deal with it again,” I murmur, my voice tired.
“So you’re going to run away from the problem instead of facing it? Instead of trying to overcome it?” She huffs a breath. “That doesn’t sound like the sister I know.”
Damn it. She’s got me dead to rights.
I’m sure she can sense my glare through the phone. “You’re a real pain in the ass sometimes, you know that, Mads? Actually listening to all the stuff I’ve said to you over the years? How dare you pay attention to me.”
She chuckles, and her voice softens a little. “I’m serious though. You don’t run away from things, Elliot, and you’ve never let me run away from them either.”
It’s true. When our dad skipped out on us, I hated him for it. And I promised myself I wouldn’t follow in his footsteps, although I’m doing a pretty shitty job of keeping my vow at the moment.
“If you leave now, if you get rid of your magic, you won’t really be facing the problem,” Maddy continues. “You’ll just be running away. And I know that you don’t want to do that. If you create a problem—and still I don’t think what happened to Asher is your fault, but I know better than to keep trying to talk you out of it—then you can’t walk away from it. You have to stay and make things better; fix what you broke. That’s what you always taught me, and Mom too. Spilled milk.”
I grin in spite of myself. “Spilled milk.”
As a kid, Maddy didn’t understand the whole expression no use crying over spilled milk. She thought it was insensitive.
“Does that mean we’re not allowed to be upset when sad things happen?” she asked our mom once.
Mom told her that wasn’t what the saying meant at all. “It means when you do something wrong and make a mess, you shouldn’t just stand there and say how sad you are about it. Clean up your mess. Because everybody makes mistakes—there’s no way to avoid it. But you can choose whether to clean it up or not, and that’s what people will remember about you. Whether you’re the kind of person who cleans up her mess.”
I hate to admit it, but Maddy’s right. I can’t let this school beat me, and I can’t run away without cleaning up my mess. If nothing else, I need to woman up and go visit Asher to apologize properly and make sure he’s okay.
Squinting in the light of the setting sun, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You’re never going to let me live it down if I tell you you’re right, are you?”
“Nope!” Maddy says cheerfully. “But that’s okay because you love me anyway.”
I grin. “Yeah, I do. To the moon and back. I’ll let you know how things go.”
“So you’ll stay, then?”
“Yes.” For now. “I’ll stay.”
Chapter 22
After I hang up with my sis, I head back down the path toward the school. I’ve never been to the infirmary before, but I know where it is. I’m pretty sure everyone knows where it is now thanks to all the attacks over the course of the semester. I cross the campus, ignoring the looks from the few students who are still out and about, but stop when I hear my name being called.
I turn and see Roman walking quickly toward me.
Well, at least I didn’t literally run into him this time. And at least we’re not alone in a dark, enclosed space. Because given my emotional state right now, there’s a one hundred percent chance I would jump his bones. And I’m supposed to be untangling the mess I’ve made of my life, not adding to it.
“Hey, prof. What’s up?”
He comes to a stop in front of me, and his dark cobalt eyes flicker at my use of the nickname. I called him that once to push his buttons, but now I’ve decided I kind of like it. If I’m gonna be naughty and bang my professor, I might as well lean into it, right?
Judging by the look on his face, he doesn’t hate it either. Or maybe he’s just remembering what happened last time I called him that.
Then he shakes his head slightly, seeming to gather himself. “I wanted to let you know—it’s not official, so don’t spread it around, but there’s talk of shutting down the school.”
He sounds pissed as hell about it. His expression grows stormy as he speaks, and I can’t blame him for being upset. My stomach twists as my