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Casimir returns as quickly as he promised and settles himself onto the bed at my other side. Despite my worries, I find myself lulled into a doze between the warmth of their bodies. It isn’t as if I got all that much sleep last night.
Somewhere in the midst of their own slowing breaths and soft caresses, I slip right into slumber. When my eyes flutter open again, I don’t know how long it’s been.
Alek and Casimir are asleep on either side of me, their bodies relaxed, their breaths even. A renewed glow of joy lights inside me.
I’m about to close my eyes and see if I can get a little more rest when Julita’s presence stirs.
What— You’re still— It’s beenhours.
I don’t understand why she’s upset. I open my mouth but hesitate to answer her for fear I’ll wake my lovers.
Julita lets out a sound that’s almost agonized.Why am I even here? They don’t think about me. I don’t matter anymore. They only see you.
My pulse lurches. “Julita?” I say under my breath, but my sense of her in my head has already contracted again. I don’t think she even hears me.
Thirty
Ivy
“You can have a bit of a break now,” Stavros says to me as we step into his quarters. “The next class today isn’t until the fifth bell.”
“And I have so many wonderful things to do with my free time.” I roll my shoulders, which have gotten a little stiff from standing at attention during his lecture, and move into my now-automatic circuit of the room.
I can’t even hope that I’ll run into Casimir or Alek someplace we could talk a little. They’ve both been away from the college pursuing whatever leads they think might get us closer to exposing the scourge sorcerers’ plans.
I haven’t been able to contribute to that goal at all in the past few days. Since my trial with Benedikt, my palm has stayed blank. There hasn’t been so much as a peep from the conspirators.
Maybe they’re simply being cautious, giving me plenty of time to reveal ulterior motives before they call on me again. Or maybe they’ve decided keeping me around is too big a risk, even if the gods appeared to favor me over Benedikt.
Stavros’s gaze follows me around the room with a weight of concern that itches at me. He’s probably wondering whetherhemade the right choice in backing me if I’m going to be useless to the cause now.
His voice comes out dry but mild. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of company to occupy you again when—”
A quiver of magic races through my nerves from somewhere along the wall. I jerk my hand up to cut off Stavros’s remark.
His mouth snaps shut, his brow furrowing. I hold still by the side table I was passing and then carefully crouch down so I can peer beneath it.
The trace of magical energy guides my gaze. It still takes me a moment to spot the fat brown beetle hiding between one of the table’s legs and the baseboard.
Ugh, Julita murmurs.That’s an unwelcome sight.
The impression of sorcery is definitely coming from the bug. And what an appropriate creature for the members of the entomology club to have sculpted.
Frowning, I study it. The beetle stays where it is, unmoving. Nothing about the energy leaking off it shifts.
We still don’t know what purpose the conspirators have for the creatures they’ve been creating out of clay. My riven soul might react to magic in the air, but I can’t identify the specifics of what’s been cast.
Julita lets out a huff.What are you waiting for? Squash the vermin.
My hand balls. I’d very much like to smash the bug out of existence. But beneath my first instinct, another idea is tickling up through my thoughts.
If the conspirators are using their creations to spy on people somehow… we could use that fact against them. Offer them more proof that they should trust that my attitudes align with theirs.
It’s worth a shot.
Stavros can obviously tell that I’ve discovered something, and he knows what I was looking for. He stands silently as I back away from the beetle.
I make a vague gesture that I hope he can understand is encouragement to play along. “I don’t want to hear any more about that. How can it not bother you having the royal guards swarming the college day and night?”
