Page 98 of Avalon Tower

Tana shakes her head. “There’s something misty about the trial. Foggy. I can’t really see it, but I can feel it. I can’t say if it’s real or magically created.”

“Okay. London’s often foggy, isn’t it?”

“And there’s a big fucking steam fair nearby,” says Serana. “There are rides and weird arcades all around Tower Green. I’m sure Wrythe planned this with as much chaos in mind as possible.”

A flash of red catches my eye, and I turn to see Nivene staring at me from an arched doorway. She jerks her head, motioning for me to join her, then slinks back into the shadows on the other side of the nave.

“Give me a second,” I say. “I’ll be right back.”

“What?” Serana grabs my arm. “Nia, the trial is about to start. We need a plan.”

“Just a few minutes.” I give her an apologetic look. “Start without me.”

I slip away, weaving between the groups of cadets gathered under the moonlight. I spot her scarlet hair and follow her into a leafy, derelict tower.

My heart pounds. This is insane. My first trial is about to start, and everything depends on me passing it. I can’t waste my time on whatever this is. What am I doing here?

She turns to face me, her jade eyes piercing in the dark. “Hello, Nia.”

She leans back against a wall, arms folded, scrutinizing me. Her gaze is impenetrable and unblinking. Up close, I can see that a long, faded scar runs down her left cheek. A teardrop pendant hangs around her throat.

“Hi,” I say. Standing close to her, I feel the tug between us grow even stronger. “You’re Nivene, right? The other Sentinel.”

“That’s right.” Her voice is soft and sad. “The other Sentinel.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you, but this isn’t a good time,” I say. “The shadow trial is about to start, and if I fail this—”

“I need your help now. The lives of all the people here are at stake.”

I blink. “What are you talking about?”

“All this time, you’ve been training to be an Agent of Camelot,” she says. “To go beyond the veil into Fey France. To spy on Auberon’s forces. But surely you realize there’s a second side to that coin.”

It takes me a second to catch up. “Yeah.” My voice cracks, just a bit. “While we’re spying on Auberon’s Fey, they’re spying on us.”

“Precisely.” She nods. “Fey spies, saboteurs, and assassins. There’s a war going on, and it takes place on both sides of the veil. You were the target of such an operative, right?”

“A veil mage broke into my room,” I say. “He tried to kill me.”

She uncrosses her arms and steps forward. “And now, another of Auberon’s veil mages is here. Right now. I’ve felt him…somewhere nearby, just ten minutes ago. Auberon’s spies must have found out about this trial. Really, it’s a priceless opportunity for the Fey. All of Avalon Tower’s cadets in one place, and many of the knights, too. And what’s worse, they’re about to split up. A skilled assassin would be able to take them out one by one.”

“If that’s true, we have to stop the trial,” I say. “We need to tell them—”

She lets out a short, bitter laugh. “If only. Do you think I haven’t tried that?”

“Then why is the trial continuing?”

“Avalon Tower is weighed down by protocol and politics. I know you’ve noticed that.” Nivene looks at the huddled cadets. “I’ve never been very good at convincing anyone of anything. That was my sister’s skill.”

I notice the past tense. “Was she at Avalon Tower, too?”

“Her name was Alix, and she had just fallen in love for the first time. And now, she’s gone.”

The name sparks a memory. “She was the other Sentinel. The one who died.”

“Yeah.” Nivene’s voice turns to a whisper. “I never realized how good she was at what we did until she was gone.”

“Disrupting the veil?”

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