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“Because she tells the truth when it matters and lies when it disnae.” Finlay says this like it’s no big deal, though I’m startled out of my own head. It’s like he can read my very essence, my core. Into his friend’s ear, he mutters, “I kinda get her noo. She plays politics in her own way, and right now she’s tellin’ the truth.”
“She lied about Li. Her father’s company could be bankrupt because she trusted the Yank. Now you are telling me she has lied about Freya, too?” There’s a pained look on his face. “IlikedFreya. She did not deserve what happened to her.”
It’s difficult to hide my bitterness, but he doesn’tknow. He doesn’t know how they framed me for Operation Strike First, how they gaslit me — how badly, really, they bullied me.
“Just listen to me,” I plead, staring up at the prince. “I’m notlying.”
Luke slants a glance at Finlay, apparently trusting his judgment more than my words. “Normally, you have to bring a stone back for the ritual to work, but they have been saying you saw something down there. It changes depending on who is talking, so… speak. Tell me what you actually saw.”
It’s permission. Permission granted by His Royal Highness.
So I tell him. I tell them both. I talk in vivid detail about the animals I saw tortured and tied up, the rabbit and the dove. It’s so vivid that, by the end of it, Luke’s mouth has gently opened and there’s a queasy expression on his face.
“They’re just symbols,” I add hastily, after a long period of silence following my revelation. “It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Oh, symbols have meanings,” Luke explains in a dark tone. “And the ritual… it has never lied before. It has never been untrue.” He frowns down at me. “The only difference from the previous rituals is the messenger, and I do not know if I can fully trust this one.”
“Sodon’t,” I snap. “I’ve told you all I know, so if you still don’t believe me then that’s up to you.”
“But you have to understand… From our perspective, you were a saint. You claimed to be a saint and went back on your word. Now one of the top British businesses is under threat, and you got a girl kicked out through no fault of her own.”
“I never claimedanything. You’re the one who came up with these stupid nicknames! All because I didn’t fight back.” I fold my arms across my chest, stubborn. “Well, now I’m telling you, if this prophecy is true then youneedto fight back.”
“I have guards,” Luke says carefully. “We are in a remote castle in Scotland. This is the safest place for us in the whole of the country.”
“You should tell Becca,” Finlay adds. “She deserves tae know.”
But Luke just shakes his head. “It will just worry her. There is not as much of a threat to her as there is to me.”
I feel like this is a selfish view of things. “You do know I was going to tell Becca about this first?”
Luke’s eyes flash. “If you ever find out anything relevant to my family, you come tome. Not Becca.Me.” He tugs the lapels of his blazer together, sharpening his outline in a heartbeat. “She is too young to understand the way we should live and she is too open to manipulative propaganda.” Luke seems enormously up himself, but who am I to argue with a prince? All I want is to get out of this heated cupboard and finally be able to breathe.
He nods stiffly in my direction. “Thank you for letting me know. But I feel we are more than safe at Lochkelvin.”
He steps out of the cleaning cupboard like the most put-together fashion model, as though he’s just left some classy five-star hotel joint instead.
Finlay meets my gaze. “Ye did good, sassenach.”
His praise warms me, but all I can say is, “He doesn’t understand.” I run a hand down my face. “I should have told him long before now.”
I have a bad, bad feeling about this.
* * *
Danny leaves the medical wing that week, showing off his battle scars to anyone who’ll pay attention. His face is a collection of nicks and cuts, as though someone had taken a leaky red pen to his skin. In actuality, they’re all from Li’s talons. Together, we’re like two carved pumpkins.
I’ve watched Li when she thought I wasn’t looking, and her nails gleam as sharply as ever. I’d hoped one of them would snap orsomething, but that girl must have so much keratin running through her system, I’m surprised she hasn’t also sprouted hooves. Sometimes she takes out a nail file and sharpens them into an even pointier tips.
I shudder.
With exam season over until the new year, it’s as though there is no purpose to Lochkelvin anymore. We’re all collectively waiting for Christmas break and our time to go home — not that I have much of a home to go back to. Danny invites me to see his home and family, but I feel like I’d be imposing on him. When I decline, he tells me it’s probably wise, since his dad might end up treating him to an extended lecture about inappropriate boy-girl relations.
One morning, a huge Christmas tree appears in the entrance hall opposite the lion and unicorn statue. The tree glitters with silver lights and fat blue baubles, with velvet bows and pretty silk ribbons tying off the branches. The gremlins pluck baubles from it and run riot around the school, flinging them at the girls’ heads. One bounces straight off Arabella’s forehead with a satisfying clunk. Rory sits at the table with his chin on his hand, his fingers trying to shield his laughter but his twitching shoulders giving him away.
To my surprise, they pelt Li with baubles, too. She ends up shrieking and almost strangling one of the gremlins, shoving him up against the wall with her hand around his throat.
“Oh my God,” the gremlin says woozily when Li drops him with a sneer. “That was the best moment of my life.”
