Page 35 of Architecti
“As in—” he starts.
“Yes, as in lexicon.”She’s short with him, but softening.
“So, we have a Subtext student, and let me guess…” He scans up and down my body.“Has to be a Detour.”
Gods dammit, I make a commitment to go to the library tonight when everyone is asleep and make a start on catching up.
I’m not letting him think he’s got the upper hand though, so I shrug.“What is with everyone assuming I’m here to walk the Veil.”
Lex makes an indignant snorting sound.“Oh, please.Detours are all about the vibes.And you, girl, areallvibes.”
I glare at her, disliking that she’s read all of this within about three minutes of meeting me.
“Which makes you…” Lex stares at Bastien, squinting and scanning him the same way he did me.“Hmm, scarred hands, and despite your exterior beauty, you hold grief in your eyes.I’m putting my money on a Restart.”
I follow her assessment.The grief lingering in his eyes is stark.Despite the fact he holds himself upright, it’s a cold posture masquerading as a barrier.Gods, Lex is good.Her read is exceptional.
Bastien purses his lips and shimmies his shoulders as if shucking off her judgement.
“Bravo,” he says, though he looks more put out than impressed.
I laugh.“Not so nice having the tables turned on you, is it?”
He ignores my quip and points at the clusters of students.“I’m assuming you two don’t know anyone joining this year, either?There seems to be cohorts of people that have joined together, given the groups walking into the Hall of Unfinished Business.”
I shake my head.“Just me.”
“Me too,” Lex says.
“Then, umm.”His eyes drop to the ground, and I realise he doesn’t want to be alone.My whole body reacts, a visceral impulse to clutch him tearing through me.I want to know what shape his grief takes and why a scar runs down from his eyelid to his cheek bone.One of his eyes is damaged, his pupil permanently blown and a little murky.
I want to pry the story from him, just as much as I want to learn the truth behind why Lex wants to speak to the dead.A trio, all holding secrets and stories and the burning need to secure entrance to Finis.
“Come on, you can join us, can’t he, Lex?”
Lex drags her eyes to mine, a distinct shade of unimpressed drifting through her gaze, but she sags.She recognises the fact he’s part of us now whether she likes it or not.
“Yeah, okay.This year is going to be tough, no one should be on their own.Come on.”
And together, the three of us walk into the Hall of Unfinished Business.And all I can think is that this is some kind of fucked-up irony, because this is where I intend to finishallof my business.
13
Midnight
The hall is the kind of cavernous reserved for childhood horrors.The same archways that lined the cloister corridors stretch from either side of the room.I crane my head up.The ceiling has a spine-like structure that reaches from one end of the room to the other.Spearing off the sides are support beams that look too much like a ribcage.
“Is that…” I whisper.
“Supposedly,” Bastien says.
Lex points at what would be the head end of the spine.“Rumour says it’s some giant dead demon.But there’s a lot of myth and rumour in this place.No one knows what’s real and what’s fiction.I think they do it to scare the first-years.”
“How about you don’t tell me all the horror stories, and I won’t have nightmares tonight,” Bastien whines.
“Don’t be such a pussy,” I nudge him, grinning.
At the end of the room, a stage is set above row after row of seating.There’s a lectern and stood to the side of it is Ignatius fucking Corvine.
