Chapter 49
Gwendolynne
The air gives a few more feeble ripples. And then the portal just…disappears.
As though it had never existed.
Heloise rushes to me. I’m shaking so hard that my teeth click together. “Gwen,” she murmurs. “Oh, Gwen.”
“Open it!” My voice is hysterical. Animalistic. My fingers claw at the carpet. “Get him out!”
“Can we, Conall?” Heli asks, her voice edged with worry. She squats next to me, rubbing circles on my back as I double over on the floor. “Can we re-open it?”
Conall frowns. “I’m sorry, Gwen,” he says gently. “Since it imploded on its own, this particular weak spot is now just too unstable.”
I collapse then, and finally burying my face in my hands, I burst into sobs. Hot, stinging tears run through the gaps in my fingers, splattering dark stains onto the floor.
Bastard. That fucking bastard! He tricked me—again. Tricked me into believing we would stay together. And then, at the last moment, he betrayed me.
When will you ever learn, Gwen? I was ready to give my entire existence up for Harrisford Briggs, and…he didn’t even want me to stay.
The pathetic thing is, even despite all this…it still doesn’t make me think less of him. It makes me think less of me.
All I can think is that this is all my fault. I should never have taken Percy into the Void, because then the portal wouldn’t have collapsed, and we’d have had more time to find and remove Harrisford’s Source.
I shouldn’t have assumed Harrisford had left me when he’d disappeared from the hotel room. Perhaps I would’ve started looking for him sooner—before the graduation ceremony, even. What if I’d gone looking earlier? What if I had found him in time?
I shouldn’t have let him push me through the tear. I should’ve realized, should’ve reacted faster, should’ve fought harder to stay.
And I really shouldn’t have denied my feelings for so long.
I should have told him how much I cared.
The room falls into silence for several loaded minutes. I don’t speak; I just continue kneeling on the carpet, weeping into my hands, while Heloise tries unsuccessfully to comfort me. It’s Pen—sweet, nervous Pen—who ends up dragging me back from my almost-inconsolable state.
“Um, Gwen?” Pen says. “What do you want me to do with this one?”
I raise my swollen, tearstained face. Pen is holding Danny Wong hostage against the wall, a loaded syringe in their shaky hand, pointed at his neck.
“I wasn’t sure what was happening,” Pen says, their voice tremulous. “He came out all bloody, and I didn’t know what’d happened, so I kept him here until one of you could tell me what to do.”
This is so unexpected that I almost gasp a laugh.
But grief quickly snuffs it out. Instead it emerges as a strangled sort of wheeze.
Of course Pen wouldn’t know what had happened in the Void.
All they had seen is the three of us—and Percy—go through the portal to rescue Harrisford.
Then we’d all come out again with Danny, but no Harrisford.
“It’s okay, Pen,” I finally manage to rasp. My throat is scratchy, my limbs all weak; the crying has exhausted me. “Wong was in there trying to take Harrisford’s Source out. You can let him go.”
Pen shoots Danny a loathsome look before grudgingly stepping away. Danny lets out an audible sigh, rubbing at his neck.
“You’re not off the hook yet, though, Wong.” Fury is beginning to displace my sadness, beating a tattoo inside my chest like a drum. Angrily, I dash my tears away and scramble to my feet, advancing on him.
Even though Danny’s much taller than me—almost as tall as Harrisford—he must feel the scale of my wrath, because he backs up against the wall, pressing himself flat.
“Why were you in there with Harrisford?” Eyes narrowed, I ram my finger against his sternum, hard. Rage is bursting from my pores. I’m almost spitting.
“I was—” he starts, but I cut him off and continue to hurl questions at him.
“Did you kidnap him?”
“I didn’t—”
I lean in close, my face only inches from his. “How did you know?”
He swallows. “Know what?”
I bare my teeth. “About his Source, dammit!”
“It’s because…” Danny is stammering; he can barely look at me. When he finally speaks, his words come out all in a rush. “It’s because I’m from the MLO, okay?”
“The MLO?” I repeat, reeling. Could it be true? Was it the MLO all along? When you hear the sound of hooves, assume it is a horse, not a Pegasus.
My finger is still jammed against Danny’s chest. I can barely process what it is I’m hearing.
“Wait.” Pen whirls around, their fists clenched by their sides. “You’re MLO?”
“Yeah.” Danny frowns. “Why, are you?”
Pen’s red-painted mouth sags open before finally, they say, “I—uh…Yeah. I just joined last month.” On shaky legs, they stagger backward and sink onto a chair.
It’s like the entire foundation of their world has collapsed, and Conall clasps Pen’s rounded shoulders as they take several heaving breaths.
Ignoring Pen, Danny continues. “I was meant to rescue Harrisford, Chan. The plan was”—he lets out a shuddering exhale—“to remove his Source and send him into hiding. To give him a new identity.” He slumps against the wall and shakes his head. “Man, I really fucked up in there.”
Heli snorts from behind me. My head whips around at the noise. She has both eyebrows raised in an expression that clearly says: Hell yeah you did.
I turn back to face forward and scrunch my eyes shut, trying to process everything. “I don’t understand.” My voice tremors. “Harrisford said he was causing the explosions. But the common room…for that first surge…he wasn’t there…”
“He was,” Danny says. “Just briefly. He stopped by after the explosion at the museum gala.” He raises his eyes to mine. “He was looking for you, actually.”
My pulse starts to hammer. My hand trembles. Releasing Danny, I bring my palm to my forehead, trying to retrieve my murky, panic-fueled memories of that night. “For me? Why?”
Danny stares at me for the longest time. Finally, he says, “Bloody hell, you’re as bad as he is.”
My fingers twitch, and I almost slap him but manage to stop myself just in time. “What do you mean?” I’ve had enough of people talking in riddles.
Heloise pipes up from across the room. “Jesus, Gwen, haven’t you noticed?
” She’s preoccupied with trying to heal the wound she’d sustained from Mrs. Mason-Price’s gun.
It’s bleeding again, which makes sense, since Danny said exiting the Void strips all magical enchantments.
But because it’s on the back of her shoulder, she’s having trouble reaching it.
I stalk over, jerk down her shirt collar, and with a perfunctory flick of my wrist, I heal her again. “What haven’t I noticed?” I snap, more terse than I intended to be.
Everyone falls silent. Pen shuffles their feet. Conall suddenly appears very absorbed in inspecting the Magecorp box. Heli rolls her shoulder, her eyes flicking between me and Danny Wong.
The room is completely quiet except for the rhythmic ticking of Harrisford’s grandfather clock.
“Well?” I fold my arms and scowl at everybody. “Is anyone going to answer me?”
Finally, Danny does. “Isn’t it obvious, Chan?” he says, and gives a hollow laugh. “Harrisford Briggs has been in love with you…for literal fucking years.”