“We’ll need a distraction,” she said simply.
August nodded. “Leave that to me.”
They made the decision to meet in a few hours, right before the start of the Equinox Gathering. Quinn would make sure Arthur was ready to remove the security cuff, and August would make sure he had an ironclad distraction.
They’d have to time it perfectly.
But as they whispered their goodbyes and August turned away from Quinn, desperate to put as much distance as possible between him and the sound of Wren’s screams, Quinn’s voice echoed behind him.
“August.” He glanced over his shoulder. Quinn was looking at him with unbridled curiosity, something oddly close to admirationin her eyes. When she spoke next, her voice was soft. “You’re really willing to destroy yourself to save her?”
August’s breath caught in his throat. He knew what his answerwas.
For Wren?
Anything.
“I’ll destroy myself,” he echoed out loud. His shadowsburnedinside him. “And anybody who stands in my way.”
27
MASIKA
A heaviness followed the group on their third day trekking through purgatory. Masika sensed it with every step. Not only were they approaching the third and final key—according to the map they’d discovered after revealing their innermost truths—but they had also begun to venture eerily close to Blackwood. The school’s perimeter wasn’t far…perhaps less than a day’s hike away. Masika swore she could evenfeelit. It was something in her chest. A knowing pull in the core of her soul.
Come back, something seemed to whisper inside her.Come back to us.
“Seems a bit odd, doesn’t it?” Dina remarked, pulling Masika’s focus. The silver-haired girl spun one of her many daggers between her fingers. “You know, hiding his soul so close to Blackwood. Every key we find takes us closer and closer to the school’s perimeter. You’d figure the True Headmaster would have hidden the damn thing as far away from Silas as possible.”
“It doesn’t really matterwhereit’s hidden,” Catherine reminded her. “No keys? No access.”
“Yeah, obviously, but…” Dina shrugged. “I don’t know. Doesn’t seem like an entirely logical plan.”
Analisa hummed knowingly, staring up at the canopy of trees above them. “Sometimes logic is hidden beneath chaos.”
Dina rolled her eyes. “Whatever. My point still stands.”
“We’re not far,” Catherine muttered under her breath, staring down at the map in her hands. “It shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“What do you think happens once we have all three keys?” Emilio asked. He had Benji cradled in his arms, and the little creature was staring up at Emilio with adoration in his beady red eyes.
“Well, clearly we’re going to use them to unlocksomething,” Dina mumbled. “Perhaps his resting place requires the keys.”
“Or maybe he’s sending us on this wild-goose chase for a good laugh.” Olivier sighed, kicking a pebble in his path.
“Always the optimist,” Masika muttered, elbowing Olivier in the ribs. The boy winced, offering her a shrug. Although his relationship with Emilio had finally blossomed, Masika couldn’t help but notice a slight strain in Olivier’s face. A palpable concern. She supposed she couldn’t blame him—given the dwindling countdown that had begun in his mind.
“You okay?”
Olivier chuckled hoarsely. “Defineokay.”
“He could help you,” she whispered. “The True Headmaster. If anyone can…ithasto be him.”
Olivier offered her a tight-lipped smile. “I suppose we’ll see.”
Masika sighed. She was seconds away from making what she hoped would be another encouraging comment when Emilio’s voice cut in, echoing just behind the group.
“Uh…guys.”
