Pi clamped her hand over her mouth, but a little snort came out. The professor gave a darting glance in her direction, but answered the question without hesitation.
After the demonstration, Professor Mali moved to a different room so they could each eat their book and she would quiz them to the efficiency of their magical binding. The more facts you could recite, the higher the score. The room evolved into quiet chatter when the professor left.
Pi turned on her sister. "You're entirely in too good of a mood considering we got slaughtered by a room full of bugs two days ago."
"Moi?" said Aurie innocently. "Must I brood about everything? Anyway, I'm just glad we got past the first room and put some points on the board. We're still in last, but we're tied for last at least. I'm looking forward to getting back in there."
"Sucks we have to wait a week between tries now, though I suppose that's for the best. I've had nightmares about those stupid bugs killing us two nights running," said Pi.
"As far as I've heard, no one's gotten past the bug room yet, so we have time," said Aurie.
Pi eyed her sister suspiciously. "Are you taking mood-enhancing potions or something? What gives?"
"I'm not going to let that parasite over there ruin my time in the Halls," said Aurie, glaring in Violet's direction. "Besides, I have a date tomorrow."
"What? Who?" asked Pi, looking around the room.
A sly grin crept to Aurie's lips. "That fifth year from the Academy of the Subtle Arts."
"Assassins, you mean," said Pi, remembering that she'd seen him at the Ruby Court. "I'm not sure you should be messing with him."
"I'm not messing with him," said Aurie. "I'm going on a date. Anyway, I'm not blind. He wanted my help on something, but I'm not doing anything until I get to know him better. I'm aware this might be a trick, considering his Hall, but if it's not..."
Pi hesitated. She didn't want to bring up that she'd been in the Eternal City. Aurie would flip out. But she needed to warn her that he was mixed up in dangerous business.
"I saw him the other day," said Pi. "He was with some members of the Ruby Court."
"Stop it, Pi. I'm doing this," said Aurie.
"Couldn't you pick someone safer? Like Deshawn or Rigel?" asked Pi.
"Deshawn's a friend, and Rigel's got a cute girlfriend from Aura Healers. Come on, Pi," said Aurie.
"Fair enough. But please be careful. Zayn's cute, okay, strike that, he's drop-dead gorgeous, especially with those eyes, but think about the Hall he's in, and what he's going to be doing after he graduates this year. I can't see how you can trust him."
"Isn't it my job to be the big sister?" asked Aurie.
"And it's my job to be reckless and impulsive," said Pi.
"Aurelia," said Professor Mali, beckoning her into the side room for her quiz.
Aurie grabbed her book and nibbled on the side. "Bottoms up!"
Pi laughed, shaking her head, but really she was worried about her sister. It wasn't like her to be like this. Either she was cracking under the pressure, or this was the real Aurie beneath the crushing responsibility. Pi hoped it was the latter, though she vowed to keep an eye on her.
Suddenly, the wretched scent of musky plum invaded Pi's nose.
"Are you trying to attract flies with that?" Pi asked as Violet approached, holding her hands behind her back.
"You should be nicer to me," said Violet with a practiced flip of her hair.
"Actually no, that's not how it works. I despise you, your rich mother, and everything the pair of you stand for. Eventually karma will catch up to you, and the reaping will be glorious," said Pi.
"To think," said Violet, "I was coming over to offer an olive branch."
"Don't lie about that," said Pi.
"I'm not," said Violet. "I don't want to war with you two for our whole time in Arcanium. We don't have to be friends, but at least we cannot be enemies."
Pi eyed Violet carefully. She seemed strangely apologetic.
"I'll bite," said Pi. "What are you offering?"
"I'll back off with your sister," said Violet, "and keep my Alchemist friends from seeking revenge."
"And why would you do this?" asked Pi.
Violet's shoulders slumped, a measure of fear flickering across her gaze. She brought her hands around. In her grip was a stack of papers loosely shoved between bindings. The whole pile looked ready to fall onto the floor at any moment.
