Page 90 of Avalon Tower
My cheeks flush. “Fine. I knew him, yes. Ages ago. It was in Bordeaux, and he kissed me once, and then said I was a spoiled American and never spoke to me again until I saw him in the south of France. The day I met you, Tana. He fully ghosted me, and I’ve never shagged him.”
“Dickhead. Did you see his knob?” asks Serana. “I’m just very curious, because I imagine it—”
“I have not.”
Darius rests his chin in his hands. “I’d risk getting kicked out for someone who looks like him, honestly.”
Tana’s stare is penetrating. “The cards suggested that a love from the past is also in your future.”
I take a long sip of mead. “Well, anyway. Good news, everyone! My headaches are gone. I’m right as rain.”
Serana nods. “You’re doing that thing again.”
Tana’s grips her glass of mead so hard, she’s at risk of breaking it. “Okay, you need to be absolutely ready when the tests come, and focused. You cannot fail. You and I have to pass, Nia. And you cannot get kicked out.”
“I get it.” My voice comes out a little sharp. “I am studying as hard as I can. No pressure, right?”
“Why are you so intense about Nia passing?” Darius asks. “I mean, we all really need to pass, right? Why are you harassing the poor girl?”
Tana, Serana, and I exchange quick glances.
“Yeah,” Serana says. “Tana is just really worried that Nia will fail the fighting part. But I keep telling her she doesn’t need to worry. Nia can kick anyone’s arse these days. Even the Dream Stalker. At this point, she could thrash a demon of the abyss in a one-on-one fight.”
“Some demons are actually pacifists and refuse to fight, even when cornered,” Tana says, staring at the window.
Serana’s forehead scrunches up. “I was just speaking metaphorically, I guess. There are no demons in the world, Tana.” Her face has gone pale. “Right?”
“Right.” Tana sips from her mead and smiles faintly. “It’s better to think that.”
“Well, that’s a thought that’s gonna fester,” Darius mutters.
“Anyway, you don’t need to worry.” I spear a strawberry with my fork, though I’ve lost my appetite. Tana’s prophecy is stressful enough without her constantly reminding me of it, then adding in a whole bunch of other stressful predictions.
The sad truth is, I’m not at the top of my game, and my diametric magic is still wildly unpredictable and out of my control. At least, for the upcoming month, I will be out of danger. The only thing I have to do is master every spy skill that exists and memorize the entire Fey history.
Darius loses interest in our discussion, his eyes following Nolan, a tall cadet who goes with me to Amon’s advanced class for Fey language. Serana rolls her eyes at me. Darius has been obsessing about Nolan for weeks.
“I’ll catch up with you girls later,” Darius mutters, getting up, and walks after Nolan.
“I don’t get Darius’s taste in men,” Serana tells me. “That Nolan guy is nothing special.”
“I don’t know. He looks nice. And he’s wicked smart.”
“Eh. I prefer more shoulders on my men.”
“More than two?” I ask, bemused, fishing the last bits of my salad from my plate. When I look up again, Tana is staring at me, her eyes wide. A feeling of dread sinks into my stomach.
“What?” I ask.
“The shadows are closing in. Death hunts you. During the trials, the darkness will start to envelop you. If you don’t survive, we all die. England is lost. Scotland and Wales, too. The rot will creep from the Cliffs of Dover all the way to the highlands. It starts during the trials.”
She takes an enormous bite of her berry pavlova without breaking eye contact as she chews. I’m not sure what’s more unnerving, her disturbing prophecy or the way she stares at me as she eats.
A cold fear settles over me.
CHAPTER 29
Dear Mom,