She knew it was forbidden without permission, of course.
But it was also relatively easy. Just draw an outline on anything at all.
Though, of course, in order to do that, she had to stop. And when she glanced back over her shoulder, she was sure she could already see him. A dark shape in the glow from the moon. Going slow, almost sauntering, but still too close.
It wouldn’t take him hardly anything at all to cross the distance, once he saw what she was attempting. But when the rotunda attached to the east wing came into view, she knew she was going to try anyway. She practically flung herself around the curve of it, until she was out of his sight line. Leaned against that cool gray stone, as she brought her cupped hands together. Once, twice.
Nothing.
What’s the good of being the queen of this place if you still can’t cast?she thought wildly, as she glanced back around that curve, for some sign of him. Then when there was nothing, she took a long, slow breath. She tried to focus on something that sparked it—those words in her ear.
And there it was. A bright bloom of light, that melted down into a familiar cylinder the moment she positioned her thumb and finger just so. She clutched it like a pen, before it appeared. Now all she had to do was draw the shape on the stone beside her. Easy-peasy, really.
Or at least itwouldhave been.
If it had not been for the state she was in. For some reason her eyes were blurry with tears. She couldn’t seem to control her breathing—it grated in and out of her chest, fast enough that it was starting to make her dizzy. And her hands shook when she touched the pen to the stone.
She had to steady one hand with the other—and even so the line she drew came out shaky. It came out with gaps that were probably going to make it fail. She found herself going over them frantically, almost scribbling, tears now cooling on her cheeks, heart trying to beat out of her body.
And still the thing came out crooked.
The top was practically on a diagonal.
The whole door was too small, too low—she was going to have to stoop to get through it. And that wasifit even worked. It seemed doubtful, considering the door handle she was trying to grind into the stone. A sloppy mess full of jagged lines, half of them going outside the circle she was trying to make.
It looked pathetic.
She stepped back and almost laughed.
In fact she most likely would have done so if it hadn’t been for that sudden prickling feeling. That coldness all along one side, like she’d felt that first day in the lecture hall. And then she turned and saw him.
Barely ten feet away, eyes blank and staring, mouth full of teeth.
She didn’t know why she reached for that door handle. It didn’t even seem like she’d be fast enough—never mind believing that it would be good enough to work. But it did, oh god it did. Her hand seemed to sink in and clasp around something at the same time. Light bloomed around it, and around the edge of the crude door she’d drawn.
Go, go, go, she urged herself, and tried to push right away.
First with her hand, then when nothing happened, her shoulder. She slammed against it, hard enough that she felt some bone or muscle protest. Pain shot through her, and still she tried again. She had to try again.
That was the sound of him growling, at the thought of losing his quarry.
And it was close, so close, god, she could almost feel the breath he’d used to push that grating rattle out. It brushed against the nape of her neck, and she nearly lost her mind. She didn’t just shove at the door; she begged it with her body. She flung herself against it, half screaming, sure it was done.
And that was when it gave.
It swung inward, so fast she couldn’t stop herself tumbling through. She practically fell to her hands and knees, wrists barking and dress suddenly around her face—though she could hardlycare, of course she couldn’t. Because all she felt of him was the rake of his claws over that silk, that velvet, that taffeta.
Then she was through.
She was on the other side.
She was in the Underneath.
Chapter Sixteen
She didn’t move from the door for a long time.
She couldn’t—the creature on the other side held all her attention.
