by Marian Gray
I pulled myself onto my feet and rounded upon the desk, hungry for anything that could tie him to the Hand Collector. The drawers opened one after another for me, filled with folders and papers.
There was one drawer that I couldn’t open. It required a key.
I glanced up and pulled a few essences from the small shrub in the corner of the room and pushed them out with my left hand, but they didn’t all come out. It felt as though there was a funnel attached to my left hand, clogging the way out. But it was enough to unlock the drawer.
As I ripped it open, a weird tickle grew in the palm of my right hand. I ignored it, figuring it was irritated from overuse. My eyes scanned the contents of the drawer and stopped when a very familiar silver icon stared back at me.
It was the clasp from the cloak I had found in the library. The eye was shut as it wasn’t fastened to anything. I knew it couldn’t the exact same one that I had found, for that was tucked away in my chamber. But why did Adder have one as well?
I shut the drawer and stretched out my arm, pulling more essences. I dropped my hand to cut off the flow, but it didn’t stop
Even resting at my side, my hand pulled. When it had finished with the potted plant in the corner, it began siphoning off a branch in the wall.
I shook it and closed my fingers into a fist. But it did nothing. I couldn’t stop the pull.
My hand drank in what felt like twenty-eight essences. They were heavy and began to burn from lingering with in me. I tried to push them back out through my left hand, but there was a clog of sorts. They were coming out, but not as fast as my right hand was pulling them in.
I tried to keep myself from panicking, but the overwhelming terror burst in my chest. I screamed for help as every organic in the room was sucked inside of me.
An indescribable stinging pain ricocheted across my palms. I couldn’t get the essences out, and the agony was building. The more my palms swallowed, the worse it all became. I toppled over from the pain. My muscles and bones were writhing beneath my flesh. I stared at my hands as my vision blurred, trying to make sense of it all.
I heard a distinct snap, and my fingers twisted in odd angles on their own will. I cried, shrieking. My thumb had turned itself all the way around. In a desperate attempt to save myself, I fought the flow of the pull and pushed against it, shoving everything I harbored inside, not caring how the essences extrapolated themselves.
The room ruptured. Glasses popped, windows shattered, and the cabinets collapsed. Sickness settled in my stomach, and my sight dimmed. I braced myself on the desk, taking deep breaths to slow my fading mind, but the spots eclipsed my vision, and I slumped on the floor.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I blinked as the medical wing came into focus. I heard a gasp from my side and turned my head to see a nurse dart from away, heading to another colleague. She whispered something in her ear and they both glanced at me. The charge nurse said something in reply, and the young woman darted out of the medical wing with quick steps.
The charge nurse folded her hands before her and in the long steps, crossed the room over to my bed. She smiled as her hands shone with a flamingo pink transition across the white ink. “How do you feel, Lady Ebenmore?”
“Better.” The dizziness had faded, and the sour sensation in my stomach withdrawn. I lifted a hand to brush the hair that threatened to fall on my face out of the way and paused. Three out of my five fingers were in splints. “What happened?”
“Well, it seems that while you were trespassing in Lord Adder’s office, you pulled a few too many essences and held onto them longer than you should’ve. A condition commonly referred to as Ousi Fever, But I like to refer to it as plain inexperience and ignorance.”
As the last word trickled out of her mouth, the medical wing doors flew open and the first nurse returned with Lord Adder and a police officer in tow. I swallowed hard. This was it. It was my second time being caught out past curfew, and this time my collapsed body had been found in the office of a Member of the Board of Trustees. There was no way they weren’t going to throw me in a cell.
The nurse turned to the officer. “Here she is. Awake and stabilized just as you requested. As long as her hands aren’t twisted too harshly, she should be good for transport.”
Nicholas Adder shook his head. “No, I’m not pressing charges.”
The charge nurse gasped. Flames burst into her eyes. “This is nonsense. This is blackhand aristocractic favoritism.” She turned to the officer. “Surely you won’t stand for this.”
The officer sighed. “Unfortunately, this is a civil matter. As the office is located on campus, and Zuri Ebenmore has been granted permission to access said campus, we’re not dealing with a criminal trespass charge.”
I had half a mind to ask why he wasn’t pressing charges, but thought it was best not to try my luck. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing and have him change his mind.
“That being said, I still have a duty to ask questions and create a record of the event in order to file at the department.” He glanced down at me, observing my crippled hands. “Do you believe she is conscious and in a good state of mind to answer a few questions.”
“Look at her. What do you think?” The charge nurse snapped.
The officer shifted his weight, uncomfortable with the nurse’s feisty disposition. “Lady Ebenmore, what were you doing in Lord Adder’s office?”
“I got lost,” I lied.
Adder smirked at my answer, and the charge nurse folded her arms across her chest in a huff.
“You got lost?” The officer repeated.
I nodded. “Yes—kinda. I was running away from the jaguar and entered the first door that would open for me.”
“And what were you doing in the Hyacinthine Wing to begin with?”
