Page 134 of The Black Table
The sentence hangs in the air.
Everyone looks at me.
Lanz, Luther, the dean and librarian, Kai, even Callahan.
Not Kingston.
“Where were you, Gwenna?” the dean asks.
I shake my head.
Say something, I mentally scream at Kingston.Say it. Tell them. Tell them I was with you.
But he can’t.
No, I think, he won’t.
He could if he cared.
He could if he ever thought about anything but himself. About what he needs to do to get ahead. About his goals, his objectives.
His needs.
And that, I realize, like a razor to my heart,is simply not who Kingston Pendragon is.
“We have a…lot to sort out,” the dean says. “Obviously, the library is closed until further notice. And we’ll be meeting with the fire marshal?—”
“But is she under arrest or something?” Kai drops his hand from his mouth, lifts his chin.
“Kai,” Luther says sternly.
“I’m just saying,” Kai gets to his feet. “Is she?”
“No,” the dean says. “Not presently, anyway.”
Not presently?I want to cry. Instead, I just sniffle, blink more tears down my cheeks and chin.
“Then why don’t you leave her alone?” Kai barks. “Leave all of us alone. Come back when there’s something you need us to do.”
The dean stares at him, and Kai stares right back. To my surprise, the dean blinks first.
“Very well,” he says, and glances around to the four of them. “I trust that you’ll…” He purses his lips, doesn’t finish the sentence. “Good evening.”
He takes his leave with the librarian trailing, and Luther goes last, casting a look at first his foster son, and then his natural one.
“Pitiful,” he mutters under his breath.
The door slams behind them.
The sound does something to me, sends my muscles weak, and I have to lean against Callahan even more than I was before. I’m ugly crying now, snotty, frothy, hiccuping, almost hysterical.
What will I do? I think. What will I do? Mom will find out. She’ll get me. She’ll be furious. She’ll force me to?—
I don’t even get a chance to finish my thought. Something, someone, wrenches me by the elbow, away from Callahan, into the middle of the hall.
I trip over my own feet, look up. It’s Kai.
“What are you doing?” says a deep voice from behind us.
