by Abbie Lyons
“I’m not going to bother lecturing today,” Mantel said at the start of class, earning back at least a little goodwill. “It doesn’t feel right. You’re free to leave, if you want. Or we can just talk. It’s all up to you.”
Right away, most of the room vacated. Only a small smattering of us remained: me, Morgan, Karolina, and a handful of others. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, Camilla was one of the first people out the door. Shocker.
“I understand how strange it is to be in a class about necromancy after somebody so important to all of us has died,” Mantel said after the other students cleared out. “At times like these, many demons wonder about the extent to which we should use necromancy. And I regret that I haven’t touched on that much in any of my lessons.”
Oh yeah, so there was that elephant in the room, too. Were we gonna throw some of Lattimore’s stuff in a pot and say a final goodbye? Even just the thought of that felt kind of meaningless.
“I’m sorry I haven’t emphasized this as much as I should have,” Mantel continued, “but perhaps the most important rule of necromancy is that we should do our best never to disturb the dead. They’re at rest in another place that we still don’t quite understand, and we should only upset that rest in times of great need.”
I thought back to what Mantel told us about the volunteers who donated items to our class. She’d said it was extremely generous of them to willingly volunteer to be contacted by the world of the living, all for the sake of our education.
“As for resurrection...like I’ve already told you, nobody ever comes back the same.” She sighed. “I realize it might not be appropriate to tie this awful thing that’s happened back to the class material, but I don’t know what else to say. I’m just as torn apart as the rest of you.”
There must’ve been a minute of silence following that. It just wasn’t immediately clear what we should actually spend our time in class doing. We were all quite literally at a loss for words.
“We could share some stories about him,” Teddy suggested. “I’m sure everybody has a Lattimore story. He really took me under his wing after I had a small issue at the end of my first year.” He was referring to when he was literally possessed by Chaos and nearly destroyed the auditorium. What was it with shit getting destroyed near the end of every semester? “He helped make me feel normal again, and since then let me visit him any time I needed to talk. He even suggested exercise as a good form of stress release, which changed my life.”
So Lattimore was the one responsible for Hot Teddy? Zelda—and the women here at Hades as a whole—owed him for that one.
“Dean Lattimore gave me my zanziphone,” Karolina said matter-of-factly. “Well, that’s when he was still just a professor. My old zanziphone broke and my family couldn’t afford a new one. He saw me crying in the hallway, and I told him what happened. The next day, he called me to his office and handed a new one right over to me. He said it was an old one that he didn’t need anymore, but I didn’t believe him. It was a lie. A nice lie.” Tears were running down her face. Just seeing her cry made my heart break all over again. “Since then, he’s come to every single one of the orchestra’s performances. He told me I play beautifully.”
That one was enough to get my tear ducts open and flowing. No use trying to hold back the sobs.
“He called me into his office a few weeks ago,” Morgan said. “I thought I was in trouble for gods know what. And you know what he said to me?” She put on her best American accent. “‘Ms. St. Germain, I’ve been hearing you threw the best party Hades Academy has seen in a long time.’ It meant the world to me! And then we just chit-chatted for half an hour about this and that. What a sweet, sweet man.”
By this point, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. And it just went on and on. Even students who I wasn’t all that familiar with had stories about the ways—both big and small—that Lattimore had touched their lives. And he did it all with such little fanfare.
Suddenly, it made complete sense why Lattimore had always seemed so busy, especially when he assumed his responsibilities as dean. He was doing all he possibly could to make sure everybody felt welcome and comfortable at Hades Academy. I wasn’t the only one who he’d granted an open-door policy to—everybody was welcome to speak with him at any time.
“The first thing Lattimore did when we met was hand over a meatball sandwich,” I said when it was my turn to share. Even Morgan and Teddy—who’d both heard me tell that story approximately a million times—laughed through their tears. “He saved me from my sad excuse for a life and once I was here, he did everything he could to make me feel at ease. Up until the very end, he was there for me.”
Mantel’s face was red from crying by the end of class. “Thank you all for sharing,” she said. “I think Dean Lattimore mattered to all of us even more than we already knew.”
As I got up to leave along with everybody else she held me back, saying she wanted to have a quick chat. I appreciated that she did it subtly. With the way people probably felt about me right now, I didn’t need the attention.
“I want to start by saying sorry,” she said. We took a seat on one of her chic couches by the back wall. “I know I made it sound like there was nothing to worry about.”
“A little,” I said. It was hard to be mad at her. The only one I was mad at after all those stories was myself. “I’m the one who should be sorry. Everybody’s favorite person is gone, and he’d still be here if it weren’t for me and—.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk about,” she interrupted.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t think kidnapping you was the main reason the Children of Abaddon were here. They would’ve loved to grab you, sure, but that was secondary. In fact, I think them acting like kidnapping you was their main priority was just a strategy.”
What the hell was she talking about?
“Look,” I said, “if this is all just some effort to make me feel less shitty about myself, then don’t bother.
