Chapter 30
The school grounds were cold and dark, draped in a thin layer of snow that would be a blanket by morning. Myth arced toward the lair, landing quietly in the grass. As if he hadn’t just murdered someone.
Deep breaths. I tried to steady my hands as I unfastened his saddle, led him inside.
Most of the dragons had gone back with their riders to the large lairs their families owned.
A few dragons boarded here over the break, if their owners were on holiday.
Myth slithered into his den, curled in a tight ball in the far corner.
His eyes held an apology laced with confusion, as if he felt bad that I was afraid and distressed, but not bad for what he had done.
I peered in at him from the door for several long minutes, unable to find any words to say.
Finally, I told him I’d return after celebrating Rending Night with my family. But as I walked toward the train station, I couldn’t fathom pretending like everything was okay come morning.
When I awoke, a fire crackled in the hearth and Evie was humming as she bustled about the apartment, flour dusted on her apron and a smile painted on her face. Her eyes were bagged and tired, but she still radiated beauty.
“Fun evening?” I asked as I sipped a cup of coffee.
She pointed at me with her wooden spoon. “Oh, Ar, it was magical.”
My heart thunked in my chest like a book falling off a shelf. “Need I remind you that you are fourteen years old?”
“Don’t be so rude.”
Rush’s words nipped at my mind. Always prickly. I was, wasn’t I? Forcing a smile, I said, “Tell me all about it.”
I listened, trying to nod and grin at the appropriate times.
But inside my chest, a hollowness sucked at my joy until I felt like a vacant room.
Evie was growing up and entering a world that was not kind, no matter how pretty it looked, and I was both proud of her and sad that the world wasn’t the glittering place she hoped it was.
I had thought I could change that, at least a little bit, by attending Cardan Lott and forging a better path for our family and those like us.
Now, however, I realized Fairfax had been right: changing the world wouldn’t come without a high price.
But if it would keep the smile on my sister’s face, perhaps the price would be worth it.
As she twirled and told me about the fashions and the decorations and the dancing, a tear leaked down my face.
I wiped it away before she could notice.
The morning passed with more peace than normal. Mama didn’t snap until nine a.m., and only then it was at me, briefly, for telling them I had to return to school early.
Bennett stopped by at noon, looking worse than he had last night. He scrutinized me in a way that said he could read the hidden fear on my face, but he said nothing.
When I left, in a hurry to make the train back to school, he pulled me aside and muttered, “Be careful out there. Don’t do anything stupid.”
I bit my lips and gave him a small hug.
When I arrived at school, Cardan Lott’s stone facade was tipped in white, looking more like a holiday retreat than a place built to bury lies.
I stood under the front archway for a moment, recalling the first time I’d passed through here. Rushland Covington had walked past me then, asking me a question.
Just going to watch from the shadows?
With a deep breath, I pressed forward, leaving footprints in the snow as I made my way toward the door to House Ruby.
I was not going to merely watch from the shadows. Not anymore.
Now I was going to light the whole world on fire.
The week sailed by without a visit from Rush.
When worry niggled at my mind, I shoved it down with trips to the library to hunt for mentions of gemstones in everything from fables to historical accounts from the last war, when treasures were stolen and moved en masse.
Myth hunted freely on the grounds, and I flew with him a time or two, getting so cold I had to bake in front of the roaring fire in the common room for a whole hour afterward.
One day, hunting through the shelves of Cardan Lott’s massive library, I discovered another copy of the book we’d found at his townhouse, The Biography of Evelyn Rook.
I brought the book back to my room for further inquiry, swinging by the post room on my way, in case any letters from Fairfax had arrived.
The post room was unmanned during the holiday, and I flipped through the accumulated letters in the box on the desk.
There. A letter with my name scrawled across the front in Fairfax’s looping script.
“‘Need an answer.’ Of course you do!” I read. My pulse quickened, and I finished the letter, crushing it in my hand.
Voices sounded in the atrium as someone entered the school, letting in a gust of blustery wind. The sound of heavy items being heaved inside was followed by a familiar voice dishing out orders.
“Vanya!” I shouted, shutting the letter inside the book of fairy tales and racing out into the school’s grand entryway.
