Page 17 of Darkness and Deceit
Simon shifts beside me. I don’t look at him. I can’t.
“So which is it?” I ask. “Were you there when they locked him away? Or are you hoping that if you don’t dig too deep, it won’t fall apart?”
She straightens, mask sliding back into place. The cold returns to her eyes like nothing ever cracked through. “This conversation is over.”
“Of course it is,” Vaughn mutters. “Wouldn’t want the truth getting too loud.”
Bennett ignores him. “Classes will resume as scheduled,” she says briskly. “Modified curriculum where appropriate. The Keepers will remain stationed on the perimeter of the forest. They arenotto be approached unless you’re summoned.”
“And Lilith?” Simon asks.
“Will not be left alone,” Bennett snips. “You’ll rotate shifts, as discussed.”
Kai makes a soft, disapproving sound that’s almost a growl, raising not entirely unpleasant goosebumps on my skin.
“You’re not protecting me,” I say flatly. “You’rewatchingme.”
“Call it whatever helps you sleep at night.”
That makes me laugh bitterly. “I don’t sleep much anymore.”
“Then train harder,” she replies. “Because next time your magic answers a call like that, you’d better know what you’re walking into.” She nods to the door. “Dismissed.”
We move together, the four of us. But before I cross the threshold, I turn back one last time. “You didn’t answer my question,” I say. “Were you there?”
Bennett doesn’t answer. But something flickers in her eyes—something I’ve never seen before. Not denial. Not fear…
Remorse.
Six
LILITH
Everything’s unraveling.And every time I reach for the thread, it slips through my fingers like it wants me to fall apart.
I wrap my arms around myself as we walk, as if that might keep everything inside. But my magic hums under my skin, restless and agitated, like it knows something I don’t. Like it’swaiting.
No one speaks.
Not Kai, not Simon, nor Vaughn.
And I should probably be grateful for the silence.
But instead, it feels like pressure behind my eyes. Like if one of them so much as breathes too loudly, I might shatter.
Magnus.
His name echoes through my mind like a curse. A brand. A wound that finally has a label.
Kai walks beside me like nothing happened. Like he wasn’t thrown from the seventh floor. Like the world didn’t crack open and spill secrets I’m not sure we were meant to hear. He moves like gravity let him go on purpose. Like it didn’t dare hold him.
And I hate that he looks so steady when I feel like I’m falling apart.
“You’re still bleeding,” I say, barely more than a whisper.
Kai glances down, touches his side briefly, where the torn fabric still clings to dried blood. “It’s nothing serious.”
Just like that. Like being thrown from a building is nothing. Just another day.