“It’s not that at all! Don’t you think it’s a little strange how few of those cultists were in your dorm? And isn’t it also weird that so many of them hung back in the common room once Lattimore arrived?”
That thought...hadn’t occurred to me.
“And plus, your mother didn’t come with them,” Mantel added. “Do you really think she wouldn’t have joined them if you were their main objective?”
That thought...hadn’t occurred to me, either. But it was true—my mom didn’t seem like the type to leave things to her underlings, especially if it concerned her daughter.
“Then what were they here for?” I asked. “The cultists back in Westrock said they were there to kidnap me.”
She shrugged. “Maybe that was to draw attention away from their real objective. My best guess is Lattimore was their target. But I don’t understand why. Maybe they were upset that he was trying to dig for more information about the Children of Abaddon. Although pulling a move as dangerous as invading Hades Academy seems excessive in response to that. I’m stumped.”
It was a little relieving to think that maybe just maybe I wasn’t the indirect cause of Lattimore’s death. Still, it seemed like a stretch. After all, Lattimore would’ve never begun looking into the Children in the first place if it weren’t for me. Right?
“I’ll keep you updated about whatever I manage to figure out,” Mantel said. “But to be honest, this is above my paygrade. Figuratively speaking. We professors aren’t really supposed to go poking around for these kinds of high-level, abstract answers. And those who do, well...”
She sighed.
And a spark lit in my mind.
“You’re free to go. And again, Nova, I’m sorry.”
Our conversation did make me feel a bit better. But now a new thought was nagging at me: why would my mom stay behind when she had a chance to kidnap me herself and drag me back to Innsbruck?
There was something more going on here.
I
needed those answers.
And I had a plan.
FIRST STOP: I FOUND Professor Rouse in a small office off one of the main Hades hallways.
“Nova!” He startled from his desk, which was immaculately tidy, with actual blotting paper and a pen holder.
“I quit,” I said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I quit,” I repeated. “I’m done with being a duchess. Or being your kind of duchess.”
“Quit?” Rouse’s eyebrows puckered. “You can’t quit.”
“Watch me.” I had no patience for this anymore.
“Duchess, I understand it’s an emotional time, but—”
“So I’m emotional,” I said. “Doesn’t change the fact that I hate this class and everything it’s teaching me. If I’m going to make any difference out there I can’t just sit back and fucking...drink tea or whatever.”
At that, he goggled. Then frowned.
“You were never suited to it anyway,” he said mildly.
“Thanks for the compliment.”
I spun on my heel and left without another word.
Chapter Twenty
Second stop: I had to find Raines.
I should’ve gone looking for him sooner anyway, figure out where they’d taken him after they ripped him out of my stupid Rapunzel tower, but after Lattimore, it all just seemed like too much.
Now, though...
I needed his help. To get someone else’s help.
My footsteps rang out against the empty hallway as I booked it to Metallurgy. It was surprisingly warm outside, the ground a slushy mixture of ice crystals and mud, and I was glad for the ankle support of my boots. The familiar hut rose in front of me, a plume of smoke twisting from the small chimney.
I took a deep breath, and plunged inside.
It was its usual metallic, hard to breathe air, but as soon as my eyes and lungs adjusted, I saw him there, among the sparks, pounding away at an anvil.
At the side of the door, he looked up. Paused, hammer in hand. Then he laid it down and rushed to take me in his arms.
“Gods,” he whispered.
I could’ve stayed there forever, just knowing that he was there, solid and present and reasonably okay. But there wasn’t really time for that. Things were getting to be life and death.
I pulled back. “What did they do to you?”
“Ultimately?” Raines shook his head. “Not much. After Lattimore...I guess they had to relocate their resources. Which is not to say that I didn’t get punished, but...”
I must’ve visibly winced, because he reached out and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Nova, you have to know that it wasn’t because of you. This isn’t your fault.”
His palm was extraordinarily warm against my skin, even with a layer of cloth between us. It was all I could do not to just nuzzle against it. But I swallowed.
“I know,” I said. “Or I think I know, kind of. I’m going to have to...trust you when you say that.”
It was strange to think that that’s what it came down to: trust. I’d never trusted anyone until I came to Hades, and clearly it was still a developing skill. But if anyone deserved it, it was my friends and Raines.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” I said. “Like, so fucking glad.” The air around us felt oppressively hot, and I was almost sleepy, so reluctant to press on with what I knew was not going to be an easy conversation. Despite all the urgency, I was definitely stalling.
“Where’s Donner?” I asked.
“Burned himself,” Raines said. “A little molten silver apparently. He’s with nurse Aquaria.”
“Oh,” I said. So we were really alone.
“Here,” Raines said. “I want you to see something. I made it for you.”
“You didn’t have to,” I said automatically. “I’m perfectly capable of making my own trinkets.”
Raines raised an eyebrow. “No offense, Nova, but I’ve seen your metalwork.”
I chuckled in spite of myself. “I’m doing my best.”
