Page 35 of A Fate Everlasting

“They were as good as mine.” Dorian’s grip tightened,tethering. “And what, Darkblood has them now? Why would you do something like this?”

“I hoped it would get me expelled.” I blinked. “Why do you both care about this deck of cards so much anyway?”

“The Arcana isn’t just a deck of cards. I was trusted to protect them. And if Dante took the deck to Elsewhere…”

He cut himself off, fingers flexing, like he wanted to break something, to break me. Something about this wasn’t just anger.

This was…fear. My skin prickled. “Look, I’m sure Dante will come back. He can’t disappear forever, right? I hear only the dead can enter Elsewhere.”

“You don’t get it.” He wasn’t looking at me anymore. His jaw was tight, his gaze dark and haunted. “The rules don’t apply to Dante, if the rumours about him are true.”

“And for you, clearly. Don’t think your mother would be impressed to hear we played poker with them the other night.”

He gave me a look that could cut the air between us into ribbons. For a fraction of a second, a breath passed between us, almost tender. If he’d leaned in, I might have let him. But then his lip twitched.Quivered.A hesitation, barely there, so quick I nearly missed it.

My necklace went glacial, cold pressing into my skin. Dorian’s hand twitched like he might reach for me again, but he didn’t. Whatever flicker of vulnerability I had seen was gone.

His jaw set, then. “I don’t care how you fix this,” he said, violet eyes pinning me to the spot, stronger than his grip had ever been. The pointed edges of his incisors gleamed. I was sure it was just fear that made my knees weak. “But if you don’t, you’ll pray for the Rift to swallow you whole when I’mfinished with you.”

I sank my teeth into my lower lip, pressing down until I tasted copper. I should have known better. The clock tower chimed distantly, ringing in the witching hour as rain hammered against the open window. I scrolled through my slate again, hoping I had misread it.

Negative fifteen. The number glared back at me, unmoving, unmerciful, worse than a death sentence. As far as I understood, there was no afterlife for the unexceptional.

I didn’t know how long it would be until someone took notice of me, of my lowered score, and wondered what I’d done.Dante knew.He knew how dangerous it was to push my ether lower. He used me anyway. My pulse thundered in my ears.

There were only two ways out of this now. I could run. Again. But where would I go? I had no money, plan, or protection. Ruby had explained briefly that Luminari were always easy to find. That’s how they’d tracked me down in the first place. Verrine would find me. Or, I could stay and try to fix my score.

If I managed to break two hundred in either direction, I had a good chance of surviving the Rift if I were forced into a graduation. And I knew there was a chance, however slim, that my mother might be waiting for me in the After despite what Dorian had said. That was as good a reason as any to try and compete with the other students for a place.

But then I thought of my mother, of her scratched out picture in the frame. She hadn’t graduated. She’d managed to escape.Why?What, orwho, had she been running from? Why would she send me here if she had fled? I pushed away the thought, shoving off the gnawing dread crawling up my spine, and threw my sheets off. I couldn’t sleep.

The shadows were long across the dormitory floor, pooling under my bed. I kept seeing the damned scoreboard flashing in the dark every time I blinked. I pressed my fingers tomy temples. My thoughts wouldn’t slow. Every path I saw ended worse than the last. Expulsion, death, the Rift.Damnation.

I needed out. Just a few minutes of air, of distraction, before I lost my grip entirely.

“Ruby,” I whispered into the darkness. “Ruby, wake up.” She groaned, curling deeper under the covers.

I nudged her. “Ruby.”

“What, Arabella?” she mumbled, barely lifting her head. Everything inside me felt off. I couldn’t sleep. Not when my entire existence was dangling by a thread.

“Can we go get a hot chocolate from the dining hall?”

“I’m sleeping.” She groaned, burrowing further into the pillow.

“Please.” The word barely made it past my lips. I never begged. But tonight, the walls were closing in, and if I didn’t get out of this room, I might shatter.

Ruby paused, really looking at me for the first time. I must’ve looked awful, all pale and shaking like I’d just woken from a nightmare. Her mouth opened slightly, as if to ask something, but she shut it again.

“Fine,” she muttered, swinging her legs off the bed. “But if we get caught, it’s on you.”

Within minutes, we were in the dining hall, sneaking past the dim lanterns with illicit hot chocolates in our hands. I stared into mine, watching the steam curl upward. Ruby leafed through a discarded copy ofThe Heavenly Oracle, its pages slightly worn as though it had been passed around.

Archangels Still Missing — Seven days without divine contact. Please report any sightings or information to the Ministry of…

The ink had begun to smudge. I looked away, heart skipping. There were more important things to focus on. Before I could stop myself, I blurted, “My score is in the negatives.”

Ruby snorted. “Yeah, right.” I didn’t smile. Her expression shifted immediately.

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