Page 59 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

Or a wrathful Elijah could catch me and use magic to blast me into the next kingdom…or report me to Bigley. Both of those options sound terrible.

When Helene walks in, I sit down on the bed. Within seconds, I’m up pacing again.

As she gathers her shower supplies, she studies my erratic behavior through narrowed eyes. “What’s going on? Why are you doing that?” Suspicion thickens the air like fog.

“Nothing. Just thinking about something. I think better when I’m moving.”

Silence. On my next lap, I peek at her face. An unreadable visage clouds her eyes. “Leesa used to do that too. Not a lot at the beginning, but it seemed like she was pacing off and on all day that last week. She even woke me up at night a couple of times.”

I don’t get the sense that Leesa’s pacing angered Helene. If anything, her tone strikes me as a little wistful. Odd, given her initial animosity toward Leesa when I arrived.

Again, the thought that Helene knew Leesa better than she lets on runs through my head. “Do you have any idea what was weighing on her mind?”

Helene startles, like she forgot anyone else was in the room. “What? No, why would I?”

I frown. “I don’t know, you tell me.”

Scowling, she tugs the tie from her hair and starts unraveling her braid. “There’s nothing to tell.”

I’m not sure I believe her. Or maybe I’m so desperate for information on Leesa that I’m determined to find clues where none exist.

Boots pound in the hallway, and Olive bursts into the room. “Okay! It’s go time—” She spots Helene. “Uh, for the showers. Everybody ready?”

Helene gapes as Olive bounds over to her shower supplies. The skin above her nose creases. “You’re both acting weird. You’re up to something.”

Olive makes a big show of hunting for her soap. “What I’m up to is getting ready to shower. I don’t think personal hygiene is all that weird, but you do you.”

Helene’s gaze shifts to me.

“If thinking is weird, then…” I shrug.

Her mouth tightens. “Fine. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know, anyway.”

She storms from the room. Olive waits until our roommate’s footsteps are no longer audible before heaving a relieved sigh. “Thank the gods. I thought she’d never leave. She just had to go and pick tonight of all nights to be chatty. You ready?”

No. “I will be. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck! If I don’t hear from you within an hour, I’m sending in a rescue crew.”

Squaring my shoulders, I head for the door.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Chapter Twenty

Even though I’m doing nothing wrong—yet—my skin prickles as I walk down the first-floor hall toward Theo and Elijah’s room. After checking both ways to ensure no one’s watching, I slip through the door and immediately head to the right side of the room, which Theo described as Elijah’s side. To the left, Theo’s bed is rumpled, with one side of the navy-blue comforter pulled back to reveal the sheets and his pillow on the floor. A deck of playing cards is scattered across the top of the mattress. Books and papers decorate the surface of his armoire, including a child’s drawing of a stick figure riding what resembles an alicorn. A tunic dangles from one of the knobs, and a dagger and candle sit on his nightstand.

Elijah’s side is the opposite. Not a single wrinkle or lump mars the surface of his comforter, and his pillow sits perfectly plumped in the center of the headboard. There’s nothing on the top of his dresser. Nothing on the nightstand. An Aclaris flag hangs on the wall as the sole decoration. Compared to Theo’s space, Elijah’s looks unlived in.

I search his armoire first. Based on what I’ve seen so far, I’m expecting to find precise organization and his clothes folded just so. Instead, I open the first drawer to chaos. A tunic bursts free from the overflowing mishmash of items crammed inside. Wrinkled clothes, books, weapons, and even a plate compete for space. Mildew wafts from the contents, and my nose wrinkles as I withdraw a damp towel, which I quickly drop on the floor.

Ew. I should have brought gloves.

The chaotic state of Elijah’s drawers makes scouring through them take longer. I sift through the contents with as much speed as possible while still being thorough. I’m not sure what I’m looking for…or if I even want to find something. Any hint about Leesa’s disappearance I stumble across in Elijah’s room probably points to nothing good.

Finished with the drawers, I switch to the hanging compartment. No clues, but I do discover three extra tunics over the Flighthaven issued amount, along with two cups from the mess hall, and a woman’s nightgown. It’s not one of Leesa’s, though, so I close the doors and head to the bed. Nothing beneath it or the pillow. Nothing hidden on the underside of the mattress. The shared desk only holds writing utensils and blank paper.

My hope sinks as I move to the nightstand, the last place to investigate. Inside, I find another mess. Using my fingertips, I shift a small mountain of dirty socks to one side. Yup, next time I break into a dorm room, I’m definitely wearing gloves. Plus, a mask over my nose to spare me from the stench of sweaty male feet. No wonder Elijah steals Theo’s and other fledgling’s tunics. The man doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of laundry soap.

---