Page 28 of A Fate Everlasting

“Hold on,” I said, my ears were ringing. “I’m not sure I’m understanding. The afterlives,” I let out a weak laugh. “You can’t mean that literally.” Every head snapped in my direction. “What if I just wanted to graduate, and go home?”

“I thought you understood what Evermorewas,”Dorian sneered. “What about this isn’t clear?”

“The death of it all,” I ground out.

“Death,”Godwin said lightly, although speaking about the weather. “Death is a graduation pre-requisite, Miss Davenant. Half the soul is taken in Lower Sixth, the remainder in Upper Sixth.”

He might have continued speaking, explaining, but the only sound was the rush of blood in my ears, the thump of my heart as the beats slowed. Half the soul. In a month, when I took the Rift, it would takehalf of my soul.My fingers curled against the desk. I couldn’t feel them. The slate in front of me still blinked with my score, seventy-four. Around me, the class listened attentively, like we weren’t all walking expiration dates.

“They say anyone under 100 by the Rift is already dead,” Oscar said, spinning around from his seat in front of me. He twisted against the back of the chair to crack his back as I grimaced.

“Pick your jaw up, Davenant,” Dorian whispered, his lip curled. “All of this is in the brochure. Didn’t you read it before you arrived?”

I shot him a merciless look. “What if you want to opt out?” I asked, interrupting Godwin. Again, every head turned in my direction. I had asked Verrine the same question. She had dodged it. Now, the room fell silent. Dante side-eyed me, a look that saidI-already-told-you.

Godwin shifted, visibly uncomfortable. “Miss Davenant, Evermore’s students go on to the most prestigious institutions in the afterlife. It is a privilege.”

“Professor, I asked if I could opt out.”

“Gosh.” Godwin’s smile was strained, cheeks puffing. “Did Headmistress Cavendish not explain this to you? We received your paperwork, the contract was signed…” The air buzzed. “You see—once enrolled, you can’t leave Evermore.”

My stomach dropped. It was true. There was no way out ofEvermore. I hadn’t just been enrolled. I’d been imprisoned. “Not ever?”

“Ever,” Dante said under his breath.

The words echoed, then hollowed out inside me. Not ever. I thought of the executor. The contract I’d signed. Headmistress Cavendish smiling. All of it replayed now like a trap door snapping shut behind me. I’d been tricked. I wasn’t here by choice, and I wasn’t allowed to leave.

“But to clarify,” I demanded. “If we don’t get a place, we return home, right? Like Mabel?”

“I’m terribly sorry.” Godwin’s poor attempt at a smile faltered, his face turning even more puce. “I’m afraid not, Miss Davenant.”

The slate in my hands vibrated. A message flashed across the screen.

Ether status: Pending. Score recalculating.

“Sir.” I stood. This couldn’t be right. None of this made sense.“There’s been a misunderstanding, please listen.”

Godwin muttered something I couldn’t make out, taking a seat at his desk. The conversation was over. I slid back into my seat, exchanging a look with Dante. He smirked, reclining. I’d need his help after all.

I twisted at the sound of a sickening thud.

A crow slammed into the window, the impact violent enough to send a shockwave through the silent room. Its body crumpled against the glass, wings splayed, before it vanished into the wind.

The hush that followed was absolute. I stared at the faint smear of blood it left, dark red, like a final warning. The slate felt heavier in my hands. I wanted to throw it across the room.Instead, I shoved it into my bag forcefully, like breaking it would get me out of here.

Godwin’s handlebar mustache twitched, his chest pluming. “I’m dismissing you all early.” He gestured toward the door, smoothing his wiry hair back. “Use the time well.”

I wasn’t spiritual but that seemed like a bad omen. The slate in my hands dimmed as I shoved it into my bag. I reached for my blazer sleeve and pressed it hard to my mouth to stifle the scream that desperately wanted out.

After class Dante lounged against the stone pillar like his parents ran Evermore, not Dorian’s. The corridor outside felt colder. The marble floor swallowed the sound of my footsteps as I walked in a daze, the words “not ever”still echoing in my mind. I brushed past a pair of students whispering about something under their breath. I caught only two words.Archangels missing.

I smoothed the strand of hair that kept spilling in front of my face, pretending I didn’t feel like my heart had droppedlowinto my stomach. I hated how effortlessly terrifying Dante was. I had the same feeling when I’d looked through a telescope once, and seen Saturn’s rings.

“We still on for tonight?” He ran a hand through his jet-black hair, eyes shadowed.

“Tonight?”

Hugo caught my eye from across the corridor. He smiled softly. It was an utterly ridiculous time to notice the way his smile settled something in me, but just for a second, the panic subsided. His eyes lingered longer than they needed to before he was swallowed by the tide of students. I caught myself smiling back, a stupid half-grin lingering long after he’d gone.

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