Chapter 24 #2
We all turned to him. He sat down on one of the benches across from me, a swirl of smoke from the torches shadowing his face for just a moment.
“The basement – what used to be the dungeons – is off limits to teachers and students alike. When I came on as a doyen here, I was warned that there were wards on the one door to the underground storage. At the time I was told it was to keep the darker spell books out of public usage, which made sense, but there’s clearly more to it than that. ”
“We can handle wards, given a little time.” If I was being honest, I’d probably broken nearly a thousand wards of some type or another in my thieving days. Nature of the beast, it was a talent, I guess.
He grimaced. “And then, there’s the Snatchlings . . .”
Gary stepped up. “Maybe I could try to talk to them?”
Liam smiled. “Appreciate the offer, but I don’t know if your Quirk would allow you to connect with them since they’re a magical race as opposed to an animal.”
“Like fairies?” Marina asked with a frown.
He shook his head. “They’re wicked little beasts and deadly. Despite their diminutive size, they’ll be a formidable enemy – even if we are all there. We have to make sure there are enough of us to take them on if it comes down to it.”
“Again, assuming we find the door and a way through it,” Fable sighed. “I haven’t managed to find any schematics of the school, but I have one more place I’m going to check once we get back. If I can get my hands on those, what’s the plan?”
Liam stood and batted away another plume of smoke.
“As soon as we find the door, I will do what I can to remove any spells, curses, or wards blocking the way. After that, it’s the best use of my time to keep an eye on the Runecoats and keep Thalienne busy while the rest of you go down and search. Sound good?”
We all shared a glance and nodded.
Liam stood. “With the Senate breathing down Thalienne’s neck, and after what happened at dinner, it is not as safe as I’d hoped it would be.
We’ve got to make things happen, even if there’s a risk involved.
That way, when it’s time to leave . . . then we can leave, no tasks left undone. Understood?”
We all nodded grimly a second time. But I took note that he’d said ‘we.’ He planned on coming with us. His deep brown eyes found mine, for just a moment, as he wanted me to know that was exactly what he planned.
He wasn’t going to let me go, not that easily.
With all the details, I was starting to feel like we truly had a shot. Not just at saving my life with the kraken coin, but at finding a possible path to defeat Nocta.
Please let Fable be right . . . let some of the Grym be there too.
Maybe I was wrong, but I felt like what we faced would be less terrifying if we had even a single piece of the Grym in our possession. One less weapon for our enemy to have.
Once we were back inside the grounds of Heathermoor, the others hurried off in six different directions. I watched them go, standing at the main gate feeling a little melancholy as they each made their way to their new dorms.
And their new housemates.
A twinge wrapped its way around my heart. Stupid, so stupid. After sharing tight quarters with them for months I should have been happy.
That was the only excuse I could come up with for walking straight into a massive wall of muscle wrapped in darkness as I rounded the corner to my little cabin.
I bounced backward with a muffled cry and would have fallen to my ass if that same someone hadn’t grabbed my arm to stop my fall.
The pressure in his hand, the size and width of it . . . I knew that touch in the deepest parts of my soul. It scorched my arm as surely as a brand.
My cheeks went white hot and I tried not to meet Typhon’s gaze, keeping my eyes on his thighs instead.
“I’m so sorry, Doyen Moreno. I didn’t see –”
“It’s fine . . .” His grip tightened, “Harlow.”
Shit.
“I think you have me mistaken for –”
“Cut the bullshit, Harlow.”
And just like that, our cover was blown. My head snapped up and I met his wicked green gaze. “I can explain, Typhon, you can’t take us –”
“Not here.”
His hand never left my bicep as he half dragged, half guided me around the side of my cabin and through the front door. Only then did he let me go.
I spun and stared at him, emotions rocketing through me. Panic climbed faster than the rest, clawing its way up my throat and taking the front seat in my mind. He would take us back to Neverthorn, they would split us up . . .
“How did you know it was me?”
He took a step closer; his eyes locked on mine like he was reading something I hadn’t meant to show.
“You could bury yourself in shadows, change your face, your name . . . change everything. But I’d still find you.
” Another step, close enough now that I could feel the heat coming off him.
“I’d know you if the world burned to ash, if I lost my sight and my hearing, if I was stripped of every sense, I would know you. ”
He lifted his hand slowly, giving me a chance to pull away. I didn’t – couldn’t. He brushed his fingers through a lock of my hair, letting it slip through like a whisper I could almost hear.
“Some truths don’t need to be spoken to be seen,” he said.
I should have slapped his hand away, but I could barely breathe, never mind think of anything coherent.
Too close.
We were too close.
But there was a chair behind me, blocking me, and I couldn’t get away from him – and, if I was being honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. What I needed was to find an emotion other than panic, but the heat burning like an open flame between us made it so fucking hard.
Think, Harlow! Break his fucking spell!
“Tarquinius sent you, I assume?” I croaked, glad my voice wasn’t as shaky as my legs.
Typhon’s eyes closed for a long moment, dark lashes brushing against his coppery skin before he replied, “Yes.”
There was the emotion I needed, and I latched onto it for dear life.
Straight fury.
He wasn’t here because of his feelings for me, or because our separation had nearly torn him in two like it had me.
He was here because his fucking boss sent him.
The slap echoed through the room, and it gave me the space I needed.
“You asshole! You . . . you’re just here hunting for us on his behalf? Like a well-trained dog? He’d separate us! Make us vulnerable to Nocta, and to Hecate knows what else! He doesn’t give a shit about any of us, other than how he can use us – he’s no better than the Senate!”
“I know.”
Two words and they stopped my tirade. Justified as I might be, the fact that he agreed with me had my jaw hanging.
“I know, Harlow. I know all that. It’s why I brought you Zeed.”
I shook my head. “What?”
“You’ll need all of House Phoenix to survive what comes next.
” His eyes never left my face, almost as if he were drinking me in.
“You’re stronger together than you are apart.
It’s how you survived breaking our bond, which I didn’t even think was possible.
I thought . . . I thought you were going to die, Harlow. ”
An unbreakable bond was not supposed to be possible to create, and I realized he was leading me away from the questions I really wanted to ask.
“Where was Zeed all this time? He said he doesn’t remember any of it. How is that possible?” I managed the question, but it came out breathy.
Typhon shook his head. “I can’t say.”
“Rune gagged?”