Honestly, if anything, it had been more muted back then.
MaybeI’dbeen more muted?
Or was that the P.T.S.D. talking, too?
“Hey,” a gentle voice probed. “You alright?”
I looked up.
I’d totally forgotten I wasn’t walking down the street alone.
Draken strode by my side, and now he studied my face carefully, concern in his dark eyes. Miranda was chatting to Luc on Draken’s other side, something about a book she’d found on binding spells and whether he thought those types of spells would work on inanimate objects. She seemed almost obsessively concerned about keeping her new roommate from stealing her clothes. Apparently, that had been a big problem at their boarding school in Zurich.
I focused on Draken.
I considered his question, considered lying, then chose to sidestep.
“You can call me Leda, you know,” I said, smiling faintly.“…Joran.”
“Didn’t want to presume anything…Leda.”
“It’s not presumption to use my actual name…Draken.”Thinking about that, I scoffed. “Anyway, you nearly getting beat up on my behalf qualifies us for first names, I think. Not to mention a literal hour of you having to listen to me and Luc talkabout theurgy texts, and me having to listen to you and Miranda talk about different wing designs.”
But Draken was still stuck on the first thing I’d said.
He snorted. “Beat up? That wanker wishes.”
He looked inordinately pleased, though.
I didn’t comment. I didn’t like the certainty in my gut, but I strongly suspected that fight wouldn’t have gone well for Draken.
No,that voice in my head whispered.It wouldn’t have gone well for the sweet-natured, son-of-a-movie-star mage at all.
Somehow,I forgot all about my summer for those few hours. My brain didn’t connect the dots for the second time until we were nearly inside the university grounds.
Then, all at once, I got there.
Alaric,my mind blurted.
I came to a dead stop on the sidewalk.
Alaric knew him. Alaric was one of them.
The thought popped into my head on the last block of road around Malcroix’s outer wall before we reached the front gate. According to my watch, adjusted for Magique time, it was roughly fifteen minutes to six. By now, I also knew the strange clock I’d grown up with in my kitchen in Southampton converted Overworld time to Magique time, and vice versa. Most of the clocks here were much the same as those back home.
But the time wasn’t what made me stop in my tracks.
Unless I was very much mistaken, Alaric was friends with that blond prat from the tea shop. AlaricknewCaelum Bones.
He might even have strong opinions about how to approach him with an unconventional request. He might even act as go-between, so the Bones heir wouldn’t need to know the request came from me.
Moreover, while Alaric might be an impossible gossip and royal pain in my arse, he was extremely clever. He would know how a mage like Caelum Bones thought. He would know how to motivate him. In our numerous lunches, dinners, drinks, snacks, study sessions, and teas over the last however-many weeks, I’d learned that Alaric was startlingly insightful about people in general. Moreover, he seemed to genuinely like me for some reason.
He also hadn’t struck me as a bigot, which was bizarre, really, given who he chose as friends.
Alaric could help me find out what I wanted to know.
Wouldhe, though?
