Chapter 23 Baz #3
Gone was the polite manner with which Cordie had addressed the barkeep earlier. It was as if a wolf had broken free to replace her saccharine exterior, called to the surface by these bullies.
Wulfrid sneered at her. “Or what?” He made a show of looking around, his gaze flitting over Baz and Kai as if they were nothing before landing on Cordie again. “Not quite as invincible as you believe yourself to be when your brother’s not around, are you?”
Cordie advanced on him with her hands fisted at her sides.
The boy didn’t even flinch. “Come on, then, Seer. Do your worst.” When Cordie merely glared at him, he smiled with oily satisfaction.
“You’re a pathetic excuse of a lunar mage.
Mingling with Eclipse scum. Next to no magic to speak of yourself.
Everyone knows you’re only here because of your family name. ”
Cordie’s jaw worked, her eyes blinking rapidly. Wulfrid had clearly hit a nerve.
“I think that’s enough.”
This came from Kai, who was watching Wulfrid with barely leashed rage.
Wulfrid’s attention darted to him—and the Eclipse sigil visible on both his and Baz’s hands. His lip curled in disgust. “I can’t believe they’re allowing your kind to participate in the Bicentennial. You’re a stain on our school’s history.”
“You’ll be a stain on this snow if you don’t walk away right now,” Kai said, voice low and threatening. Like a beast prowling the night, he stepped closer to Wulfrid, towering over him by at least a head.
Wulfrid lifted his chin in defiance, but he couldn’t hide the way his throat bobbed in fear or the faint tremor in his voice as he asked, “And who might you be to address me in such a way, Eclipse scum?”
Kai’s smile was cold and unsettling. “Call me scum one more time, and what I’ll be is your worst nightmare.”
Whatever Wulfrid saw in Kai’s piercing gaze was menacing enough to get him to back off. With a sneer, he motioned to his friends to follow him.
“Come on,” Cordie said once they were gone, her eyes never leaving the back of Wulfrid’s head. She grasped Polina’s hand. “Let’s go find Thames and—”
“I don’t want to stay out here anymore,” Polina said weakly, tugging back her hand and holding it to her chest. She looked pale. “I should have stayed in Obscura Hall.”
“Wulfrid’s a menace,” Cordie argued. “Don’t let him ruin our fun.”
“You don’t understand.” Polina’s voice was meek, quiet. “Wulfrid might be menace enough to say something, but plenty of other students share his opinions. I feel them staring. I know what they think of us.”
Cordie looked like she wanted to press her friend further but didn’t. There was a bleak sort of understanding in her eyes as she nodded, saying, “Of course. Let me walk you back to campus.”
“No, really, you stay here. Enjoy the festivities. I can find my way back.”
“We’ll go with her,” Baz chimed in. This earned him a beaming look from Polina and a raised brow from Cordie.
“Are you certain?” Cordie asked. “You only just got here.”
“We’re really tired after everything that happened,” Kai chimed in, catching on to Baz’s plan. “It’ll give us time to get settled.” More like time to prepare to slip into Dovermere as soon as the tide was low again.
Cordie looked only slightly dejected. “Well, all right, then. But oh, you must come to our salon tomorrow and meet everyone.”
“What’s this salon she was talking about?” Baz asked Polina as they made their way toward campus, the sounds of fireworks and laughter slowly dying behind them.
“It’s this social justice club that Cordie’s brother started,” Polina said, cheeks warming as though unused to the attention.
“A place for like-minded students to gather and discuss Eclipse magic, its place in the world, what we can do to fight against all these rules and regulations that limit our magic.” She gave Baz a sidelong glance.
“It’s a wonder they even let Eclipse students come to the Bicentennial.
As far as I know, you’re the only ones who came.
I know things are far better in the Constellation Isles. You’re very lucky to study there.”
“We are,” Kai said with a note of fond yearning.
“There have been some strides made in Elegy in recent years,” Polina continued, “but we’ve got a long road ahead still. These academic salons are working toward change. You’ll see for yourselves tomorrow.”
They hopefully would not be here tomorrow, Baz thought, his mind going back to Dovermere, the Hourglass, and the time magic he was trying very hard not to dwell on.
They found themselves going down the elevator to the same hall they’d left back in their own time.
This elevator wasn’t as rickety as it was two hundred years from now.
It was pristine and shiny and went down smoothly.
