Chapter 34. Grayson
Grayson
Books are spread around us in the library and there are remnants of our dinner and the homemade ice cream that followed, which Eloise gasped over and insisted on thanking the chef for.
The old man scratched his bald head and blushed the shade of an apple while she went on about how talented he is and how much her little sister would love him.
I stretch my arms above my head on the couch. “That’s it for me, Claws. I need to jump in the shower. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a headache from this shit.”
She rolls her eyes at me like I’m ridiculous, but the corners of her mouth lift. “Brachan’s poetry is beautiful. I don’t mind reading it at all.”
“You’ll have to explain it to me, then, because I’m clearly missing it,” I say. “But not now, because I have to go shower if we’re going to make this party. Do you need to—”
“Nope, I showered this morning,” she says, from where she sits on the window seat with a pile of books.
“I’ll be down shortly,” I tell her, and she nods without looking up.
I take the stairs two at a time, looking at my watch as I go. It’s 9:28. I’m right on schedule.
I swing open my bedroom door, and it automatically locks behind me and enables a soundproofing spell.
I move swiftly to the window I left open, peering out at the dark forest beyond the edge of the yard.
Nothing moves in the distance, there is no sound other than the wind in the trees, but all of a sudden, I scent amusement.
I whip around, tensing, only to find Sage sitting on my bed. She’s dressed in her usual cargo pants and fingerless gloves for climbing.
I hate being taken by surprise and she knows that.
“You should see your face,” she says with a laugh. I swear she’s the girl version of me in every way—the daughter of the head of the Lawless, gifted in that she can not only do all four magics but do them exceptionally well, and confident to a questionable degree.
I run my hand over my face. “Hilarious.”
“Well, I certainly thought so,” she says, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands. “After you didn’t show at the meeting point in America, I figured I owed you a jump scare. I think I went too easy, actually.”
“You know why I couldn’t meet you after the raid. My uncle literally knocked me out with a spell. Also, we need to make this quick,” I tell her. “Eloise is downstairs.”
“She’s here?” she says, standing up, her light eyes looking even brighter in contrast with her warm brown complexion. “The girl who called the Key.”
I push my hair back, scenting her intense curiosity.
“Is it true? Can she call the Key, Gray?” she asks quickly, and I don’t love how eager she is. Sage gravitates toward a challenge as much as I do.
“It’s true,” I say. “But not on command. I’m working on it.”
“And?” she says.
“And nothing yet,” I say. “I need time.”
“We don’t have time,” she replies, and I get a whiff of her frustration. “The Chancellor took out one of our transport trucks two nights ago. Half our food supply was in there and four of our people. We need that Key to tear down the wards.”
I rub my forehead. “I’m moving as fast as I possibly can. But we don’t even know if the Key is capable of that. All we know for sure is that it opens the Archive Room.”
“And how do you think that tear in the wards got there in the first place?” she demands, and I go completely still.
“Sage,” I say slowly like a warning.
“Liam and I didn’t create that tear, if that’s what you’re thinking. But we managed to widen it a little with the Key,” she says, and it feels like I’m falling even though I’m standing still.
“And you never thought to tell me that?” I say too quickly.
“I made a promise to Liam—” she says stubbornly, but I cut her off.
“Liam is dead,” I say with way more emotion than I intend, and we both still. “How many times did Liam call the Key, Sage?”
She stares at me. “It only happened when we were together. Five times by my count. But when you said it happened that night you were with him and I wasn’t—”
“It only happened when you were together?” I repeat, that piece of information snagging my attention.
“Like I said, that’s what I thought,” she says, glancing toward the window.
We don’t often talk about Liam, and neither of us is good at it.
Still looking out the dark window, she says, “Flora wants her.”
My thoughts of Liam and the Key are suddenly cut short. “What did you just say?”
“The girl—”
“Eloise,” I correct her.
“Bring her to us,” she says flatly. “I know from experience the Key’s unstable. It could disappear the moment it’s away from her. We don’t just need the Key, we need the person who can call it.”
“Eloise hates the Lawless. She won’t call the Key for you,” I say.
Sage gives me an unwavering look and I can scent her determination. “Yeah well, she doesn’t have to like us. She’ll see reason. Everyone has people and things they care about and she’s no exception.”
I suddenly see everything she’s saying in a new light. This is why my uncle sent Eloise to University. This is why he’s pretending to give us space. He not only plans on taking possession of the Key, but of her—indefinitely.
“You hate my uncle, and yet you’re acting like him,” I challenge.
“First of all,” she fires back, “this is my mom’s order.
But if you’re asking me if I agree? Then yeah, I do.
I wager I’m just as capable or more of getting her to call the Key than you are.
You know what it’s like out there for us.
You know how much we’ve lost and how many people we’re responsible for.
While you sit pretty in your castle, my people suffer. This girl could change that.”
“Don’t lecture me, Sage. I’m doing everything in my power to change that,” I reply. “But I’m not handing Eloise over like some hostage. It’s not right.”
Anger flares in her eyes. “So, you’d put her before us? Before all the children and old women who need your help? Some girl you didn’t even know until a few days ago? You know what … don’t answer that. Mark my words, this is happening, Grayson. Whether you want it to or not.”
“Like hell it is,” I say as she walks toward my open window and climbs out of it like a goddamn ninja, not bothering to say goodbye.