Page 76 of White Lights
Part of her wishes she stayed, to keep an eye and maybe a hand on Rafe.
“It’s more than that,” Yael says. “It’s … impossible to explain. Just trust me. I saved your asses.”
“I didn’t know you cared,” Dez says under her breath.
“Well, I do. Because if either of you gets in trouble tonight, it fucks me over, too.”
“What does it have to do with you?”
“Are you trashed, too?”
Dez only had a few sips of Eri’s cocktail, but she’s definitely feeling looser, lighter, and like none of this makes sense. “What’s in those drinks?”
“Secrets,” Yael says as the ski lift deposits them back on the path behind Acheron’s dining hall. “But I think I know just the place to sober you losers up.”
“The kitchen?” Simon suggests, hopeful. “There’s leftover fried chicken in there.”
“Better,” Yael says, leading them across the east side of the tri, around the perimeter of Goliath. Dez knows of only one thing on the far side of Goliath. She’d flown over it on her way here that first night with Rafe.
“Are you taking us to the labyrinth?” she asks.
“I am,” Yael says, “and you’re welcome.”
They stop at the narrow entrance to the topiary maze. The starlit hedges stretch above them, twice as tall as Simon. The snow’s stopped falling, but it’s gotten colder, and Dez’s body feels stiff with vigilance.
“This is going to be deeply invigorating,” Yael says quietly. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
From the sky, the labyrinth had looked beautiful. From the ground, there’s something strange about it. Something Dez can’t put her finger on.
“The labyrinth is the oldest part of Acheron,” Yael says. “It’s where I feel most at home.”
Wind rustles the boughs of the maze. A lonely owl hoots high above. Dez gazes into the labyrinth’s shadowy depths, sensing a dark, indescribable energy emanating from within.
“Don’t be scared,” Yael says.
“I’m not scared,” Simon announces, propping an elbow on Dez’s shoulder.
“You’re barely upright,” Dez says. “You don’t count.”
“Stick with me and you’ll be fine,” Yael calls over her shoulder as she strides inside.
“Yael, why didn’t you take Alice with you when we left the bar?” Dez asks, following Yael and helping Simon not trip over his feet. “She’s your protégé. Aren’t you supposed to look after—”
“That festering dipshit will be fine tonight,” Yael says.
“Harsh!” Simon says.
“I love Alice,” Yael says. “Obviously. She’s just … not exactly what I expected.”
“What did you expect?” Dez asks.
“I thought we might have developed more of a … bond by now. Like you and Rafe,” she says. “Or Simon and Jet.”
Dez and Simon meet eyes briefly. After tonight, she’s definitely curious about his dynamic with Jet, but if she asks, she knows they’ll ask her about Rafe, and she doesn’t want to go there.
“Why would Alice be okay at Eri’s orgy and Simon and I wouldn’t?” Dez asks instead.
“The biggest thing a first-year has to fear at a party like that is their mentor,” Yael says. “Did you not see the look in Jet’s eyes?”
