Page 49 of Architecti
“I told you.I wanted to know what it sounded like when it broke.”
“But…” I whimper.
“Don’t you feel it?”she asks.
“Feel?”
She nods enthusiastically.“Theafter.The completeness?”
“It was complete before.”
“No,” she says.“Ifinishedit.”
I remain there for a while after she leaves, trying to understand what she meant.Finished, as in ended the castle’s life?Finished, as in the castle wasn’t complete until it was back in the original forms of its parts?
No matter which way I try and piece her words together, it doesn’t make sense.I watch her walking away.Her wing tips no longer drag on the ground, and she stands a little straighter.She doesn’t return to the shadows.
Mummy said I was born for creation, and Interitus was born for destruction.
I just didn’t think she’d destroy something I made for her.
17
Midnight
It’s late by the time Lex, Bastien and I approach House Inferos.Bastien’s leg was dealt with by the medical staff before they’d let us come to our new digs.They bandaged him and gave him some anti-necrotic salve, which seemed to do the trick.He’ll be sore for a couple of weeks, but the puncture wounds will heal.
Images of Lucy’s unconscious body in Professor Ironheart’s arms roll through my mind.Even when I try and focus on the campus buildings and the map, I can’t seem to scrub the visions from my mind.I’m not sure if it was the way her head hung limp in the crook of his elbow, or the revelation that she’s Ignatius’s daughter that’s thrown me.
As we traipse towards House Inferos, it’s all I can think about: Lucy is the soul I’m meant to reap.This deal with the campus was meant to be the easy way out, the soul I reap without breaking a sweat.
But now I feel…
I don’t know, something?
What’s worse is that I feelsomethingabout the fact I feel something.
And honestly, I can’t cope with any of that.
The three of us draw to a stop as we gain our first view of House Inferos.It stands, regal and Gothic, all black and stone and glass.Our home for as long as we survive.
Perhaps my last home—another thing I’ll try not to think too deeply about.
The main façade is narrow but juts high into the sky with spires piercing the clouds.The mansion extends out on either side and then cuts towards us, making a horseshoe-shaped building.The outer wings are for the students, no doubt.
Long, pupil-like windows stare down at us—a constant reminder that the campus is always watching.The same campus I made a deal with, and the itch along my spine tells me it’s not going to forget.
My parent’s images flash in the window.One minute smiling, the next, pale, gaunt and dead.I slam my hand over my face, trying to wipe the image away.When I glance back it’s gone.Nothing but glass and the reflection of the ground.Did I imagine it?
Yeah.It’s not going to forget.
The mansion is beautiful, though.Autumnal ivy clings to the exterior and crimson and copper leaves bleed down the stone walls.The door stands in a lavish archway with a gargoyle nestled against it, sleeping.
Wind hums and throbs around us, sounding eerily like the campus has a heartbeat.
Midnight, Midnight, Midnight.
That voice.
