Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) - Jay Kristoff Page 0,174

did you get it?”

The boy tilted his head.

told you

i’ve been watching

Mia’s heart beat faster. She flipped through the pages, saw more than a few were spattered with dried blood. A page near the back had been torn out completely. Slow rage boiled beneath her skin, but she found herself pulling it into check. No sense going off without cause. Hush was offering to help her. He could’ve got Carlotta’s notes without having killed her—he’d been skulking about the Church since he arrived. But still, the simple answer was often the right one …

“Hush,” she whispered, slow and careful. “… Did you murder Lotti?”

The boy looked down at her shadow. Up into her eyes.

what does it matter?

Hands to fists. Red in her eyes.

“It matters because she was my friend!”

The boy shook his head. Looked almost sad.

you have one friend inside these walls

not carlotta

not tric or ashlinn

and not me

Hush stared at her, unblinking. He was no ally, she realized. This was no mark of respect or token of grudging friendship from this O, so strange boy. A debt repaid, was all. Kindness for kindness. Even in a field such as this. And though Hush’s fingers moved not at all, his words swum plain in his eyes.

Take it or leave it.

Mia lifted the book from the boy’s hands. Hush inclined his head in a bow, ever so slight, fringe tumbling over haunted blue eyes. Then he turned on his heel and walked from the room, soundless as a sunsbeam. He reached the double doors, pushed them open with one hand, Mia’s voice stopping him in his tracks.

“Hush.”

The boy turned. Waited.

“Why not use these notes yourself? Don’t you want to finish top of hall?”

Hush tilted his head. Gave her a knowing smile.

And without a whisper, he was gone.

It took hours to crack Carlotta’s code. Hours more to piece together the scraps from the scrawl, the ghostly choir her only company. The missing page was a mystery, but it didn’t matter in the end. The thought occurred that Hush might be trying the same ruse on Mia as she’d run on Diamo. But truth was, Mia had been close enough to the solution to taste it already, perhaps only a few hours from solving the puzzle by herself. She doubted Hush would be stupid enough to grift her at her own game. And there amid Carlotta’s neat handwritten thoughts, she found the single missing piece—the last key to break the lock that had still eluded her.

She was sure of it.

Mia distilled her solution into three phials. Spent two on a pair of rats, saved the third for herself. Her furry companions were snoozing in their cages two hours later when Spiderkiller pushed open the doors and found Mia sitting amid palaces of glittering glass.

“You are here early, Acolyte,” the Shahiid said. “Or is it late?”

The girl held up a glass phial in answer, filled with a cloudy liquid. Spiderkiller crossed the floor, jade-green robes whispering. Tossing her saltlocks off her shoulder, she glanced at the glass in Mia’s hand. Black, paintstick lips twisted in a curious smile.

“And what is that you have?”

“An answer to the impossible.”

“Are you certain?”

Mia glanced at her feet. Knowing without a doubt that even if Mister Kindly were not with her, at that moment, she’d have still been unafraid.

She looked at Spiderkiller and smiled.

“There’s only one way to be certain, Shahiid.”

The announcement was made at mornmeal. Typical of Spiderkiller, there was no fanfare, no real accolade. The Shahiid simply waited until the ministry and acolytes were assembled, walked softly to where Mia was seated, and pinned a brooch to her chest. The piece was small, carved of ironwood, buffed to a dark sheen.

A wolfspider.

Murmurs passed among the acolytes. Spiderkiller leaned down and placed a black kiss on Mia’s brow.

“My blessings,” she said.

And that was it.

Ash grinned, offered outstretched fingers to Mia, who brushed them with a smile. Realizing she’d been foolish enough to let the girl touch her, Mia made a show of checking all her pockets, ensuring Spiderkiller’s brooch was still pinned to her chest. Ashlinn rolled her eyes and chuckled, went back to her meal without a word. Looking down the table, Mia saw Jessamine staring back with undisguised hatred.

“Well,” said Mouser, rising from the Ministry’s table. “If the Spiderkiller is seeing fit to bestow her boons, perhaps we should do the same?” The Shahiid turned to Aalea with his customary rakish smile. “Beauty before age, Shahiid?”

Aalea demurred with a small shake of her head. “There is still one