Lex is last.“Yeah.I was a jerk, man.I’m sorry.”But instead of lowering her head, she nudges a fallen boulder brick underneath him and steps onto it.She leans up to give Gardon a real kiss on his cheek.
Oh, that was smooth, Lex.Well played, my friend.
He blusters so much that I peek at him and swear his stony cheeks actually turn pink.I squeeze my lips shut tight to save myself snickering and ruining the moment.
“Oh, get up you bunch of sycophants.You’re forgiven.Lest you forget that the goyles are an integral part of the campus again, then so help you demons, there will be consequences.Now, what do you want?You’re clearly here for a reason, spill it…”
“How do shades get through?”I ask.
“They’re called.Either by a student, professor or Finis itself.”
“Right, but the wraiths, they get through without being summoned.”
“Correct, where are you going with this?”he says, flecks of stone dust floating to the floor.
“What if we wanted to bring someone back without a soul?”I tread carefully, hoping I can coax him around.
He narrows his eyes at me.“Not possible.”
Bastien nudges Lex.She pipes up, “Not possible because it literally can’t happen or because it’s against the rules?”
His stony expression thins further.“Technically, a being could exist in Ora without a soul.Getting through is against the rules.”
“But for someone of your rank guarding a door of such importance, surely that’s up to your discretion…”
He chews on the inside of his cheek, his features growing harder.We’re going to lose him.
I swore I wouldn’t use Lucy’s magic but I’m not sure what other choice I have.I do as Vetch said and imagine all other possibilities are gone.There is only Gardon accepting our compliment and letting us bring Lucy through.
My body stiffens, the scent of coffee freshly brewed and the crackling warmth of burning wood drift through my senses.A thin thread of ruby-coloured magic protrudes from my chest.
It tingles and simmers just under the surface, but I can feel it.It’s working—or it’s kind of working.It’s the thinnest most pathetic ribbon I’ve ever seen, but it darts to Gardon and vanishes into the stone.
He shivers.“Mmm, I suppose you are the only ones who came to check on me.I’ll consider it.”
Lex scrunches her face.Consideration isn’t exactly a win, but it’s better than a no.It’s also the best we have.
“We’ll take it,” Bastien says.
“Let us through, sir,” I say, feeling rather faint, like all my insides have been jumbled up and shaken.Nothing quite fits in the right place anymore.
“Where do you want to go?”Gardon says.
“Wherever Lucy is,” I answer and the door shimmers to life.
I glance up at him.
“Well, go on then…” he says and the three of us step into the underworld.
15
Lucy
“Mortem, honey, it’s just me,” I breathe, trying to call him out with gentle encouragement.I reach under the decayed shrub but he’s trembling.
He backs up, making my life that much more difficult, so I scruff him by the back of his neck and haul him up before he can do that ghost shade nonsense and go incorporeal.
His little fluffy body quakes in my arms.“I’m not going to hurt you.”
