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“Good. Two should be enough to offset a cupful, but it won’t hurt to have three.”
Casimir reaches into his carry pouch. “I bought this before we knew how soon you’d be going. I thought it’d make a perfect welcome back present. But seeing you in that dress now…”
He draws out a pendant with a gleaming teal gemstone, hung on a fine gold chain. “So you’ll have something from me with you no matter how far away you have to go.”
I have to start blinking away tears now. I fasten the chain around my neck and slip the pendant under the neckline of my dress where it’ll stay safe next to my heart. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”
The bell sounds through the walls, marking the eighth hour. That’s my cue to go.
Official club meetings don’t need to be held furtively in the middle of the night like clandestine initiation tests do.
I pull away from my men reluctantly. “I’d better go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Let that be a promise and not a lie.
With a ripple of magic through my flesh, I step back through the ring of cord into Stavros’s quarters. I take a second to pat my thighs and confirm my extra knives are in place this time, as loath as I am to use them.
Then I pop one of the three antidote pills Alek gave me into my mouth. Its bitter flavor coats my tongue as I hurry out of the Domi.
I meet up with a few of the bug club members including Olari on my way across the outer field. The nine of us heading out tonight congregate along the college’s wall just beyond the gate, where two carriages are waiting.
We’re traveling in noble style this time. I guess there are some benefits to foregoing anonymity.
Ster. Torstem ushers us into the carriages seemingly at random, but I end up squeezed into the back of one directly across from him. As I peer out the window at the streets we pass, I can’t help wondering if the law professor wanted to keep a close eye on his newest college recruit.
Am I the only one from whoever he was considering at the school who passed all his tests? I haven’t seen the young man who came along that one night among the bug club members.
It’s possible he’s made a strange disappearance or met an untimely death, just like Benedikt.
I glance up at the star-flecked sky with a silent prayer.Kosmel, if you’re still watching over me, I need you with me tonight. I’ve jumped in as deep as I can get… but I’m not sure I can get out again without your help.
No divine voice reverberates through my head in answer. I catch a flicker of movement that might be a crow landing on a rooftop, but when I peer closer, I can’t make out its form any longer.
A sign or just wishful thinking?
My fellow club members stay quiet until we’ve passed through the gate out of the city. With farmland around us and no chance of anyone overhearing, Olari speaks up. “Where are we going tonight?”
A thin smile crosses Ster. Torstem’s face. “I have something a little special planned that I think you’ll all appreciate. We deserve a chance to stretch the gifts we’ve earned.”
My stomach flips over. What’s that supposed to mean?
Julita stirs out of her uneasy silence with a snarky remark.He won’t like what your gift can do to him.
She still sounds unsettled, though.
As far as I can tell from the stars and the turns in the road, we head east and a little north as expected. But about an hour into our journey, the carriages roll to a halt, and we disembark to find a large covered wagon waiting for us.
The other bug club members clamber inside without missing a beat. Clearly this is typical protocol.
I follow them, suppressing the apprehension that’s swelling in my gut.
Beneath the stretched canvas, a small lantern smolders, casting its wavering light and an oily scent through the interior. Built-in benches set with cushions line the sides of the wagon. Still more comfortable than my past conveyances, not that I find the fact all that reassuring.
As the driver taps the horses into motion, I notice the wagon lurches to the left. I think it’s heading southeast now. After a few minutes, it veers farther left again.
We’re not going to the same area where Casimir heard there’d been evidence of bonfires in the past. Will we end up closer to wherever Stavros’s squadron is stationed… or farther away?
Even with my hands tucked under the fall of my cloak, I resist the urge to clench them. Around me, the other would-be worshippers are starting to talk in eager voices, anticipation thrumming through the air.
