Page 48 of A Fate Everlasting

Dante nodded at him once, then spun on his heel, turning to leave. This was my one chance. He had the cards still.

I stepped out from the shelves, arms folded tightly across my chest. “You really messed things up for me, you know.”

Dante barely flinched. A flicker of something like genuine surprise crossed his face before it smoothed into seamless indifference.

“You knew.” My voice wavered, but not with fear, with fury. My nails bit into my palms enough to leave white half-moons behind. “You knew they wouldn’t just expel me if we stole those cards.”

“I needed help. You were a welcome distraction,” he admitted. The alchemist squeaked again at the sight of me, and scuttled away.

“A distraction?” I scoffed.

His jaw tightened as he traced over me, raking over the bruises beneath my eyes, the desperation I couldn’t quite hide. Then something flashed behind his eyes. Something almost…fearful.“You look like hell. Go home, Arabella.”

I let out a brittle laugh as I lifted my chin. “My score collapsed. They think I tampered with it. They’re forcing theperson responsible to graduate early. I’d be lucky to become a wraith. More than likely I’ll vanish.”

“Verrine suspects you?”

“She will.” I felt a squeeze in my chest. “My score dropping like that leaves one conclusion.”

Dante shrugged, his expression cold. “There are worse things than Falling, you know.”

Heat coiled low in my chest, my mind rushing. I didn’t think as I slapped him. The sound cracked against the shop’s thick silence as I shook my palm, the stinging ricocheting across it.

Dante didn’t react, just blinked, like I had just done something mildly interesting. Then, he turned to leave. “Takecare, little thief.”

“Wait.” I hated the way he called me that. Like it was a joke only he was in on. My nails dug deeper into my palms. “Please.Give me the rest of the cards so that I can fix this.”

“The rest?” The amusement in his eyes dulled slightly, instead he was searching. “I already told you. This is bigger than you.”

“Fine. Forget the cards,” I pleaded, panic rising in my throat. “I need a way home. JustThe Hanged Man.We can’t rely on Verrine to resurrect all of us.”

“Us?” Dante’s brow arched.

“Dorian and Hugo are with me.”

“You don’t need a card for that.Think.” He tapped his temple as he drew closer, leaning in. Close enough that I could reach into his blazer pocket, draw out the cards. I felt them there, somehow. “Can you imagine the outrage if word got out? Students vanishing into Elsewhere. The school failing to protect them. Evermore would lose its prestige,” he said. “Verrine would never let that happen. Especially to Dorian. Especially toyou.”

“I thought I was unremarkable.” A shiver laced down my spine, unease curling low in my stomach. Not just at the words,but at the certainty in his tone. “You’re saying she will come and get us?”

“If you play this right,” Dante’s lips twitched. “She’ll have to.”

His eyes flickered, briefly but unmistakably, to my throat. I stared at him, trying to process whether it was better to die a ghost than face the wrath of Verrine Cavendish. I wanted him to say he was sorry, that he’d fix this.

My heart thundered in my ears as Dante pulled closer, magic pulsing at his chest. He was so close I could smell the cinnamon on him. It would be so easy to let my hand slip upward, into his blazer pocket and snatch the cards.

“You want my advice?” Dante murmured. “Don’t do anything reckless. Wait for someone to come and collect you if you want to make it out of here alive.”

My hand moved toward him, toward the edge of his blazer, but he turned away too fast for me to follow through. I raced after him but as I stepped out into the quarter, he was already gone.

21

“Well, you won’t like what I have to say.” I strolled toward the boys, mind reeling. I still felt the ghost of Dante’s warning trailing me, but I didn’t have the luxury of doubt. Not anymore. We had twenty-two hours, that was it. We didn’t have time for fear. If we hesitated now, we’d lose everything.

Dorian lounged against a black marble pillar, the flick of his lighter punctuating the silence. I leveled a glare at him, reserving my smile for Hugo. He lifted me effortlessly and for a moment I felt anchored to something real, to home.

“I had no luck,” Hugo murmured as he set me back on my feet, his words low with frustration. “What about you?”

“A little,” I admitted. “I saw Dante. I didn’t get the cards, but I know where he’s going.”

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