"Is that your book?" asked Pi.
Water welled up in Violet's eyes. "I'm terrible at this. I never did crafts as a kid. That was never my mom's thing."
"Doesn't she own a newspaper?" asked Pi.
"Yeah, but she runs the business side of it, she doesn't make them. I'm awful at all things books. If I don't get a better grade in this class, I'm going to flunk out this year, after I'm twenty, which means I can't reapply," said Violet.
"So you want my help with your book in exchange for backing off?" asked Pi. "Even if I wanted to help you, there's no time. Whatever that pile of papers is, it's not a book, no matter how much I might try to help you."
Violet's gaze lowered until it rested on the book on Pi's table.
"Oh, I see," said Pi, a pit forming in her gut.
"No one will mess with her. I promise," said Violet.
This project was a big part of their grade. Pi hated the idea of trading with Violet, but that gaggle of Alchemist girls could cause a lot of trouble.
Pi gritted her teeth. "You promise?"
"I promise," said Violet earnestly.
Pi handed her copy of Magical Wings of North America to Violet. When she accepted Violet's copy, a few pages fell on the floor.
"Sorry," said Violet. "I told you I was bad at this."
Violet was the next name called. When Aurie came back out, Pi hid the pile of junk that was called a book under her book bag and made small talk with her sister until it was her turn.
After scooping up the pages, and holding them together by cradling her arms, Pi hurried towards the side room. Violet came out with an aura of smugness on her lips so thick it made Pi choke.
Eyes glittering, Violet touched Pi's arm affectionately and whispered, "Thanks, Hick Pi. The professor was so impressed with my book that she awarded me extra points. You really know your bibliomancy."
"You promised," said Pi, intoning the words as a threat.
"I did," said Violet, holding her hand over her heart. "After all, I promised. But it won't matter." She winked. "Because my friends are terrified of you and Aurie. They're not going to come within a hundred feet of you ever, if they can help it."
She wanted to punch Violet in her perfect face, but then the book would have fallen to the floor. Violet gave her a patronizing pat on the arm before strolling victoriously back into the other room.
"Miss Pythia, it's your turn," called the professor from the other room.
Pi blew a breath out and marched forward. She was beginning to understand her sister's intense hatred for Violet Cardwell.
Chapter Eleven
Aurie had been less nervous when she'd faced down the strange winged creature in the Enochian District than she was as she waited for Zayn. Her mouth was a little dry, and she kept having fears about tripping over her own feet, or the boot she'd been continuously repairing with mendancy failing at an awkward time. She fixed it twice again while waiting for him.
Cars flashed by, heading round the traffic circle. On the other side, a bronze statue of Invictus forty feet tall drew crowds. Hundreds of teenagers on winter holiday were taking selfies. The warm weather had been a boon for city tourism.
"We can go over and take one if you want," said Zayn, coming up from behind her.
He wore jeans and a simple black V-neck shirt, which was a relief. She didn't have any "date" clothes, and had worn her jeans with an aqua sleeveless light hoodie.
"Next you'll want to take a horseless carriage ride," she said, nodding towards a couple in the back of a white carriage. The girl had a rose in her hand
and a bored look on her face. "I hope you can do better."
Zayn held a grin full of secret knowledge. He glanced at her boots.
"Good choice," he said.
Aurie didn't bother asking about why she would need boots, because she knew he wouldn't tell her. She just hoped they held up during their journey.
They headed away from the statue toward a mixed residential area with cafes and three-story brick houses. The streets reminded her of a more urban version of her old neighborhood.
"Where are you from?" she asked as they walked shoulder to shoulder, occasionally bumping lightly as they passed around lampposts or other pedestrians.
"Alabama. A little town you've never heard of," he said.
"Really? I never heard a hint of it in your speech," she said.
"The first thing we learn in the hall is to remove our accents, especially southern ones. Priyanka says they make us sound stupid," he said, eyes crinkling with thought.