“Well, that’s where the lost part comes in. I went to the wrong floor by accident and didn’t realize it until it was too late.”
“How did you break into Lord Adder’s office then? You had to have used an unlocking push to get past the door.”
I shook my head. “No, the door was unlocked. I merely turned the handle and ran in.”
The officer’s brow scrunched into four deep lines. “No, unfortunately, that’s not how this works. The knob is tied to Lord Adder. Only Lord Adder and those that he invites may enter.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. I didn’t have time to push a spell with a hungry jaguar threatening to rip my guts out.”
He nodded, and unconsciously patted his stomach. “Once you were inside, what happened next?”
“I can’t recall,” I answered. “The whole event just overwhelmed me, and I blacked out.”
“She’s lying,” the charge nurse murmured. “And I think it has something to do with this.” She grabbed my two wrists and held up my hands for both men to see. “The transitions aren’t the same.”
I yanked my hands away. “They’ve always been like that.”
She glared at me. “Impossible. She’s done something to alter her hands. I suggest a formal investigation by the Sightless Sons.”
The officer made note of my hands, but didn’t really seem swayed by her words. “Do you know how the glass got broken? Or why the cabinet collapsed?”
I shook my head. “No, I was told I had Ousi Fever. Maybe as I was going out, I pulled some essences and it all just kind of burst out of me in a fit?”
“She came in with Ousi Fever?” The officer asked the charge nurse.
She nodded. “One of the worst cases I’ve seen in a long time. It broke digits to three and five on her left hand, and one, three, and our on her right hand.”
The officer drew in a deep breath. “That had to hurt. Well, since Lord Adder isn’t pressing charges and Lady Ebenmore doesn’t seem to remember much of the event, I think that’s it for my questions. Thank you for your time.”
He turned to leave and the charge nurse swooped down upon them, arguing with him as they strode out the doors. She was obviously
dissatisfied with my lack of punishment.
“Did you find anything of use in there?” Adder asked me once the officer and charge nurse were out of earshot.
“No, was I supposed to?” Had Adder assumed I would break into his office sooner or later? Was he the one that left the cloak in the abandoned library and expected me to go sniffing around to find out who had done it.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m uncertain of how much you already know?”
“About what exactly?”
“Zuri!” Ross’s voice carried to me from the medical wing doors. “You’re awake!” She dashed to my side, and her eyes lit with relief. “That fever had knocked you out for two days. There were talks of transporting you to the hospital.” But Ross’s exuberance quickly faded when she realized that Nicholas Adder stood at my bedside.
He smiled at her before his eyes turned to me. “I can see you two have a lot to catch up on. When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be in my office, Lady Ebenmore. I’m sure you know which door that is.”
We watched him leave. He swayed with an air only silver spoon could produce. “So what are they going to do with you? The students have running bets going on about which jail you’re going to go to.”
“He’s not pressing charges against me,” I told her.
Her eyes widened and mouth gaped. “What? Why isn’t he pressing charges against you?”
I shrugged my shoulders as much as I could in the bed. “I don’t know and I was too afraid to ask.”
“I don’t blame you.” Ross glanced around before leaning in close. “Did you find anything?”
“Yes, something very interesting.” But I wanted to tell the two of them at the same time. “Where’s Idris?”
Ross shook her head. “I don’t know. We had planned to meet up this morning in the library to share whatever news we had about your case, but he never showed. I assumed he got cold feet and decided not to come. The Sightless Sons are practically everywhere now due to the two recent office break-ins.” She flashed me a wicked grin.
That was completely unlike Idris. He wasn’t afraid to meet with me, so why would he shy away from meeting with Ross over a few possible guards. Someone that he had virtually no consequences for being caught conversing with. It didn’t make sense.
“Well, did you see him in the halls at all today or anything?”
“No, but you know that neither one of us ever really runs into the upper division whitehands. Why do you ask? Do you think something happened to him? Is that what you found in Adder’s office? Plans to take down the whitehands?”
“No. Nothing like that. But in his desk drawer, I saw the metal eye clasp. It was the same one that we had found on that cloak left for me in the library.” I rested my mottled hands at my sides. A light throb was building in the joints.
“Do you think he the one that left the cloak for you then?”
“I’m not sure but it seems likely. Who else do you know has that clasp?”
“Nobody, to be honest. I’ve never seen it before my life. Odd how it’s popping up everywhere now, no?”
I nodded. “Yes, it’s very odd indeed.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
I was released later that evening much to the charge nurse’s dismay. Ross greeted me at the doors to carry my dirty clothes for me and help me get around the school. With three out of ten of my fingers in splints, my hands were virtually useless. The medical wing had done it its job of trying to heal me, as I had entered with five broken fingers and two of them badly twisted. But I was still going to need a few days to a week in order to fully recover.
It seemed this entire year all my hands had done was recover.
The next day I returned the classes. Everyone whispered about how I got off too easily for my crime. James even went so far as to claim that I was sleeping with Nicholas Adder.