Raines nodded towards the back of the workshop, and I followed him, threading my way through toolboxes and bellows and the occasional shower of sparks.
“What did you...make me?” I asked.
“A ring,” Raines said.
My heart plunged to my stomach. Holy shit. That was...
But Raines was smirking.
“I’m just fucking with you,” he said. “You’re not much of a ring girl. But this...I figured you’d dig.”
He produced a thin blade with a contoured handle that sparkled a deep teal.
It was slim, almost delicate, but even in the dim orange light of the workshop I could tell that it was sharp as a broken diamond.
I looked into Raines’s eyes, my mission almost forgotten. “You’re serious?”
“As a Chaos attack,” he confirmed, and held out the handle to me. “Take it.”
I did. It felt like it barely weighed anything and had an impressive heft to all at once. I flipped my wrist around, and it sliced through the air effortlessly.
“There’s a sheath, too,” Raines said. “Don’t need you stabbing yourself.”
“Oh good,” I said dryly.
We stood there a moment, me clutching my blade, and Raines with his arms folded despite the heat, sweat trickling down the hollow of his throat.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s perfect,” I said truthfully. “Beats the shit out of a ring.”
Raines unfolded his arms and reached behind his anvil for a small leather sheath. He gestured for the knife, which I gave over, slipped it inside, and looped the thongs of the sheath around my waist.
It was now or never. I was either going to jump his bones in the stupid workshop which didn’t even have a decent amount of flat surfaces that weren’t lightning hot, or get around to discussing what I needed to discuss.
But there was something else I wanted to know, too.
“So before, when I asked you about your dad...” The words felt heavy in my mouth. “It was because I’d just seen mine, in necromancy. I don’t know how he got there, but somehow I ended up with his face in my cauldron. And I think like subconsciously, I needed to see how someone else dealt with...the non-demon side.”
Raines stared into the boiling thousand-degree center of one of the crucibles, the red light catching his golden eyes.
“I guess I just...maybe came to terms with being something that doesn’t really fit.” He looked up at me. “There’s so much tradition and whatever around being a demon, this whole balance thing...and my very existence is kind of fighting balance. I don’t know if that necessarily means I’ll be a bad demon, if and when I ever, you know, grow up.” He gave a small smirk. “But I also think that maybe...it could be kind of a benefit. Somehow. I don’t know, I’m still fucking figuring the whole thing out. But I’m at least trying to mope less about it.” He smirked again, bigger this time.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “I think I’m not very good at balance either.”
“We can be unbalanced together,” Raines joked.
“I think we already have been,” I said.
He stepped closer to me, filling the space in front of me and around me, and I burned, with more than just the heat of the workshop.
“I have to ask you a favor,” I said, when his lips were just inches from mine.
“Well that’s a change,” Raines said. “You’re okay with letting me help you now?”
“I have to be,” I said. “Because it’s the only way we’re going to figure shit out.”
“Anything,” Raines said. “Within reason.”
I pulled back a little. “You’re not going to like it.”
Raines pulled back too. “Maybe we should talk somewhere else.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. God, even his neck was sexy. “If this is going to be like...a thing. I’d rather be hydrated, you know?”
“Sure.” I nodded. Raines gathered his stuff, slid his T-shirt and uniform s
hirt back on, and together we opened the door.
No, wait—the door opened.
And someone was waiting behind it.
Me.
Brown hair, long legs, even my goddamn Doc Martens. Not-Me’s mouth brightened into a smile.
“Finally.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Get down!”
Raines yelled before I could even react. I ducked, falling so hard to the ground that my kneecaps cracked.
What the fuck? What the actual fuck?
But before I could parse any more of the situation, the ground buckled and snapped beneath me as a shock wave of light snapped outward from...whoever that was.
Ears ringing, I looked up. And it wasn’t me anymore.
It was my mother.
“I’m sorry I’m late, Nova,” she said. She looked worse than the last time I’d seen her, heavy gray circles under her eyes and her hair in even more disarray. Yet her gaze still sparkled with some fierceness that I couldn’t understand.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier,” she went on, taking a step closer. I jumped to my feet, back, instinctively.
“Be fucking sorry you came at all.” The words shot out of my mouth. “You and your messed up friends...you killed him. You’re killing...”
Angry tears flooded down my face but I swiped them away.
“Leave her alone,” Raines said. “Get out of here.”
“Oh yes.” My mother smiled. “Your sweet little pet. You’ve done well with him, bringing him into line.”
“She hasn’t done anything to me,” Raines fired back.
“You would say that,” my mother said mildly. “Come, Nova. I’m not going to force you. This time it’s different.”
“No shit. You’re like...impersonating me?” I blinked. “What the hell is this?” My voice had faded to a whisper. My mother shook her head, taking another step towards me, inadvertently sending another fan of sparks from the machinery behind her.
Raines stepped forward, thrust himself between us, but I gently pushed him out of the way. “No,” I said. “Let me deal with her. I need to understand what the hell is going on here.”