Page 31 of Shadows of Perl

“A lifetime of people-watching has made you very perceptive. He was a Dragun. But he found himself stuck between loyalty to the brotherhood and loyalty to his Headmistress. Years ago, I found him nearly lifeless in a ditch.”

Branded. The red scar at his neck. “Draguns are awful. That’s terrible.”

Jordan’s warning the last time I saw him runs through my mind. When he said it would be him to come after me. I wonder who he’s told, how many Draguns are out there looking for me. My toushana churns. I’ll be ready. I wait for Knox to tell me more, but she starts unclipping dried laundry from lines.

“So that’s what you and Willam do here? Keep certain people running from the Order safe? Visitors aren’t welcome, it sounds like.”

“Safe houses are descendants of families who’ve escaped the Order’s worst evils. And you’re correct. No visitors.”

“But Octos…Yagrin.”

“A fellow named Octos used to live here a long time ago. But he left suddenly. That happens from time to time. We don’t take others in, but on occasion we’ll lose one who thinks they have a better chance at life on their own. Yagrin must have known him. I don’t believe your friend wishes us harm. But someone could pry information out of him and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

“He’s not my friend. I hardly knew him. He was just the only person besides my mother that I thought I could trust.”

“I would imagine that list has grown tonight.”

I shift on my feet and eye Knox’s legs.

“Dragun attack when I was a child.”

I gasp. “The world is cruel.”

“The world is what those in power make it, Quell. My mother and I were coming home from the store when she was attacked by Draguns. If I were smart, I’d have run. But instead, I ran to her. When they realized I was her child, the descendant of a—” Her chin slides over her shoulder as if the word to finish that sentence would bring up her dinner. “They finished her. Then they came after me. I was seven.”

“I’m so sorry.” An image of my mother dead on some sidewalk tears its way into my mind. My heart thuds. “So, you have toushana?”

“Not exactly, no. But they thought I did. I managed to get away and a Shifter, Healer type, amputated my legs before the magic could kill me. My father was a Shifter, really good with metals. He made me this fancy chair.”

“It’s magnificent.”

She blinks and the blue in her eyes deepens. Then her gaze cuts to my heart. “The Great Sorting was a bloodbath.”

I swallow. “I’m not familiar?”

“In Misa—the ancient magical city—all manifested magic was welcome. My ancestors only had toushana then. But they had a reputation among the citizens of Misa for responsible moral character and trustworthiness. Toushana was powerful, but they did not abuse it. When the magic city fell, none of that mattered. The Upper Cabinet had carefully placed members in Washington by then. They’d discovered rumors of Misa’s existence and immediately ordered that the magic city be razed to the ground. From then on, Marked members would need to blend in to the Unmarked world through a House system. House of Perl was founded. Decades later, Marionne. Then Duncan, and so on. But those who manifested toushana were ordered to be killed during the Sorting because they posed too great a risk to the Order’s power. The Houses would not be equipped to train the use of toushana, and it was too volatile to risk. The Order only saw who my ancestors could be, Quell. The horrible things they could do. They ordered my family to be burned.”

My nails dig into my arms.

She shrugs. “Magic is dangerous, and safer to just be left alone. My great-great, many-greats-grandmother created the first of what became a network of safe houses for Misa refugees. But she still lived every single day of her life in fear. I refuse to. That is why there is no magic used here, and if you do stay, you may never, ever use it again.”

“Stay? I—”

“So you’re going to help your friend, then? Tear down the Order?”

“He’s not my— Look, I have to know what’s going on with my mother.”

“Mine died on a sidewalk. My great-grandmother was killed by Draguns as well. My grandfather burned alive. I have cousins I’ve never met, but I hear they’re doing fine. Living without magic on the West Coast. I know, and how does that help me thrive now?”

“You can’t expect me to ignore that she’s out there somewhere.” Toushana pulls at my bones as my frustration rises.

“My expectations aren’t what matter, Quell. Yours do.” She squeezes my arm affectionately. “Make your decision quickly. We leave at midnight.” The calm confidence of her expression makes me feel like it’s possible. That if I go with them, the Order will never catch us. That they have a trustable safe haven and I could be happy. Why didn’t we stay here, Mom? So many questions.

But my mother’s out there somewhere…

And giving up my toushana?

Cold shudders through me. “I’m not like you. My magic is who I am.” I sigh. “Thank you for offering me a place and for not judging me. Other than my mother, no one has ever made me feel…Anyway, I can’t go with you. I have to find her.”

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