Chapter 20
Lyra
IT’S A DRIZZLY MORNING, AND rain streaks down the dorm room window as I sit at the desk and stare at my father’s letter.
His handwriting is familiar—scratchy, with letters of varying shapes—and it makes my heart feel both warm and tight.
He wrote to me weeks ago, but I’ve been too ashamed to write back, worried that I was moments away from expulsion and that I’d only have bad news for him.
But now that I’ve passed my midterms, some of that weight has lifted off my chest. I’m not in the clear—not by a long shot—and I’ve still got the rest of the year to get through, but at least I can tell him that I passed my midterms and school is going well.
Juniper sits on the desk beside the inkwell, staring out the window as rain runs down the glass. She’s been nettling me to write back to Papa, and I imagine she’s relieved that I’m finally doing it.
She and my dad have always gotten along. I actually had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to miss her more than he’d miss me when we left for Coven Crest late this summer. And I was perfectly okay with that.
Taking up my quill, I dip the tip into the ink, then draw it slowly across the page.
I’M FEELING LIGHT AS A feather. I passed my exams, I finally wrote my father back to tell him my good news, and—potentially most exciting of all—I’m going to see Cairn tonight.
Like the last Samhain festival, I dress in all black, though this year, I opt for something a bit more risqué—though I tell myself it’s not because I want Cairn to see me in it.
The black dress reaches to just above my ankles, and it has slits up either side, all the way to my hips, where laces pulled taut reveal flashes of my pale skin beneath.
The material is stretched tight across my breasts and wraps up and around my neck, where I’ve clasped a golden necklace.
My shoulders and arms are bare, and Alina helps me dust them with a bit of glittering gold powder.
I’d probably be cold tonight if not for my fire magic.
Thankfully, it’ll keep me from needing to cover myself up in a sweater.
When Alina’s done making me sparkle, she puts the fluffy makeup brush back into my bag and crosses her arms, leveling me with a stern gaze. “Okay, what’s the occasion? And don’t tell me Samhain. This is on a whole other level, even for you.”
I’ve not told the girls about Cairn. I’m not sure anything will come out of it—even if that thought makes my stomach twist uncomfortably.
When I’m sure there’s something to tell, my roommates will be the first to know.
Well, after Juniper. She knows everything, including the details about my first kiss with Cairn while the moonflowers bloomed.
“Do I need to have a reason for wanting to get dressed up?” I ask Alina while I reach around her to grab a stick of kohl from my bag. She moves to stand over my shoulder as I lean toward the mirror and smudge the black makeup across my eyelids.
“No, but it’s you. And I feel like you’re not telling me something.” Her lips pull into a frown, her forehead creasing.
With a smile, I turn to face her. “If there’s something to tell you, I promise I will. But for now . . .” I shrug and flash her a smile.
Her blue eyes widen. “So there is something going on!”
“What’s going on?” Poppy calls from the lower floor, where she and Maeve are waiting for us so we can all four go to the festival together.
“Lyra is keeping secrets from us,” Alina says as she starts down the stairs, leaving me to finish my makeup on my own.
On the end of my bed, Juniper says, “You’re not going to tell them?”
I double-check my reflection in the mirror, pleased with the way the dark kohl makes my red eyes pop, then turn to face Juniper. “Not yet. For now”—I glance over my shoulder and lower my voice—“it’s between you and me. So don’t tell Yuki or Isis either.”
Juniper twitches her whiskers with amusement. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Smiling, I kneel down and press a kiss to the top of her warm brown head. “Thank you.” As I straighten up, I tip my head at her. “You sure you don’t wanna come tonight? I can carry a bag for you.”
Juniper shakes her head. “No. Just promise to bring me back a caramel apple.”
My lips pull up into a smile. “I’ll bring you that and so much more. I promise.”
She squeaks in approval, and then I give her a scratch beneath the chin before grabbing my platform boots and heading down the stairs to join up with the others.
And deep in my chest, my heart pounds just a little bit faster with the knowledge that I’m going to see Cairn.