She embraced me with a tight hug, and I felt like, somehow, everything would turn out all right. But as she pushed back, examining me at arm’s length, she instantly asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you here?”
Swallowing the knot in my throat, I said, “Myth needed to stay here after all.” After initially telling her that Myth would be staying off campus, this felt like a small betrayal, even though the words were true.
I longed to tell her everything, but in this game, knowledge of the truth was as good as a target on her back.
She pursed her lips, unconvinced that my answer was complete, and led the way back to the common room.
Now that it was second semester, we could officially pass through the door inside the school rather than circling around to use the outside door to House Ruby.
So far, Vanya and I were the only first years present, and only three others in the entire house had returned from the holiday.
The common room was blissfully empty as Vanya told me about her trip with her oldest sister to the Drak Mountains.
Laughing with her about the falls she took on skis was medicine to my soul.
“Now, please tell me you have something more to share than it was fine,” Vanya said when she asked me about my break.
Blazing fire. Dead body. Rush Covington. Secret magic.
All of that was dangerous ground. I fixed my eyes on the fire, settling for, “I’ve been practicing flying with Myth, now that Bryce isn’t here to keep me pinned to the lair.”
“Good for you!” She sat forward, eager to listen.
I talked about flying and found myself smiling, getting lost in the memories of swooping over buildings and mingling with the stars.
Just then, Shep walked in from behind the bookcase door. He peeled a newsboy hat from his head and pinned his eyes on me. A smile curled one side of his mouth.
Vanya nudged me with her elbow as he approached.
“Ari, Vanya. No surprise that I find you two lost in conversation.” When I didn’t say anything, he added, “Enjoy your break?”
Vanya waited for me to reply first, and I finally barked out a strained “Yes.” Shep took a seat beside me on the wide stone hearth.
My body suddenly felt hotter, and not from the flames.
Shep had not crossed my mind one time since I’d eaten dinner with his family the last night before the break.
I’d been thinking about someone else, more than I cared to admit.
“Ari was just telling me how much better she’s gotten at flying over the break,” Vanya said, leaning onto her elbows from the chair where she sat.
“Bryce never really lets us practice,” I admitted, picking awkwardly at a hangnail.
“Can’t really blame him though. If you hatchlings fell to your death on his watch, he’d lose his job. Besides, all that changes second semester,” Shep said with a grin.
My insides pinched at the word death.
“Hey, tomorrow, if you don’t have anything going on, let’s fly together,” he said, tapping my arm with his elbow.
“Oh, sure,” I fumbled, staring wide-eyed at Vanya, who was grinning like a fool.
Noting Vanya’s grin, he added, “You come too.” Shep stood and marched off toward his dormitory.
When he was gone, Vanya tossed a pillow at me.
The next day, we flew with Shep. I had no excuse not to, save that it was freezing.
But the sun was out, and Vanya insisted.
I begged Myth to behave, then lost myself in the joy of flying.
We curved over the forest and dove over the lake, his claws skimming the surface of the ice.
Vanya laughed and screamed in delight as her deep purple dragon swooped low and rose high.
Nearby, Shep flew in mechanically perfect movements on his dragon, Petra.
Her scales shone in the sun like mother-of-pearl, a brilliant contrast to Shep’s skin.
They were amazing to watch, and I could see why he was a champion racer.
Fingers stiff from the cold and heart finally less heavy, I returned to the school with Shep and Vanya. Vanya and I were laughing at his commentary on the professors when I spotted Rush storming from the door at the back terrace. My laughter died in my throat and I coughed.
“It’s the cold,” I said, touching my throat as Vanya scrutinized me.
“And all that hollering you were doing,” Shep teased.
Normally, I would have blushed at such a comment, but my attention was on Rush’s distant form. He stopped short when he saw me and spun back toward the school.
Shep was still talking. “I can remember what it was like, first learning to really fly. It’s the best feeling in the world.” Then, quieter, “Thanks for joining me today, Arivelle.”
His use of my full name drew my attention back to his face, but my mind was spinning out.
Shep smiled and said, “Maybe we can do it again tomorrow?” After a beat, “Ari?”
I blinked and nodded. “S-sure.”