Since Elodie passed on her concerns to me a couple of days ago, I’ve meandered down the hall past his classroom when I’d expect him to be arriving or leaving, stopped by hisoffice a few times, watched for him in the cafeteria and the staff lounge, and never caught more than a glimpse of him hustling away. I’ve stopped shy of interrupting his classes only because it’ll raise questions that might harm my match more than help her.
Admittedly, my own class hours have limited my opportunities. But with each near miss, I’m increasingly convinced that Jovak is purposefully avoiding me.
Because he knows about my divinatory skills and is worried about what I might sense from him in innocent conversation? Because he’s guessed that I have a particular stake in Elodie’s well-being?
Whatever the case, it doesn’t bode well for her. I’d rather be able to dismiss her concerns, but I can’t ignore the evidence right in front of me.
My ephemera-reading abilities did serve me well regardless. I picked up enough glimmers of memories around Jovak’s office to piece together that he often starts off his day with a visit to the conservatory that’s a ten-minute drive from Luminary’s campus.
What a coincidence that I just happened to make a similar excursion this morning.
I sip the now-cooled coffee from my takeout cup, wishing I could gulp more of the bitter liquid. I have other plans for it. If Jovak actually makes an appearance.
If I don’t see him today, I’m not likely to catch him until after the weekend. We need answers sooner than that.
I check the time. Fifteen more minutes, and I’ll have to call the attempt a wash.
I’ve just shoved my phone back into my pocket when I spot a characteristic bright yellow shirt encasing a stout torso beyond the fronds of a fern.
Resisting the urge to sprint over to him, I ease along a cross-path until I’m on the same curving route Jovak ismeandering. I stop there and pretend to admire the foliage of a spindly tree.
It’ll be better if he thinksheran into me rather than the other way around.
From the corner of my eye, I track his approach through the leaves and blossoms of the botanical garden. He’s strolling at a snail’s pace, drinking from a cup of juice nearly as bright as his shirt with the label of a trendy shop down the street.
If he doesn’t hurry up, it won’t even matter that I’ve found him.
I risk sidling a few steps in his direction. When he comes around the last bend in the path, I clock him clocking me—and halting as if he might bolt in the opposite direction.
Well, I can’t have that.
I glance up and widen my eyes as if only just noticing him. “Ivan! I didn’t expect to run into anyone from the academy here.”
“Colson,” he replies in a more cautious tone, although that may be because he hadn’t realized we were on a first-name basis. Which we weren’t, until this moment.
He ambles just a little closer to maintain a friendly front, but I can discern the agitation in his bodily energies from even this far away.
“It’s a lovely place, isn’t it?” he says. “I find taking a walk here settles my mind before heading into the rest of my day.”
I close more of the remaining distance between us. “I see what you mean. It must be especially nice to soak up the warmth in the colder months. I only dropped in because I was in the area and noticed it.”
“Yes. It’s one of the city’s treasures.” He slurps down the rest of his juice. “I suppose it’s about time to get going…”
As he starts to edge away, I turn fully toward him. “Actually, I’m glad I ran into you. There was something I was meaning toask?—”
My fingers slip on my cup—what should look like a total accident to Jovak. The paper vessel careens away from my swinging hand, and the lukewarm coffee splatters his banana-yellow shirt.
I force my eyes even wider and an apologetic babble from my throat. “Oh, hell! I’m so sorry, Ivan. Here, let me?—”
I snatch the wad of napkins I was carrying and start blotting his shirt, drawing a little ephemera into the effort to coax out the liquid before it can stain.
“It’s all right,” Jovak protests, tensing as if to back up, but I’ve got my fingers hooked in his shirt now. The ephemera twined deeper inside him quivers over my skin.
“No, no, I should make up for my clumsiness. I’ll have it out in a minute.” I huff a sigh and continue dabbing. “Anyway, I gathered you’ve been running those supplementary combat seminars with the military captain? Elodie Devine is part of those, I believe? I wondered if you’ve noticed anything lax in her behavior. I’ve had some issues with her in class.”
Jovak opens his mouth and closes it again, apparently fumbling for words. But it isn’t his words I’m most interested in.
Now that I’ve directed his thoughts toward a specific topic, flickers of sensation rise up through the impressions clinging to him. I glean frustration, a jitter of something like fear, and then a flash of triumph.
