55. Chapter 54
She successfully dodged everyone around her tonight. Ezra would think she was at the library, while Maeve and Liam would think she was cuddling with him at the apartment. Hopefully, it would give her enough time to get to the greenhouse and back without anyone suspecting a thing.
As she hurried across campus, she remained aware of her surroundings in case she was being followed.
But there were no signs of anyone lingering in the shadows.
Though that didn’t mean nobody was there.
As Thorne said, the greenhouse door was unlocked.
She stepped inside, flicking on the lights, and groaned.
The mess had gotten worse since she had been here five hours ago.
As she searched for the cleaning equipment, all she could see in the glass panels was her reflection.
Would she even notice if someone were staring at her from the other side?
She swallowed roughly as a tingle traveled down her spine and she rushed back to the light switch, flicking it off again to leave her in mostly darkness.
The only light came from the moon high in the sky above her and the red glow of heat lamps above the adolescent—yet still temperamental—snapdragons on the side of the room.
There was still a reflection, but she could at least see the outdoors.
“Okay, work fast, find the inventory, and get the hell out,” she mumbled, searching the room until she found the push broom in a corner.
She worked fast to clear out all the dirt, debris and anything else around the benches.
By the time she was finished, an hour had passed on the small clock on Thorne’s desk.
She swiped her arm across her forehead, wiping away the sweat, and took off the gardening gloves after placing the broom back in the corner.
Now that her promise to the professor had been kept, she could dig around in the desk.
She moved to the other side, opening drawers—all of which were left unlocked—until she finally found what looked like order information.
The notebook, labeled for this school year only, was almost completely filled in.
She flipped through the pages one by one from the back to start with the most recent orders, scanning the small cursive writing. Then a word caught her eye.
Grimshade.
She squinted, adjusting the paper further into the stream of moonlight.
January 3rd, 1998: 1 bushel of grimshade delivered to Abbott
January 3rd, 1998: 4 bushels of grimshade delivered to Walsh
Ivy was unsurprised with Walsh since he’d stated the plant was used for his necromancy students. But Abbott? What use could she have for grimshade? And why hadn’t she seen it in the lab? She continued flipping through the pages.
December 12th, 1997: 1/2 bushel of grimshade delivered to Abbott
October 21st, 1997: 1 bushel of grimshade delivered to Abbott
September 16th, 1997: 1/2 bushel of grimshade delivered to Abbott
August 29th, 1997: 1 bushel of grimshade delivered to Abbott
All the dates corresponded to within two weeks of the exams or the parties at Belarune.
This was it. This was the proof they’d been needing.
The concoction she’d seen in Abbott’s lab was being used on students for…
what, exactly? To paralyze them and bring them where?
Every opportunity they had to find the tunnels was thwarted.
But there must be an entrance somewhere in Belarune or nearby in the forest.
She dug around in the drawer again, hoping last year’s was still there.
Before she could find anything else, the lock on the door clicked, and it creaked open.
She paused when she sensed magic searching for her.
It wasn’t soft like she was used to. Her magic pricked against her as what approached was more like shards of ice crackling along her skin.
It wasn’t Ezra who had found her.
The door shut quietly as Ivy silently put the notebook back into the drawer.
She had an idea of who it was. His presence was hard to ignore as she spent more time in Desmorium Hall this semester.
At first, she thought it was attraction.
Maybe a part of it still was. But it took her up until this moment to realize it was something else entirely.
And if she were right, then he’d been the one watching her since the beginning.
She took one deep breath before she pushed herself off the ground. The masked person, Silas, stalked down the center of the greenhouse, his porcelain mask shining brightly in the streaks of moonlight he passed through.
“Found you,” he said, his voice distorted with magic.
“And what do you want with me?” she asked, searching the room for the easiest exit.
“Don’t play dumb, Ivy. It doesn’t suit you.” He laughed, the foreign, sinister vibrato sending shivers down her spine. “We both know how close you are to figuring it out.”
She glared at him while she lined herself up with the empty row on the right to sprint to the exit. “Something with my blood and the door to the Nether. I’m assuming you want the power it holds.”