The wards let them through without a fuss, recognizing in them the power of the Eclipse.
But the inside of Obscura Hall made Baz stumble.
Gone were the fields of gold bowing toward the sea; gone was the willow tree that led into the commons.
The elevator doors opened onto a path lined with round, glass lanterns all lit by the glow of fireflies dancing within.
They were in an enchanted garden, with marble statues overcome with lichen and archways drooping with delicate flowers lining the path that sloped down toward a quaint stone cottage.
The sky above them was dark, just as Baz’s own illusioned sky had been.
“Is this your illusion?” Baz asked Polina. Obscura Hall was enchanted to reflect a scene from the most senior Eclipse student’s memory.
Polina blinked at him. “How did you know it was an illusion?”
Shit. “Oh, we have the same thing at Karunang.” Baz could only hope that was true—or that Polina would never find out otherwise.
Kai threw Baz a withering look that said, Smooth, Brysden.
Polina appeared unconcerned. “This is Thames’s. He’s a fourth year, I’m only a second year. You’ll meet him tomorrow, I’m sure.”
She opened the cottage door for them, and as they stepped inside, they found themselves in the commons proper.
This corner of Obscura Hall was, by all means, the same as they’d left it that very morning, though much less threadbare.
The sunflower wallpaper was pristine, gold filigree shining under the lamplight and the glow of the flames that crackled pleasantly in the fireplace.
The sofas were in the same spots, bright reds and oranges and yellows, where in the present they were subdued shades of browns and rust. The curtains looked like they were the same, too, though not yet quite as moth-eaten.
“Up here are our dorms,” Polina said, leading them up the stairs. “I’m in this room. Thames in that one. You can have your pick of the others.” Her cheeks flushed as she met Baz’s eye and said, “If you need anything, don’t be shy to knock.”
“Th-Thank you,” Baz stuttered.
“Of course. Good night.” Polina fluttered her lashes prettily at him before she disappeared inside her room.
Baz had the odd thought that she might have been flirting with him, though for the life of him, he couldn’t see why. He met Kai’s gaze. The Nightmare Weaver lifted an amused brow.
“Shut up,” Baz muttered before heading back downstairs.
The two of them sat by the fire, waiting for Polina to fall asleep so they could slip out the secret door—which was still there, thankfully—and into Dovermere.
If Baz were to close his eyes, he could almost imagine he was in the present.
The sounds were the same. The smells. The sofa was firmer than he remembered, but with Kai here by his side, it still felt like home.
It hit him then that they had truly gone back in time, and he didn’t know if he wanted to burst out crying or start laughing at this strange twist of fate.
“What do you think happened to them?” Kai asked, lost in the hypnotic flames. “Virgil, Nisha, Vera…”
“Keiran?”
“Yeah. Or whatever the fuck was wearing his face.”
They hadn’t had the chance to speak of it yet—of the fact that Keiran had been revived right before their eyes.
Baz didn’t know how to feel about it. Ever since he’d watched Keiran die, he’d been pushing all his guilt way down.
Guilt at robbing Keiran of his parents. Guilt at being the reason why Keiran had done everything he’d done at all, because all of it had been to see his parents again.
He wasn’t sure if Keiran had survived the sleepscape this time, but if he had, perhaps this could be a second chance for him.
But it wasn’t really him, was it? There was so much they didn’t know about Reanimator magic, so there was no way to tell how much of Keiran would be, well, Keiran.
And what if this soulless version of him wanted revenge?
What if, with all pretense of civility shed at last, Keiran meant to come after Baz?
Or Emory?
Baz felt the panic from earlier crawl over his skin again, his lungs constricting as he fought to remember how to breathe. “What in the Deep are we going to do?”
Kai met his gaze, the glow of flames from the fireplace dancing in his eyes. “We’ll figure it out, Brysden.”
The panic receded, as if the Nightmare Weaver were leeching away all his fears. That was what Kai’s presence did to Baz. What it had always done, he realized. A soothing balm, a confidence booster. Someone to keep him grounded.
“I’m glad we’re together, at least,” Baz offered.
“Me too.”
Kai looked unguarded, as if all the sharp edges he liked to arm himself with had suddenly been filed away. But the moment disappeared as Kai turned to the window, the cove beyond. “Let’s just hope we don’t get tangled in this mess any more than we already are.”