be seen.
How do you know me? How did you know that? The questions died in my throat, unspoken.
But I didn’t have the time to look for him. I didn’t see Cly bobbing above Divination Hall like a balloon anymore, which meant that Aegis had already successfully come to her rescue. They’d likely be heading back to the dorm room, and if they found me missing, I was going to be in serious trouble.
Screw Wraith, or whatever his real name was. I gritted my teeth and started running.
By the time I reached Rowan House, I saw Cly and Aegis from the back, already disappearing through the main entrance. I cursed Wraith again, knowing I couldn’t beat them up the stairs.
The solution was to not take the stairs. I hurried around the building, finding the window to Cly’s room—at least, it had better be Cly’s room. I threw an invisibility illusion over myself, shoved the window open from the ground with a thrusting hand gesture, then took a running, magic-enhanced leap.
My fingers just managed to close around the windowsill. Panting, I pulled myself up and flopped through the window. My magic was already running on fumes, thanks to all the artifacts that had been draining and suppressing it of late.
I could hear Cly’s yelling coming down the hallway outside. Time for last-minute touches.
Window—shut.
Illusions—dispelled.
I hoped no one had seen me turn invisible outside the building; no one would be able to connect it directly to me, but Cly and Aegis might get suspicious if they heard. Fortunately, Cly had seemingly become the school pariah in less than a day, and I doubted anyone would be swapping friendly what-I-saw-today stories with her anytime soon.
Speaking of the devil, the door slammed open, and Cly stomped into the room, her clothes rumpled, her face red and blotchy. “Fuck them!” she screamed, barely coherent. “My father should’ve killed their father before… before those fucking assholes were ever born!”
Aegis's expression was dark. He had scrapes on his knuckles and a tear on one of his shirt cuffs. “The Nightfeld brothers earned their reputation,” he conceded. “The elder might be stronger than your father was. No wonder power is shifting so quickly back to the Nightfelds.”
“You should’ve done more!” Cly accused Aegis. “You’re a Spellbreaker. But all you did was grab me and run!”
Aegis bowed his head. “My priority was getting you out safely.”
Cly stomped her foot. “You should’ve beaten them up! You should’ve rubbed their faces in the dirt. What else did we give you those tattoos for? Now they’ll think we’re prey for the picking.”
“I didn’t think I could outfight them both,” Aegis said. His mouth twisted; I could see it pained him to admit that. “But that’s something I hope to fix.” His gaze went to a wooden box on the desk in his room.
“I knew school was going to be horrible!” Cly continued, hurling herself onto the bed. “I never wanted to come here! Nothing has gone the way Mother said it would go!” In other words, I thought sourly, she thought she’d get to be the big bad bully instead of the one getting bullied.
“That’s something I hope to fix,” Aegis said again, his eyes grim. He took the wooden box and unlocked it, lifting out a slender, needle-tipped stylus and a small vial filled with dark, shimmering fluid. A Spellbreaker’s tattoos were done in an ink made from demon’s blood, the user’s own blood, and a closely guarded formula of various magical herbs and substances. “I can add to my tattoos to make them stronger.”
“Why didn’t you do that in the first place, before I got humiliated?” Cly demanded.
“Because he’s going to be inking over his exceptions,” I nearly yelled. I couldn’t stay silent anymore, as much as I wanted to stay out of Cly’s attention. Not at this time. No goddamn way. “Right now, his tattoos leave exceptions so that certain spells can still work on him, like healing magic if he’s seriously injured. Which, because he’s your bodyguard, is sooner or later. Without the exceptions he’ll be much stronger, but he’ll have no way of turning his Spellbreaker abilities off, even if it’s an emergency and he’s about to die. This is going to follow him for the rest of his life. Aegis, don’t do this, this is incredibly dangerous—”
Even Cly was turning pale, looking at Aegis uncertainly. My hopes rose. But Aegis cut me off. “I’m not afraid of death in the service of House Redbriar,” he said calmly. “If