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“Old timey security?” Kingston wondered out loud.
“That would be my guess,” Xero said. “These little lookout posts must be all over.”
“It’s a shame they weren’t using them,” Kai grumbled bitterly. “We could have been spared two rounds of questioning.”
“Just one,” I said. “I doubt they have perches like this in the basement or any of the sub-basements.”
The dark-haired vampire made a sound of disgust. “Probably not.” He cut his gaze to Xero and Jayce. “So, geniuses, you got us up here. How do we get down?”
Xero shrugged. “Jump?”
“I like it here.” Jayce beamed happily. “I say we claim it as our own secret meeting spot.”
“Oh, yeah, that’ll clear our name in the court of public opinion,” Kai shot back, rolling his eyes. “Secret meetings will really take the heat off.”
Jayce’s happy-go-lucky enthusiasm deflated, and I glared at the other man. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be allowed to hang out in private, Kai. It’s not like there’s a ‘get out’ sign on the damn door or anything.”
“Look.” Ignoring the tension flaring between me and Kai, Xero pointed at the floor. “There’s a trap door.”
“Finally, a way out.” Kai tugged the door open to reveal a circular staircase. He sighed. “Great. More fucking stairs.”
“What were you hoping for? A slide?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Jayce’s eyes lit up. “Dude, we should totally put a slide there!”
Kai blinked at him slowly, then started down the stairs without a word. It took a while to make our way down them, but we discovered they led to a secret door near a secluded bookcase in the same corner of the library where we’d spent most of our study time. Hannah was sitting on our favorite couch and stifled a scream when we spilled out of the stacks in front of her.
“What the hell?” She glanced around, as if expecting more people to just appear out of thin air.
“This place is hella cool.” Jayce grinned broadly. He seemed to have bounced back almost entirely from his rough start to the day. “Secret rooms, secret staircases—man, I’m glad I live here.”
Kai stared at him expressionlessly for a moment, then turned on his heel and walked away, heading in the direction of his dorm room.
“What’s his problem?” Hannah wrinkled her nose, staring after him.
“When I figure it out I’ll tell you,” I deadpanned, trying to ignore the ache in my chest that I’d known would flare up as soon as Kai left us. “But right now I need to c
ram for finals. Will you help me?”
“Of course! Honestly, they were easier than I thought they would be. Lots of subjective questions, way more than I thought.”
I sucked in a breath through my teeth. “Ugh. I don’t like that at all.”
“Why?”
“Well, if they’re subjective, that means they’re open to interpretation on both sides. What if one of the professors just hates you for no discernible reason? Wouldn’t they grade your answers more harshly?”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” she said. “But anyway, you are gonna need to have at least a basic understanding of the facts, so let’s get to work.”
All five of us spent the next several hours studying. It felt a little unfair, since four of us had already done all our cramming, to have to go through it all again. But after what Xero had told me about Toland’s blood oath, it didn’t seem like it was worth taking a chance on these exams.
I forced myself to retain the information, but what I was really interested in was what would happen after our study session. When we finally stopped cramming for the day, and Kingston, Hannah, and Xero went off to do their own thing, Jayce and I went back up to our little secret alcove.
“So how do we start?” I asked, sounding more nervous than I liked. “Sit in the lotus position and say ‘ohm’?”
Jayce chuckled. “If that’s how you’re most comfortable, sure. But let’s skip the ohm for now.”
We sat facing each other on the wood floor. He fiddled with his necklace, watching me thoughtfully for a long moment.
“Okay,” he said finally. “First, let me ask you this. Do you believe it’s possible to get to the memories they want you to tell them about?”