“See?” Silas nodded once as he continued moving toward her. “Not stupid.”
“Why haven’t you taken some already? You’ve had plenty of chances before we noticed you following me.”
His hands twitched, and Ivy splayed her fingers out at her sides, calling to her power. The plants nearby rustled slightly, just enough for her to notice they were ready to strike when asked.
“It’ll be more than a prick of a finger.” There was an excited trill in his tone at the thought of her death.
She shook her head. “I won’t make it easy for you.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.” Silas rounded the last bench, flinging one hand toward her.
A powder swirled from his hand, before it could reach her, she called to the surrounding plants.
The leaves, flowers, and stems all twisted together until they formed a shield, blocking her from breathing in whatever the substance was.
She spun on her heel, sprinting up the aisle to the exit.
Silas cursed, and his footsteps thudded heavily against the concrete.
Tendrils of darkness licked at her ankles, and she tried to outrun them.
They wrapped around her anyway, crawling up her legs like snakes.
The tendrils pulled her down, and she dropped to the floor, her bones aching as she crashed against the concrete.
They dragged her closer to where the cloud was spreading in the air.
She cursed under her breath, her arms flailing to find purchase.
She swung her upper body toward the benches and clung to the leg post. Her nails dug into the wood as the shadows yanked harder, and she grit her teeth as she willed herself not to let go.
In the opposite row, she watched from beneath the table as Silas creeped closer.
“Give in, Ivy,” he said. “Don’t you want to see Briar again?”
Her arms trembled. She wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Is she still alive?”
“For now.”
The strangled sense of relief in knowing for certain settled in her bones. The darkness took advantage of the momentary weakness and wrenched her legs again. Her fingers slipped against the wood, and she yelped as splinters dug into her skin.
Before she was pulled into the cloud, a pair of rough hands grasped her arms, pinning her to the ground.
Darkness engulfed her until all she could see was the white mask.
From this close, she noticed the dark, intricate carvings along the sides were grimshade flowers.
She tried to call to the plants to lash out at him, but her magic halted. Almost like it refused to hurt him.
“Caught you.”
“So you did.” A heavy weight settled across her hips as he straddled her. She tilted her chin up as she glared at him. “Why don’t you show your face, Silas?”
He stared for a moment longer in silence until a dark chuckle came from him. One hand left her arm and pulled at the mask. His pitch-black gaze bore into her as he set it aside, and his plush lips curled into a deadly smile.
“I was wondering when you would figure it out,” he whispered. A lock of his blond hair fell in front of his smooth face. He brought his hand to her neck, the tips of his fingers grazing her skin, and he grinned at the goose bumps his movements summoned.
“Does Ezra know?” Her voice trembled.
Silas shook his head as another laugh spilled from his lips. “He knows more than you think.” His gaze fell to her mouth for a moment before returning to her eyes.
“Fuck you, Silas,” she hissed. As he caressed her neck, she reached for the mask on the ground.
“I see why he’s infatuated with you,” he said, ignoring her as his hand clasped lightly around her throat. Just enough to imply the threat. “Smart. Beautiful. Mouthy. Exactly our type. It’s too bad you’re to be wasted on this.”
She didn’t miss the our. But she couldn’t focus on it because she was nearly at the mask. “Why are you doing this?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
She latched onto the mask and smirked at him. “No, I won’t.” And, with as much force as she had, she smashed the mask into the side of his face.
He shouted in pain as the porcelain shattered against him, and he crumpled to the side. Once she was free, she scrambled to her feet and ran out of his darkness.
He screamed her name, the guttural noise bouncing off the glass of the greenhouse.
She glanced over to where he was pulling himself up by a table, blood streaming down half of his face.
His hand shot out weakly toward her, but before he could use his magic again, she took a deep breath, reaching out to the plants again.
They rustled loudly, growing tall as they doubled in size and rustled furiously.
As his darkness prepared for another strike, the seething plants slashed through his spell.