Aurie left her agreement unsaid. She didn't want to insult him.
They neared an outdoor restaurant called Olympias filled with smiling couples and families. Roast lamb and Greek spices permeated the air, making Aurie's stomach grumble. She thought they might go in, but instead, they went around towards the back. At the end of an alleyway, an archway led to a secret garden. Zayn touched bricks seemingly at random, and whispered a spell before they passed through. Aurie's skin tingled, and she guessed there was an invisible barrier.
At the center of the garden, hidden from the entrance by flowering lavender bushes, was an obsidian arch.
"It's a portal," said Aurie.
"You've used the Garden Network?" he asked, turning on her.
"No, I've just seen one before," she said, and when his brow bunched up, she added, "In a book."
It looked more permanent than the one her parents had constructed in the Undercity.
"Right," he said, not sounding completely like he believed her.
"Who made this?" she asked.
"Invictus," he added. "He wanted an easy way to move around the city. Only the patrons and a few other people have access."
"Like Priyanka's assistant," she said.
He gave a prideful shrug. "It has its perks. Now come here and hold my hand. We have to go through together."
His hand was warm and strong. He had calluses on his fingertips and along the ridge of his palm.
Before they passed through, he said, "Jaune-rouge."
The vertigo wasn't as severe as last year when she'd gone to Egypt, but she didn't want Zayn to know she'd traveled by portal, so she bent over on the other side, shaking her head.
"That's awful," she said.
"You get used to it."
They stood in near darkness. A faint glow from the portal illuminated a rock garden. Somewhere in the distance she heard water dripping.
"Undercity?" she asked.
"Let me guess," he said, "read it in a book."
She had to be careful with her knowledge. "My sister and I explored a little of the upper regions. Nothing too dangerous."
"I suppose everyone does it eventually," he said. "But it is dangerous. A kid in my class disappeared my second year when he went exploring alone."
"Never found him?"
"They didn't bother. He wasn't supposed to be there, and the place is too big for an effective search. I've heard the Undercity is bigger than the city itself. If he's lucky, he's dead," he said in a way that told Aurie he'd experienced those sorts of things himself.
Aurie reached for her earrings to make light, but remembered that she'd used them to escape in the Enochian District. While she was preparing a wisp, Zayn put a spell on her eyes by lightly touching her forehead with his fingertips.
Suddenly, the world bloomed into existence, a plethora of blacks, whites, and grays with distinct lines like a charcoal drawing. The cave was much larger than she first thought. They stood in a pristine rock garden on a little plateau.
Zayn led her away, taking her on a path. The way was rocky, with frequent changes in elevation. A family of large rodents, two parents with a dozen smaller children following, crossed at one point. After they were gone, Zayn explained they were common to the upper areas of the Undercity. Not dangerous, and frequently the prey of other denizens.
At one point, Zayn had them climb into a crevasse that went down twenty feet. Aurie put a spell on her hands so she wouldn't slip, a practical spell that got a nod from him.
There was no path at the bottom, which made travel slow. The air was thick and slightly warm, bringing beads of sweat to her forehead, some breaking and running down her chest. After about what seemed like miles, but was probably only three hundred feet, they came out upon a ledge.
They scooted to the edge. It wasn't a complete drop-off, but a steep slope. Zayn reached into a cooler along the wall to produce a chilled bottle. She didn't think he'd prepared this for her, but it was a place he came to often. The water was cool on her tongue.
"What is—" she started to ask, but he put his finger on her lips and shook his head.
He said in a whisper, "We can speak, but quietly. We don't want to disturb the nest."
At the words—the nest—a shiver of fear went through her. Zayn pointed into the cave, which was about a hundred feet in diameter. The ledge was around forty feet up. Covering the far wall was a glistening white sheet, gently moving in an unseen wind. She didn't realize what it was until she identified the black specks moving across its surface.
"That's a web," she said.
