Page 134 of Liminal
Why would it let him sneak up on me like that? Invisibility spells can’t fool the Arcanaeum. It knows where all patrons are at all times. It chose to conceal him from me.
A glance at my skirts reveals that they’re shattered. The impact of Pierce’s touch on my spine has created a cobweb of glowing black lines which claw all the way down around my hips to my toes.
Almost every single part of me is affected. Only my face remains.
The noise of someone approaching startles me, and I dart into a bookcase before they can find me.
“Boss?” Lambert calls.
He’s clutching that stupid jacket to his side again, walking in with an easy swagger, like he isn’t expected to play a huge game in just a few hours. Does he even get nervous?
“She’s not here,” North points out, half a step behind him.
Lambert turns in a slow circle, still searching. “But I heard her. She seemed…”
“Just leave the jacket, and let’s go already. My head is killing me, and I want to grab some drugs before the game starts.”
“I wanted to see her,” Lambert protests. “Besides, she probably has some potion or something for that.”
“I owe her enough already,” North mutters. “C’mon, let’s find Eddy. She wanted to show you her decorations, right?”
Lambert tosses a look around the Ruinous Hall for the last time, then gently places the jacket over the back of one of the study chairs. “Hey, Arcanaeum, can you make sure the boss lady gets that? Let her know I’ll be back for my victory hug later!”
The traitorous building gives a happy flutter, the festive bells hanging on the nearest bookshelf jingling with painful merriment, and Lambert grins.
“Don’t you think you should stop flirting with her?” North grumbles as he drags Lambert away. “She’s dead.”
“She’s still the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” Lambert says with easy insouciance. “Plus, she’s still got feelings and shit.”
“Yeah, cranky ones.” North eyes the books warily, like he expects to be attacked with books for his bitterness, but I don’t have it in me to scold him.
Nor do I have the strength to pick up the jacket and pretend everything is okay. The Arcanaeum lifts the garment towards me as soon as they’re gone, but I wave it off.
“Just…leave me alone,” I tell it. “I know you want me gone, but…can I have that, at least?”
It’s a rhetorical question, and I don’t wait for it to sag in false sorrow before I dissipate. I can’t even go to my clock tower, because Eddy is there getting ready for the game.
Which only leaves…
My crystal corpse is a mess. Chips of stone jutting out from jagged cracks. I almost wish Pierce had caught my face, because then the only immaculate part of me wouldn’t be screaming like she can feel the cracks.
I trace a finger over the first one. The one on my hand where I tried to grab Dakari. The fissures are deep and edged with violence.
They’re all like that. A grab. A brush. An accidental strike. Not one touch has been out of love or even friendship. I stare at the cracks in my skirts, feeling emptier than ever.
My conversation with Benny Carlton plays on repeat. He and Pierce purposefully tricked me, and the Arcanaeum—which could’ve warned me—chose not to.
In death, I’m as much of an object to be manipulated as I was in life.
I think… I think I’ve finally had enough.
Thirty-Eight
Jasper
“Do you have to go?” Ma asks, as I shrug my jacket on. “I get worried whenever you leave us now.”
I offer her a gentle smile. Honestly, my family seems more affected by my captivity than I do. They hover around me like I might disappear if they let me out of their sight.