A sharp bang echoed through the room as their magic clashed. She stumbled back from the blast, falling into a pile of soil bags, and the nearby glass panels shattered loudly.
“Stop delaying the inevitable!” he yelled.
Her legs trembled as she pushed herself up. Her magic was draining. Fast. It was faster than usual. As her steps faltered, the plants cradled her before she could stumble. She studied Silas for a moment. His shoulders were slumped and chest heaving for his next breath. He was as spent as she was.
“You won’t win,” she muttered. “Not tonight.”
“Oh, but we will in the end.” Their shoulders straightened as he raised his shaking hand toward her. “It’s already written.” Shadows seeped from his palm.
She reached into the depths of her magic, calling to the last of her strength as she cast her arm out and cried for the plants’ help.
Shoots of leaves and vines shot into the air from both sides of the greenhouse, stretching to coil themselves around Silas.
Every limb, his torso, even his fingers and mouth, were trapped.
Ivy exhaled heavily, falling back against the counter behind her. Grunts of struggle came from beneath the layers of green and brown that suspended him a few feet above the ground. It wouldn’t hold him forever. Her control over the plants would wane fast, but it would buy her enough time to escape.
She stumbled out of the greenhouse and hobbled away from it. Footsteps rushed along the path in front of her, and her head snapped up, half-expecting another masked figure. But the familiar ribbon of magic curled around her and a sob escaped her.
“Ivy!” Ezra called out, his arms catching her before she could collapse to the ground. “Why did you come here by yourself? What were you thinking?”
“To find the truth,” she mumbled against his neck as she folded into him. “I know how they’re taking them.”
Another set of quick steps clattered against the pavement. She spotted Maeve running over to them with wide, panicked eyes. “What happened?”
“Someone attacked me,” Ivy panted. She kept Silas’s name to herself.
She wasn’t sure how Ezra would react to finding out he was the one who had been watching them, who had been a part of the disappearances all these months.
“I don’t know if they were sent to take me or what, but they’re tied up in the greenhouse.
It won’t hold for long, though, so we should find a place to hide until they leave an—”
“Ivy, we can’t do that,” Ezra interrupted, pulling her back enough so he could stare down at her.
His brows creased, and his lips trembled.
But his eyes were hard, focused, as if they only wanted to run into the greenhouse and destroy whoever had hurt her.
Would he feel the same if he knew who was inside?
“Why let ‘em go?” Maeve asked, as she took a step closer to the greenhouse with her brows knit together. “We should go in there and—”
“They might lead us to the others.” Ivy peered back at it where only the faint red glow from the heat lamps and twisting shadows were on the other side of the glass. “They need me alive for now. We can use that to our advantage.”
“Advantage? You can barely walk.” Ezra wrapped his arms tighter around her as if he were afraid she’d run off. “There’s nothing else you can do tonight.”
“Ezra’s right.” Maeve turned back to them with her lips pursed and her shoulders sagging slightly as she sighed. “You keep pushing yourself, you’ll burn out and be left without your magic for…”
Her voice faded as Ivy watched the red glow of the heat lamps dim. The light disappeared faster. Faster. Then it was gone. “The snapdragons,” she gasped.
A flash of sparks crackled behind the glass, making the shadow magic look like smoke. It was only a matter of seconds before the flames engulfed whatever shadow lingered.
“Ivy, we have to get out of here,” Ezra said, tugging her up the path.
“But th—”
“Your life is more important,” he said firmly. He pulled at her again, and Maeve joined in when she didn’t budge.
Fire spread rapidly through the greenhouse, and the door flung open. Wild flames licked against the door, seeking more oxygen to continue their path of destruction. Smoke billowed out as Silas ran out into the open, stumbling and falling to the ground.
Ezra tensed beneath her. “Is that…?”
“Yes.”
His jaw tense and a tear slid down his cheek, shining in the firelight, as he watched Silas in the distance. She glanced back to see he’d gotten to his feet to slink into the forest. The alarm inside the greenhouse blared, and the sprinklers rushed to quell the flames.
“We need to go,” Maeve said firmly. “Now.”