Chapter 13 – — Unsigned Entry, Ashwell Archives #3
“How long was I in there?” I ask, looking from Jace to her as we start walking slowly among the crowd toward the stairwell.
“Longer than anyone else. At least ten minutes.” Lux shakes her head like she still can’t believe it.
Holy hell.
They all must have thought I died in that thing. No wonder everyone looked like they were in shock when I came out. It wasn’t only the sight of Poppy. It was probably the fact that I was alive at all and made it out.
“Miss Rose, may I have a word?”
Professor Nestor appears out of nowhere, sneaking up behind us. I stop and look over my shoulder seeing his eidolon for the first time. A little gray bat the same color as his hair is perched on his arm.
“Sure,” I say hesitantly, turning to Lux and giving her a reassuring look. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
I know she wants to keep talking, and I want to know all about her eidolon, but it will have to wait. She nods, sulking a bit, and squeezes my arm before stepping away.
I reach up and let Jace pull me into a hug. His wings fold around us enough to give us a moment of privacy, and I whisper against his chest, “Can we talk tonight? Will you wait for me in my room?”
He holds me a second longer than necessary, his hand warm on my back. “Yeah, I need to stop at my dorm first, and then I’ll come over.”
I pull away and turn to Professor Nestor, who guides me off to the side of the room as the last of the students and staff filters out and up the stairwell. The cavern feels bigger now that it’s emptying. Colder too.
“What happened when you were in the mirror?” He watches me with those unsettling pale eyes, his hair sticking out in all directions. “What did it say to you?”
How does he know it said anything to me? Maybe it normally speaks to everyone.
I say carefully, “It recognized me and said my father went here. I never knew that.” I remember the weight of the darkness, the voice inside my head. “It recognized my blood.”
I think about the blood that was on my hands in there, but it wasn’t real. It was gone the moment I emerged. I want to shiver thinking about the cold pressing against me from all sides.
“I don’t recall another Rose attending Ashwell, but perhaps it was before my time.” He rubs at his chin, curious. “You can write home and ask him about it, can’t you?”
He doesn’t know about my father. I mean, why would he? But then why did the headmaster know?
“My father’s dead,” I tell him flatly.
He presses his lips together and pushes his spectacles back up his nose. “I’m sorry. Perhaps check the library then. It should have all the previous years’ students on record.”
That’s actually a good idea. I never got to see the library on my first day here. Elizabeth retrieved my books for me when the headmaster summoned me. Maybe it’s time I pay it a visit.
“Was there something else?” I ask him.
He fidgets, pulling off his glasses and cleaning them on his coat. “Yes, could I see your eidolon?”
I think about it for a moment. I’m not worried he’ll hurt her, but I don’t know how to make her appear again. But as soon as I think it, as soon as I will it, she’s there. Standing on her back legs beside me, her tiny hands gripping my leg.
“An anomaly. A wildcard.” Nestor’s eyes light up behind his spectacles. “I do love anomalies.”
He bends down and reaches out to pet Poppy. She leans into his touch, and I take that as a good sign. I get the feeling Professor Nestor is a kind man beneath all his eccentricities.
“Professor, can I ask what bloodline you are?”
He rises to his feet. “I’m an earth mage.”
That explains why he’s so connected to the animals and twisted creatures. It makes sense now, the way he talks about them with such reverence.
“You know, I heard the others and their ignorant remarks.” He looks at me sympathetically.
“Don’t listen to them when it comes to her.
” He turns his head toward Poppy. “Raccoons are misunderstood creatures. They are clever, resourceful, and highly adaptable. Yes, they are known to be curious and mischievous but are no less intelligent for it. The other eidolons all have their strengths, but you are studying to be a healer, to perform surgeries, and you now have something none of the rest of the students here do, an extra pair of hands.”
I look down at Poppy and pick her up, cradling her against my chest. She does have hands. Five little fingers on each one. I never thought about it that way.
“She is special,” I tell him, running my fingers through her soft fur. He doesn’t say anything else, so I clear my throat. “I guess I’ll see you in class then.”
I start to step away.
“One more thing, Miss Rose.”
I stop and turn back to him. He’s watching me curiously.
“An eidolon has never been given to a human before. I do believe anything is possible. There are firsts for everything.” He presses his lips together like he’s weighing whether to say the next part.
“But you are the first human to attend Ashwell. And if what the mirror said is truth, which it doesn’t lie, and your father did come here... then he was anything but human.”