But after what I had been through in the fall semester, the rumors and gossip were just background noise. At this point, all I really cared about was seeing Idris again. I kept an eye out for him in the hallways, even went so far as to stop by the few wings where I knew some of his classes were held, but he wasn’t there.
I eventually gathered my courage and headed to Prof. Saviano’s office later that day. If he wouldn’t do anything about it, my next step was to slide into the depths of the whitehand territory and try Idris’s cluster.
“Lady Ebenmore,” Saviano said, staring at me with an ever-present amused twinkle in his eye. “For what do I owe this immense pleasure?”
I swallowed hard, hugging my books tight to my chest. “Sorry to interrupt you, but I was just wondering if you had seen Idris Young at all lately?”
He cocked his head and regarded me with a smirk. “Come in and shut the door behind you.”
I did as he requested and remained where I stood.
“What interest do you have been Mr. Young?” He asked.
“We’re friends, and I care about him. Seems as though nobody has seen him today or yesterday, and I’m worried. From what he’s told me, the two of you are close. He really looks up to you. I was hoping you could at least tell me if he’s well or not.”
Saviano sat up in his chair. “No, I haven’t seen him. But it’s interesting how you describe your relationship…” His expression shifted from relaxed to one of worry. “Do you think something bad has happened to him? I am well aware that the three of you have been up to some shenanigans. Did you do something or know something, Lady Ebenmore?”
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t do anything. I’ve been in the medical wing for the last few days. How could I have?”
He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “I’ll say something to Chancellor Day and ask the other boys in his chamber if they’ve seen him. In the meantime, you worry about yourself. You’ve been getting into an awful lot of trouble lately.”
“Thank you, Professor Saviano,” I said before I turned and left his office.
But it wasn’t enough. Worry pummeled me. I have this weird intuition something had happened to him, something bad. It gave me a flighty sense of panic. Impulse told me I needed to act needed act fast.
But I didn’t know who else to go to. While I didn’t think Professor Saviano had faked his concern, his obvious lack of urgency was troubling.
“What did Saviano say?” Ross asked.
I slipped into bed, pulling the sheets over my body. My concern hadn’t subsided. I didn’t know if I would sleep tonight. “He said he hadn’t seen Idris, but he’d look into it.” I’d probably just stay awake the entire time staring up at the ceiling. “And then I tried his cluster—the vicious little pixie summoned him, but he never showed.”
“Yeah, I asked some of the whitehands I’m on friendly terms with if they knew where’d he been, and none of them has seen him lately.” She crinkled her nose. “Something about this isn’t right.”
“Yeah, I’ve been having that feeling all day. Like this weird sharp, panicked worry.” I laid my head on the pillow, trying to shove the feeling away.
“You don’t think…” Ross’s lips slammed shut.
“Think what?” I encouraged her to go on.
She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m being unreasonable. My imagination is running away from me.”
It wasn’t difficult to connect the dots. “You think the Hand Collector might have gotten to him, don’t you?”
“No, but yes. I don’t know.” She cringed, shaking her head. “My mind’s jumping to the worst conclusion possible.”
“Do you think any of our suspects would have any reason to go after him?” Professor Saviano loved Idris. While Professor Claassen was against whitehands at the school, I couldn’t imagine him having the guts to go after the whitehands’ beloved hero. And I had seen Nicholas Adder the day that Idris disappeared, so I doubted he had done something.
“No, I don’t. Thus the problem.” Ross flung herself onto her bed.
As I stared at the ceiling with my mind racing, trying to link one of the
three to Idris, a black envelope materialized in front of me. When it was whole, it fell onto my face. I sat up, examining the envelope. There were no names, dates, or any type of marking on it.
“What is this?” I asked Ross.
She rolled over and her eyes went wide. “It’s a summons.”
While I knew what a summons was, I wasn’t exactly sure how they worked. “What do I do with it?”
“Well, you have to open it, and you have an hour to respond. Either you go and fulfill the summons, or you reject it and the person gets notification of your refusal. If you ignore it, the sender if notified of that as well.”
I tore the black flap open, and pulled out a small note card. Across it in barely legible handwriting was the following:
Please see me at once. It is of the gravest importance.
- Dr. Maxwell Raby
“Who is it from?” Ross asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” I said as I hopped out of bed, dressed myself, and rushed out of the chamber.
Chapter Thirty-Four
I knocked on the door, but nobody answered. My hand still clutched the summons. I had taken the last ferry of the day from the island to get to Lilledoorn. I had nowhere else to go but here.
I knocked again. This time beating a little harder, and once again, I was left standing on a stoop.
My eyes glanced around the dark street. The willow rustled from the nibbling fish in the canal. None of this was making sense, but I knew it was all connected somehow. The summons, Idris’s disappearance, and now this unanswered door. Something was going on, and I knew whoever was pulling the strings was possibly luring me into a trap, but I didn’t know another way. It was too late to go back and get Ross, and given my hot run with the police and the sightless sons, I didn’t think it wise to invoke their services.
I tried the door, and the knob twisted open without a struggle. It was unlocked.
