Page 88 of Saints & Sinners

By the time the rankings were posted in the common rooms, I was sure I would find Hunter at the top of the list. I’d made my way through Ascendants crowded around, searching for their names as my eyes scanned the list, seeing Hunter and Silas at the top before they landed on number ten—Grace Martin—I froze.

“What?” I whispered, blinking as if my name would be gone from the list the next time I opened my eyes.

It hadn’t.

Eden appeared beside me, smiling with delight. “Congratulations!” she said. “Keep this up, and you may prove the Council wrong yet.”

As she winked at me and walked away to congratulate others on making it into the top ten, the realization sank deep into my stomach.

I caught Matias’s glare from across the room, his jaw tight, before I looked back at the list and saw that my name was above his.

Later that evening, once I’d let the reality of being in the top tensink in, Nadael’s voice rang through the canteen.

“Attention, all Ascendants. It is with great pleasure that I say that the competition ball will be reinstated this year—the first in over thirty years, thanks to Eden’s proposal of uniting and celebrating you all.”

Excited murmurs broke out through the canteen while Marnie clapped beside me. My brows drew together as I searched for the person I wanted to see, but he wasn’t there. There was only Brandon and Silas again, though Silas’s gaze was fixated on someone else from across the room.

Veronica.

She was alone, opposite him on another table, looking just as irritated as she always looked.

“Now,” Nadael continued, and as if Veronica knew I was staring at her, she looked up, and I quickly turned my head. “The ball will take place three weeks from now, where the chosen participants for the competition will be picked.”

“Oh, my goodness, do you know what this means?” Marnie leaned into me and whispered. “Dresses! Finally! I’m so tired of wearing the same clothes all the time.”

I smiled at her enthusiasm, but as she talked about gowns and accessories, I couldn’t help but wonder what I’d wear. I didn’t exactly have a closet full of gowns. I’d already risked going out when I wasn’t supposed to, so the thought of standing out—again—made my stomach twist.

Still, as everyone else broke out into chatter over the ball, I found myself reeling in on the fact that the competition was nearing and things were about to change. I wasn’t sure if I was ready; all I was sure about was Hunter, and even then, we were balancing on a thin line.

Chapter Forty-Three

I stared at the glowing screen on my desk, scanning articles for what felt like the hundredth time. My mother’s name blurred on the page, and the accompanying photograph of her from years ago almost haunted me.

Murder on Crown Lake.It read.

Unsolved.

I dug into the pocket of my hoodie, feeling for the letter my brother had sent me, detailing how he was still alive and ran my fingers along it. I carried it with me almost everywhere. It was sort of a lifeline for me—the only thing that tethered me to him.

But as I was about to take it out and read it for the millionth time, the sound of footsteps made me snap the Google tabs closed, replacing it with a random page on Celestial combat techniques.

“Do you know what Veronica did today?” Silas barged in, his voice immediately grating on my nerves. “Threw a fucking smoothie at me in the canteen. A smoothie! She almost ruined my Warrior jacket.”

I leaned back in my chair and stared at him blankly. “Did you provoke her?”

Silas paused, looking genuinely offended. “Me? Provoke her?Do you honestly think—”

“Yes,” I said without a doubt. Silas rarely elicited patience from others. I think the closest someone who was ever calm around him was Grace; even then, she had her moments.

“Look.” He sighed, dropping himself onto my bed and running a hand through his hair. “All I asked her was if she knew about the demon that killed Lucas being sentenced today to the Hollow by the Council. Obviously, she didn’t take it well.”

My body stiffened. “Today?”

“Yeah, overheard Nadael telling Azrael.”

I nodded slowly, my mind suddenly out of it.

Silas didn’t seem to notice. “Anyway—can you believe I actually miss Grace?”

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