Page 29 of By the Orchid and the Owl
I paused mid-chew. Swallowed.
“The Mind Manipulators? How… how did you manage that?”
Not that I knew the rules or etiquette for inviting other sectors over, but… if there was a party at Coen’s own mansion, surely I’d see him there? I hadn’t caught a single sight of him since that night in the alleyway, and a small, doubtful part of me was beginning to fear I’d made him up.
Rodhi beamed. “I just made out with one of their third-years beneath the stadium, and she invited us all afterward. I know, I know, selling my body for the sake of your popularity, how sad. Anyway, see you all there!”
He practically skipped away, leaving even Wren gawking.
“What aweirdo,” she said finally, her voice brimming with admiration.
Two hours later, Emelle and I were powdering our cheeks and swiping oil on each other’s eyelashes in the bathing chamber, preparing for the party.
The powder was Emelle’s, but the oil came from my garden back at home, squeezed from one of our castor plants and mixed with a bit of charcoal powder for color. I had retrieved it from an inner pocket of my bag and paused when my hand came in contact with my mother’s knife.
Even just looking at that weapon felt… wrong. Especially now that I was a Wild Whisperer. The handle was made ofbone. The sheath ofleather. And whatever profession the Good Council assigned me to after my Final Test (if I passed, of course), they wouldn’t make me go hunting down the same animals I could talk to.
I’d snatched the vial of black castor oil and hurried after Emelle without touching the knife again.
Just as we were finishing up, a fourth-year peeked in.
“Rayna? There’s some Shifter outside asking to see you. I think his name’s Lander? Should we let him in? We never allow members of other sectors to come inside unless they’ve been given express permission by someone they—”
“Yes,” I said immediately, setting my vial down. “Hold on. I’m coming.”
Glancing at Emelle, I hurried after the fourth-year to the front doors, where I threw them open and found Lander standing on our steps with his hands in his pockets.
I’d never seen him cry. Not once. But that was definitely silver emotion lining his eyes.
“I went to talk to her,” he said. “I went to talk to her thinking that maybe she’d find me cooler now that I’m a Shape Shifter, but I found her… kissing. Someone else. I broke it off right then and there before I could eventhink, and she just… she just watched me go, Rayna. She didn’t even try to stop me.”
My heart plummeted.
Quinn… how could shedothat to him? How could she do that tous, the three childhood best friends, the perfect trio?
That trio, or perhaps the illusion it had been, was shattered now. I knew that as I took in Lander’s face, mere seconds from crumpling. I’d assumed Quinn would revert back to her old self after a few days, not casually throw away their relationship like it meant nothing.
“Oh, Lander.” I held the door open wider. “I’m so sorry.”
A few fellow Whisperers jostled past me just then, cocooned in a haze of perfume as they headed to the Manipulator house, with its thumping music and strobing lights—where Emelle and I were supposed to meet Rodhi and Wren, and where maybe, just maybe, I would see Coen again.
But then Lander’s breath hitched, and I made a decision.
Reaching out, I pulled him into the foyer, where Emelle stood with her hands clasped in front of her, trying to hide her curiosity behind a pleasantly concerned expression.
“Hey,” I told her, “you go ahead without me. I’m going to hang out with my friend from back home tonight.”
But Emelle shook her head.
“I’m not going to some Manipulator flirt-fest without you. Can I stay?”
I nodded, so the two of us led Lander upstairs to the empty bunkroom, letting the music and lights of the neighboring party flood through the window.
As Lander hooked his arms around me and finally broke into sobs.
CHAPTER
12
