Page 61 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

The thought sent a shiver down my spine, and I closed my eyes briefly.

Nope.

This was not the time to think about him.

“Gwyneth holds the answer to the riddle. We need to get to the chapel—that’s where she’ll be waiting for us.” At least, I hoped she would be. “And since the last time I saw her, she tried to drown me, I was hoping you’d come with me for a bit of backup.”

Maisie jumped out of bed, pulling long trousers over her shorts and slipping into her shoes without bothering to tie the laces. She tugged on one of Nathaniel’s jumpers, clearly not pausing to overthink the situation.

My heart warmed a little. I’d asked for help, and she hadn’t hesitated to act.

She grabbed her phone and turned on the flashlight. “We have to take Naomi with us.”

“I’m not sure she’ll agree to—” I began, but Maisie cut me off.

“Naomi might be a bit blunt sometimes, but she’s actually a beacon of light.”

I frowned. “You think every breathing creature is a beacon of light with a warm heart.”

Maisie chuckled, unlocking our door. We kept it locked at night for privacy.

“I do, but Naomi really is a soft soul under her mask. Besides, without her, we’re not going anywhere. Did you forget, Doe, that I can’t see, sense, or feel spirits?” she whispered, opening the door and stepping into the corridor of the girls’ dorm.

I followed her, distracted by the dream. Of course, I’d forgotten that Maisie wasn’t like Jesse, Naomi, or Archer. Something about her and Nathaniel’s bloodline made them too pure to sense the dead.

Mental note: ask Maisie why that is when we’re back from the church.

I followed my friend through the corridors, letting her lead me since I had no clue where Naomi’s room was located. We weren’t necessarily close. Though I had to admit that I admiredthe way she didn’t give a single care about anything but herself and what she wanted. It didn’t seem to be in a narcissistic way to me. She was just so full of confidence, it almost awoke some kind of jealousy in me.

We stopped in front of a door only a few metres away from our own.MinoruandTannerwere written on the sign at the door.

Maisie pulled out a key from her pants and unlocked the door. When she pushed the wood open, it made loud squeaking noises, and I held my breath, hoping no one, who wasn’t supposed to, heard us.

Both girls sat up in their beds, and the light switched on.

“For fuck's sake, what do you want here?!” Rebecca Tanner yelled angrily at us, pushing her sleeping mask off her eyes.

“I'm terribly sorry for waking you, but we need to talk to Naomi, it’s really important,” I apologised, but if eyes could kill, the blond girl would have been my end by now.

Normally, I tried not to judge people in a bad way, but Rebecca was a bitch. She had the belief that she was somewhat better than everyone else, and from what I had seen, her biggest and only insecurity stood right next to me. And just as I thought about it, her eyes snapped to Maisie.

“I’ll tell Chadwick about you breaking into my room in the middle of the night. He’ll probably expel you for being a threat to others, you psycho,” she hissed, and suddenly, I didn’t feel sorry at all for waking her.

Naomi got out of bed, getting dressed the same way we had, by just throwing thicker clothes over the ones she was already wearing. Even awoken before the crack of dawn, she still looked strikingly beautiful.

“Get a grip on yourself, Rebecca; not everything is about you. What’s your plan—to knock on a teacher’s door in the middle of the night, looking like a student in scandalous need? And inthe morning, how mad must you sound when your word stands against the three of us? Little Miss Tanner needs some attention again. Scandalous,so scandalous,” Naomi taunted, and I had to press my lips into a thin line to hide my amusement.

Rebecca gaped at her and threw a pillow at Naomi, which she caught easily. “I hate you. All of you,” she spat. We didn’t bother to continue this one-sided conversation and stalked out of the room.

“Do you think she’s mean to us because she doesn’t like me?” Maisie asked quietly as we made our way towards the marble stairs.

I scoffed, “don’t be ridiculous, how can anyone not like you? She’s just mean to everyone.” Well aware of my words speaking anything but the truth, I held on to the lie. Maisie was a sweet soul, and I didn’t want her to be hurt by some girl blinded by arrogance.

“You don’t have to act like you don’t see how she basically bares her teeth at Maisie in every given situation. She knows,” Naomi assured without looking at me.

It wasn’t difficult to leave the building without getting caught. Honestly, it was a surprise that we could easily sneak out like that. On my first day, most teachers made sure to remind me that the curfew was so significant and the consequences of breaking it could result in up to two weeks’ detention.

My mind had imagined security wandering through the halls of the school at night, only waiting for an opportunity to catch a student misbehaving. To our luck, none of that was the case.

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