He grinned with the kind of glee reserved for boys and their toys.
"There must be hundreds of spiders," she said, hiding her revulsion.
"Thousands, maybe more," he said as he searched her face for a reaction.
She reminded herself that she was the one that had demanded a date unique to him. She just hadn't expected hiding out in a cave full of spiders.
"Are they dangerous?" she asked.
"Only in swarms, though I suppose if you're a cave cricket, even one is dangerous," he said.
Zayn looked upon them like a kid watching a litter of puppies fall over each other. "Achaeranea magicaencia. One of the few colonies left in the world. They live near heavy faez usage, which is why they're in the Undercity. Which reminds me, don't use any magic. They're drawn to faez and can absorb it, making them deadly to mages."
"Wonderful," she said, remembering the thralls in the Enochian District. That night had been a disaster.
He looked back at her, touched her leg. "Don't worry. We're safe up here. I come here all the time."
"I thought you didn't like spiders?" she asked.
It took him a moment to remember. He seemed to prepare his answer carefully. "Back in Freeport Games? I was afraid it might be poisonous."
She touched his elbow, running a finger along a line of web tattoo. "I don't think you were being completely honest with me that day."
"You caught me half naked in the closet. What was I supposed to say?" His voice echoed in the cave.
"Why do you come here?" she asked.
He looked at her with his ice-blue eyes. She tried not to imagine chewing on his lower lip.
"This is going to sound weird, but it reminds me of family. I have a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins back home. Everyone lives in the same town, so it's kinda like that spider colony, with everyone pitching in to help, swarming over problems no matter how difficult," he said.
"You miss them," she said.
"Yeah," he said wistfully. "I'd never been outside of my town until I came to the Halls. It's lonely."
"What about your other classmates?" she asked.
He snorted softly. "My hall isn't like most of the others. It's best to keep to yourself."
Sitting a few inches from each other, they stared at their feet. Aurie had a million things to ask him, but they all sounded forced and awkward in her head, so she stuck to a safe question.
"What was that project you needed help with?" she
asked.
She regretted the question instantly. It was like the words had branded him. He leaned back, away.
"We don't have to talk about that now if you don't want," he said.
"It's okay," she said, curious. "I don't mind. After all, you showed me a unique part of yourself."
He searched for the words. "I feel like an ass asking. There's a book in Arcanium's library that I was hoping to get a look at. I have this thing, and it might be able to help me."
"What's it called?" she asked, curious.
"Impossible Magics," he said, looking straight into her eyes.
A rock formed in her gut. Suddenly she was feeling manipulated. The duplicitous nature of his Hall came front and center in her mind. He was probably acting on orders for Priyanka.
"You okay?" he asked.
She realized she couldn't let him know her mistrust. If it was subterfuge, and it felt like it, she had to play the game better than him. But she wasn't a practiced liar, despite her gift for mendancy.
Before he could ask another question, she jammed her lips against his. He made a little noise, as if she'd spanked him on the ass lightly, and then they melted together.
She'd never considered that subterfuge could be so rewarding. His soft lips nibbled and teased, a playfulness that exposed a different side of him, tongue brushing hers but never demanding.
He tasted like sweet, glorious mint, and she didn't know how long the kissing went on. She was cradled against him, fingers rushing over his short hair, tracing down his back.
She put the sharp edge of her fingernails along his neck and clawed softly like a cat claiming its spot. He relinquished a moan which echoed her desire.
She was glad for the uncomfortable rocky surface, or she would have given her yearning its due, climbing on top and straddling him. She wasn't a virgin, but preferred to take her time.
Then he pulled away, turning his head to listen, while she quietly panted.
A soft squeaking from below put a dagger into her desire. Peeking over the edge revealed a young rodent who had fallen into the cave and appeared injured. Already, spiders mobilized in the youngster's direction.
"We don't have to watch if you don't want," he said.
Web of Lies (The Hundred Halls Book 2) Page 9