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“Hey. Look who’s there.” Ashton nods toward the door. “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”
Frigging Shakespeare.
I’m too mired in depression to care but I look anyway and see Percy, Ashton’s second in command. He says something in the teacher’s ear and he motions for Ashton to go with him.
“What does he want?” I whisper as Ashton gets up, but all I get is a shrug. I follow them with my eyes as they walk to the door. Ashton stops and turns, grins at me. Gestures that he’ll see me later.
I smile back and wonder what that’s about.
That leaves me alone for the rest of the day. I see the boys’ friends in some of the classes—Elijah and Gus who are Jason’s buddies, Az who is Emrys’ second in command, Anala who seems to be the closest to a friend Sindri has. But they leave quickly, before the end of the classes, before I can approach them, ask them anything about the boys.
If they seem all right.
If they need anything.
As if they’d tell me.
I keep thinking of what Sindri said.“You must connect with all four conduits. At the same time. Ophelia will if you don’t.”
She knows so much that I don’t. She mentioned rituals. She knows elemental spells.
I think of Ashton’s failed experiment with Emrys. Of Sindri saying“The only reason I can think for myself right now is because you’re here. It lessens her power.”
If Ashton asks his elders… If he finds the answer to the riddle… If Ophelia’s diary holds some answers…
Wait, I haven’t told Ash yet that I got the diary back. It’s secure in my backpack, and I clutch it to me as I walk through the Academy.
But before I tell him I have it, I need him to answer my question. He’s the last boy I have on my side, and I need the truth.
Ashton proves a hard man to find. I check his room, the library, the refectory, the paths, the lakeshore, and the hillocks. Where is he? I return to the dormitories, knock on his door again.
Nothing.
Climbing down the stairs, I stomp toward my dormitory building. As I reach the entrance, tired and annoyed, I spot him standing alone under one of the plane trees, beside a bench.
“Ash!” I hurry toward him. “Where were you? I looked for you everywhere!”
He’s silent as I approach, hands stuffed in his pant pockets.
“Ash.” I stop in front of him, put my hands on my hips. “What’s going on?”
“What do you want, Mia?” His voice is flat, serrated like a demon blade.
“WhatIwant? Couldn’t you come find me after you followed Percy God knows where? I just… I thought we’d talk, plan—”
“Got other things on my mind,” he says, his voice cold.
“Ash…” To my horror, I find myself choking on tears. “What is this? Am I the only one who cares in the end? None of you really give a damn. One by one, you walk away. What am I supposed to do?”
“Mia…”
“No.” I bite on my lower lip, finding myself at the end of my tether. “I want the truth now.”
He stares at me. “Thetruth?”
“Emrys and Sindri replied to my question but not you. I need to know.”
“If I’ve killed someone?” he mutters. “Apart from sitting and letting violence happen around me? You want to know now?”
