Page 57 of The Mist of Stars

I reposition the pillows, trying to get comfortable. “So what? I should’ve been mean to him?”

“No, but you don’t have to be overly nice. Look at how you are with my brother. You tell him how it is and hand him his ass all the time.” She smiles at that. “It’s funny to watch because he usually gets what he wants, except with you.”

I bend my knees and prop the open book against them. “I won’t give him his way simply because he thinks he’s always right.”

“I know. And you shouldn’t. He needs that in his life. And honestly, I think he secretly kind of likes it when you do.”

“Why?”

She gives me aduhlook. “He likes you.”

“Ugh, not this again.” I let my head bob back, but then I wince as it smacks the wooden headboard. “Ow.”

She laughs at me. “I’d ask if you’re okay, but maybe if you hit your head enough times, you’ll be able to see reality.”

“Hey, that’s mean.” I chuck a pillow at her and laugh when it smacks her in the face.

She laughs and throws it back at me. It’s a good moment, but it quickly fades.

“I hate that it feels like nothing is ever going to be the same,” I admit my fear aloud.

“I know,” she agrees, unable to lie.

How could she when the truth is so brutally in front of us?

18GEMMA

Aislin and I spend the next hour skim-reading through the books we have on us. Eventually, Aislin gets online and logs in to the keepers’ archives account so she can search there. I’ve already read through some of the book Henry stole for me, but who knows if any useful information could be inked in these pages? Much of it feels like blah, blah, blah, to the point where I toss it aside in frustration.

“I feel like my eyes are bleeding,” I gripe as I rub my eyes with the heels of my hands. “This book is about as boring as the sword-sharpening class we had to take last year.”

“Gods, that was the worst, wasn’t it?” Aislin is sitting with her legs crisscrossed, and the spell book is on the bed in front of her. “The expert who taught it had the most monotonous voice ever.”

“Not worse than Professor Telington. I fell asleep in his class like five times.”

“I remember that. I woke you up because you were drooling.”

I prop up on my arms and jokingly glare at her. “I did not.”

“You did so.” She flits me a mischievous smile. “It was all over your face, too.”

I pick up a pillow, preparing to throw it at her again, when someone knocks on the door.

We both freeze, our gazes snapping to the door.

Another knock, and Aislin hisses to me, “No one should be knocking on our door.” She quietly closes the book and scoots off the bed.

I follow suit, moving as soundlessly as possible. “Maybe it’s housekeeping?”

“Doubtful. We checked in, like, only an hour ago,” she whispers as we inch toward the door. “And they usually come late morning, not in the middle of the night.”

She’s right.

I bend over to retrieve a dagger from my ankle holster while Aislin snaps her fingers, whispers a spell, and thenpoof, a blazing ball of electric blue light forms in the palm of her hand.

“What if it’s a death walker?” she asks as we near the door.

I toss her awhat-the-helllook with my brow arched. “You think a death walker is just going to casually knock?”