Chapter 23 Taera
Taera
Excruciating minutes pass before someone tentatively calls from the other side of the door.
“Tae, you alright?” Annie’s birdsong voice sounds concerned.
I stay exactly where I am, tightening my grip on my towel. “I’m alright.”
“Need anything, sweetheart?”
I glare daggers at my offending robes, still dripping water. “Dry clothes.”
Laughter tinkles. I flush, glad no one can see my embarrassment.
“I’m coming in.” The door slips open and Annie steps inside, closing it behind her. Her rosy lips twitch like she’s trying to hold back laughter.
I clutch the towel.
She crosses the room, plucks the soggy fabric of my robes, gives them a shake. Then holds them out to me. They’re desert dry.
How? “Thanks.”
I take them in one hand, waiting for her to leave, but Annie doesn’t move. I frown, shuffling my feet.
“Oh, right.” She beams. “I forget how modest first years are.”
With the grace of a dancer, she skips back out the door.
Pulling my magicians’ robes back on, I wonder which is the illusion: wet or dry.
I poke my head back into the room. Annie is lounging across his bed, her chin propped in her hands, chattering incessantly to another student with cropped black hair, who sits cross-legged.
At first, I think he’s rather feminine, then I realize she might be a girl with a boyish face. Uncertain, I find myself frowning.
Annie must notice my expression and grins wickedly. “Androgyny—hot, isn’t it?”
“And… what?” I glance around. Nikolai is nowhere to be seen.
“Tae, this is Omi,” she chirps on. “Omi, Tae.”
“Hey.” Omi’s voice is quiet and doesn’t clear up my confusion either way about whether they’re a man or a woman. Why would Nikolai leave me alone with these two magicians?
“Hello,” I say awkwardly.
Annie pats the bed beside her, an invitation that makes my spine stiffen. I take only a half-step closer. I don’t think she or Omi will hurt me, but I don’t know if I can trust my instincts. They’ve been unreliable since setting foot in this cursed place.
“What’s wrong? You’ve slept with him, haven’t you?” Annie winks at me.
I shy away from her gaze, but I shuffle forward and perch on the farthest corner of the bed, joining them. She hasn’t hurt me yet.
“My gosh, you haven’t?” Her eyes widen with delighted scandal. “Don’t tell me you’re taking things slow… That’s so romantic!”
“We’re not—it’s not like that,” I mutter.
“Just between us.” Annie leans in to whisper, although it’s plenty loud enough for Omi to hear. “Don’t break your heart over him.”
“Okay,” I say.
“Is that why—” Omi gestures to the mat in the corner. I can’t make heads or tails of the second magician’s short hair and oval face, strangely neutral. I glance at Annie, trying to follow her lead.
She just squeals. “Niko’s been sleeping on the floor? Such a gentleman.”
I snort.
“He made you take the floor, didn’t he?” Omi gives a low chuckle.
“But if you’re not having sex, what are you doing together?” Annie says.
I choke on air. Is every magician painfully blunt about intimate stuff?
“Were you really caught wearing his bedsheets?” She giggles.
“I—um—” I glance between the redhead whom I hardly know, and Omi, whom I met like thirty seconds ago.
“You can tell them anything you can tell me.” Annie waves to Omi. “I want all the details.”
Them, not he or she. I try the word in my mouth.
“Bedsheets?” Omi murmurs.
“You have to tell me more,” Annie says. “Where did Niko find you?”
She’s chattering like we’re already friends, which baffles me. But it’s… oddly relaxing. I haven’t had friends my age since… well, since Clarice left.
“You’re new to the Halls, aren’t you,” Omi—they—say. It isn’t a question.
“Definitely.” Annie smiles knowingly. “Practically fainted when I mentioned sex.”
I blush again at the word, irritated by my own reactions. Still, I don’t say anything. I’m not supposed to.
“Did Niko tell you not to trust us?” Annie tilts her head, then waves the question off, her smile bouncing back. “We’ll just have to guess, then. Let’s see. You’re probably not first year at all. Did he… rescue you from some cruel master? Duel some sandsmuggler and whisk you away?”
My pulse surges. “How do you—”
She shrugs, smirking. “He likes to play the hero.”
“But you’re untrained. Why would he sponsor you?” Omi muses. Then their dark eyes widen. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-four,” I say automatically.
Annie and Omi exchange looks. When Annie turns back to me, her friendly ease is gone. “Tae, listen carefully. If anyone asks, you’re nineteen.”
“What?” I furrow my brow.
“You’re also sleeping with Niko and he tricked you into attempting fourth year as a prank.”
“No, that’s—”
“This is important.” Annie’s tone is kind but the warning is unmistakable. “For your protection.”
Both of them are watching me with worried expressions. Not scared of me, but for me. My eyes sting. I hadn’t realized how much I missed having someone—anyone—who cares about me. Even if it’s just an illusion of friendship, it feels real to me.
“Aww, it’s okay, Tae-tae. We’ve all been there.” Annie pats my back with her pink-gloved hand and starts rubbing circles. My resolve melts, and just for a minute I let myself succumb to the weight of everything. My face scrunches, and tears spill hot and fast.
“There, there.” Annie rambles on in a comforting tone. “You fall for some sexy-ass magician, only for her to promise to meet you in the bubble garden but never show up.”
Omi frowns. “That’s not exactly what Taera’s going through.”
“Close enough. Want a hug?” Annie holds her arms open to me. “Just don’t touch the skin, or you’ll fry me like poor Thoma.”
I recall the shooting pain of him grabbing me and quickly shake my head. But I trust these two magicians more than I trust Nikolai. Annie has already guessed most of the story, anyways, and I hate lying.
“I have to go home,” I admit, “to where Nikolai first found me—so my family knows I’m okay.”
“Why don’t you write to them?” Omi says gently.
I stare at them, forgetting my tears. “I can just do that?”
Their smile is tentative. “Why not?”
“Nikolai didn’t bother mentioning that.” My anger flares, and I have to carefully press it down. Right now I have the opportunity to gain information he might not ever tell me.
“Why did he bring me here?” I ask. “Why all these lies?”
“You’re better off within these walls until you can hide your power,” Annie says.
“You’re safer,” Omi adds. “Sandsmugglers will hunt you for your magic.”
I feel dizzy. Was Nikolai telling the truth about protecting me? Did I misjudge him? The possibility wavers in front of me… then crumbles. Whether he lied to me or not, the truth is more oppressive than the midday sun.
All of this is real.
And I might have to learn magic to escape.
“Best thing to do,” Annie says, seemingly oblivious to my rising panic, “is flunk your exams in a few weeks and get yourself sent down to first year.”
“But in three and a half weeks—” The words leave my mouth before my mind catches up. Nikolai lied to me. Again. I feel so stupid. “I can’t go home after that, can I?”
Annie’s face softens into pity.
“Learning to control magic takes years,” Omi says quietly.
Years.
It’s like being slapped with cold water, shattering the glimmer of trust I felt toward Nikolai just a moment ago.
“I—I need to be alone,” I mutter, clenching my trembling hands into fists.
“Of course.” Omi quickly stands. Annie looks like she might argue, but a stern look from Omi has her standing too and plodding toward the door. They slip out of the room, footsteps soft against glass.
And then they’re both gone.
Leaving me alone in the bedroom of a cruel, manipulative liar.