“The note?” he asked, brow furrowed. But then he looked up and across the garden . . . and caught my eye.
He nodded at me and I nodded back, my debt cleared.
“I have friends,” he told her. “You look cold. Perhaps you should return to your school.”
“I think . . . I want to stay here with you.”
For a long, silent moment, they looked at each other with such emotion I nearly got teary eyed. How could they have that kind of bond so quickly? How was that even possible?
Possible or not, there was no point in denying it. ’Cause here they were, in the middle of a park in the middle of the night, staring like they could save each other.
“You should go,” Nicu said, then picked up Veronica’s hand and lifted it to his lips. He pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist, and then held her hand against his cheek. His lashes fell, and for a moment he just stood there.
“How will I—” Veronica began, but he opened his eyes again and shook his head.
“This is only the beginning,” he said. “I will find you.”
If this was only the beginning, my life was about to get a lot more complicated.
And then, like he’d been only a figment of her imagination, Nicu disappeared into the thorns again.
Veronica stood there for a moment, and, like nothing had happened, walked back into the building and rejoined the brat pack in study hall. Amie, her head in a book, seemed uninterested in the fact that Veronica had been gone. M.K., on the other hand, looked plenty curious. I wondered what Veronica would tell them later. That she’d snuck outside to meet a guy who left a secret note in her suite?
Scout leaned over the table when I took a seat. “What happened?”
“They met.”
“And then what?”
“I’m not entirely sure. But it looks like love to me. And good luck to them.”
With Marlena angry at Nicu, and M.K. ready to sabotage Veronica’s relationship at a moment’s notice, they were going to need it.
13
When study hall was over, we dumped our books, changed into jeans, and headed out to the Enclave. Tonight, there was no Detroit, but we were joined by Katie and Smith. They both looked unhappy to be there. Actually, they both also looked like they were wearing the same skinny jeans. Not a fashion statement I was fond of.
Everyone was seated around the table when we walked in. Michael smiled when Scout sat down beside him, and Jason smiled a little at me, but he looked distracted, like he had other things on his mind. Maybe his family was giving him more trouble than he’d let on.
“We’re here,” Daniel began, “because we need to talk about the blackout.”
Scout and I exchanged a glance. Did he already know about Fayden Campbell—that we suspected she might be involved? Did he already know I’d been talking to Sebastian?
“An Adept from Enclave Four, apparently frustrated by the loss of her magic, attacked two of her fellow Adepts last night.”
“She attacked them?” Michael quietly asked.
“I understand that Enclave had been on edge since the blackout began, and the lack of magic hit them harder than some of the others. This particular girl was taking the loss of magic very poorly. She was nervous. Excitable. Angry. An argument at the Enclave escalated, and . . .”
“Are they okay?” Scout asked.
“One was released from First Immanuel Hospital this morning. The other is still in serious condition. She hasn’t woken up since the attack.”
The Enclave went silent.
“Not having magic is difficult for all of us,” he said. “But that is an explanation. It is not an excuse.”
“What if that happens to us?” Jill asked. “It could happen to us. We could lose it just like she did.”
“You’re not going to lose it,” Daniel said. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t stay vigilant. We are all experiencing something we thought we had years to prepare for. Instead, we went cold turkey. Not everyone handles that transition well. I didn’t tell you this to scare you,” he added. “I told you this because you need to understand the risks. You have a right to understand the risks.”
He let that sink in for a minute, and then put his hands on the table. “All right. Let’s get to business. Scout, you had news?”
“Um, well, Reapers broke into St. Sophia’s today,” Scout said. “Two girls tried to steal my Grimoire. We’re assuming that’s part of Jeremiah’s plan to steal it because he thinks I had something to do with the blackout. Which, obvs, I did not.”
“Did they get it?” Daniel asked, his voice tight.
“Of course not. They wouldn’t have found it anyway, but Lily had already suggested I hide it, and I did.”
Daniel blew out a breath. “Good,” he said. “Good.”
“And, in addition to being awesome,” Scout continued, “we also have a lead on who might have something to do with the blackout. We went to Gaslight Goods. Kite told us some of the Reapers were talking about a fairy tale that involved a guy named ‘Campbell.’”
“What’s that?” Michael asked.
“Supposedly Campbell overthrew an overlord, but then went evil when he took power,” Scout said. “Kite told us Reapers were talking about the fairy tale like they thought it might be real. Lily did a little research, and it turns out Sebastian Born has a cousin named Fayden Campbell. She just moved back to town.”
Scout pulled out a copy of the article from her bag and handed it to Daniel.
“That’s a pretty big coincidence,” Daniel said, looking it over. “But it’s still only a coincidence. Do we have information tying Fayden Campbell to the blackout? Or to any Reaper activities?”
Scout looked at me.
“I’ve actually been told she’s not a Reaper,” I said. “But I don’t think that’s true.”
Daniel tilted his head in curiosity. “Where did you hear that?”
Nerves flooding me, I squeezed my hands into fists. “Sebastian Born. He’s my source in the Reapers. He helped me use firespell to rescue Scout, and he gives me information sometimes. That’s how I found out their magic was working even when ours was gone—at least at first. I saw him and Fayden on the street earlier this week. He introduced us, but he didn’t mention her last name. When Kite told us about the fairy tale, I did some Internet research and found her picture.” I left out the part about calling Sebastian to check if he knew anything about her. I was only so brave.