Page 102 of By the Orchid and the Owl
Garvis rolled his shoulders, as if preparing for a mental fight.
“There’s a ward imbued in its walls. While we’re in here, no other Mind Manipulator can hear what we’re saying from the outside. It’s meant to help us focus on whoever’s directly in front of us rather than all the random people passing by outdoors.”
I’d never given much thought to how… chaotic Mind Manipulating must be, but now my thoughts rushed back to the first branded Manipulator of our year, who’d sunk to her knees screaming onstage when all the voices had flooded her brain.
Coen was saying now, “I assume Garvis has filled you in on what happened?” When Terrin, Sasha, and Sylvie nodded, he nodded back. “Good. We don’t have much time to prepare. Mr. Gleekle will be calling in the Good Council any moment, so here’s what we know: Rayna thinks it was a boy in her class named Fergus who did it by urging mold to grow at an alarming rate in the teacher’s body.”
I actually hadn’t come to a conclusion more complex than “he did it,” but I was grateful that Coen had shaped my fear into an actual explanation.
“Wait a second,” Terrin said. “Is that the kid who got beat to shit at my formal?”
“The very same,” I said weakly. “I think he’s… pissed that no one’s taking him seriously. He wants people to be afraid of him, and when it became clear that even the oldest, frailest person on campus doesn’t bat an eye his way, he—”
I trailed off, because “exploded” wasn’t the right word, not when I’d seen how expressionless he’d been moments before.
No, this had been planned, I realized with a rush of horror. Fergus had been waiting for a moment to test his new killing power. Rather than drowning people in mold from the outside, he could now do it from theinside.
“The point is,” Coen pressed on, “members of the Good Council will be here any moment to start scouring the minds of every single person on this campus. You four—” He eyed me, Terrin, and the twins “—won’t be safe while they’re here, so you’ll need to stick with me or Garvis during the entirety of their investigation so that we can guard your minds.”
At my questioning gaze, Garvis explained in a low voice, “We do this every time the Good Council decides to look into a surplus of power. Coen and I can feed them false information and thoughts and memories if they decide to come poking around in your brain. Or Sasha’s, Sylvie’s, or Terrin’s.”
“But it prickles,” Sasha warned through her teeth.
“Yeah,” Sylvie said. “I’m not looking forward to that sensation again.”
Coen glared at them. “Yeah, well,I’mnot looking forward to a Good Council Mind Manipulator finding out that we’d be a perfect group to haul up to Bascite Mountain for torture.”
So he’d relayed to them, then, what Ms. Pincette had told me all those months ago about what truly happened to those who failed the Final Test. For some reason, the thought that Coen had included his friends in that knowledge, however dark and dreadful, made something in my chest inflate with pride.
It meant he trusted them with the fates of their own futures.
Coen glanced behind him, toward that camouflaged hatch.
“Sasha, Sylvie, how about you sleep with Garvis tonight, while Terrin sleeps with Rayna and me?”
Sleeps? When Coen had said we’d need to stick to him and Garvis, I hadn’t realized it would apply to bedtime, too. Although, now that I thought about it… the Good Council Mind Manipulators weren’t going to withhold themselves from someone’s memories just because it was the middle of the night.
In fact, invading people’s minds while they slept would probably be easier.
“With all due respect, brother,” Terrin said, clapping Coen on the back, “Kimber’ssortof kept that rumor going about how you’re banging three women at once.” He jerked a head at me, Sylvie, and Sasha, the latter of whom snarled in distaste. “If the twins slept with Garvis tonight, it might create a new rumor and garner some attention we don’t need right now. But if they sleep withyou andRayna, it would fall in line with the already-established rumor and no one would think twice.”
Coen glanced at me, a helpless expression capsizing over his face. The logic made sense to me, though, so I nodded my agreement.
Are you sure you’re okay with it? he asked mind-to-mind.
You don’t need to feel defensive about protecting your family, Coen.
Relief flickered through his eyes.Thank you.For trusting my intentions.
Then he tossed a nod at Terrin. “Right. The twins and Rayna will sleep with me tonight and you’ll sleep with Garvis.”
Terrin clapped Garvis on the back. “We can pretend to pass out drunk on the rooftop again like we did last time. Nobody will blink twice at us if we’re surrounded by bottles. Especially after an exciting day of instructors dying and such.”
“Terrin!” Sylvie cried, nudging him in the ribs. “Have some tact.”
“Oops, right.” Terrin glanced at me. “I’m sorry for your loss, Rayna.”
“Oh, no I—I didn’t know him very well. He was just…” I stumbled over my words. “I just hope he doesn’t have any family on the island. They’d be devastated to learn what happened.”
