stabilize it. Right now, I can hold it for about a minute, but that’s not long enough.” She exhales and turns away from me, pacing toward the railing. She runs her fingertips along the fracture in the stone, then shakes her head, her long hair swishing with the movement.
“For what purpose?” I ask, realizing that I’ve never asked her what she intends to do with this energy magic.
“It’s for... everyone.” She casts her gaze out into the dark, as if she can see Wysteria from here, or the tiny villages and hamlets that lie beyond it, scattered across the kingdom. “If I can create a concentrated, contained source of energy, it could power wards, heat homes, provide light for entire villages. People without magic wouldn’t have to worry in the way they do now.” She sighs. “That’s why I need this fellowship; it’ll allow me to continue working on this, to hone it with other scholars. To turn it into something real instead of just a crazy idea.”
Softly, I say, “It’s not crazy, Maeve.”
She looks up at me, the purple in her eyes shimmering in the light of the stars.
“It’s... exceptional.” I cross the tower to join her and lift my hands slowly, placing my palms on either side of her face. “Youare exceptional.”
Beneath my touch, her cheeks heat up, and she rolls her eyes before pulling away. “Is this what you had in mind when Moonhart tasked you with mentoring me?”
I turn and place my hands on the cool stone railing. “Yes.”
Maeve flicks a quick glance up at me. “Really?”
My mouth tugs into a small smile. “I knew what I was getting myself into.” Slowly, the smile fades. “The headmistress knows how hard I’ve had to work to control my... instincts over the years. I believe this is why she feels I’ll be able to mentor you. My instincts and your power... They may not be so different.”
Maeve’s expression softens. “Maybe.”
The crisp autumn air twirls around us, and with it comes one golden leaf that’s caught in the current. I snatch it out of the air, then roll the stem between my fingers, studying the veins in the leaf. Maeve looks up at me, and I tuck the leaf behind her ear, making her smile. She reaches up to touch it with gentle fingers, but she makes no effort to remove it.
“Oh,” she says, perking up. “There’s one other thing I could use help with.”
I arch a brow at her.
“Remember that application essay I told you about? The one Azula has me endlessly revising? I must be on my tenth draft.” A muscle ticks along the side of her jaw, and she sighs. “Does your offer still stand to take a look at it? Maybe you can see if there’s something I’m missing before I turn it in to her?”
I nod once. “Of course. I can help with that.”
Her smile looks a bit tired now. “Thank you.” She studies me for a moment, then whispers, as if she’s afraid to voice it aloud, “Do you really think I can learn how to stabilize the sphere?”
It takes no time at all for me to draw my conclusion. “Absolutely.”
Her dark purple eyes search my face, like she’s trying to determine whether I’m lying to her or not.
“You’re closer than you think,” I tell her. “Believe in yourself. You’ll succeed; I’m certain of it.”
Maeve smiles at me, that leaf still tucked behind her ear, and she shifts her hand on the railing to place it on top of mine. “I’m glad someone is.”
I spread my fingers, capturing hers between mine, and give her hand a squeeze.
She wants to light villages. Power wards. Change things for the better.
And I, a vampire who has lived long enough to know that change is slow and oftentimes grueling, find myself believing, more strongly than anything, that she’s going to do it.
And I’ll do whatever I can to help her get there.
Chapter 27
Maeve
I’VE NEVER FELT SO COMFORTABLE in a professor’s office before.
