Page 109 of Alchemy of Souls
His face falls and his breath hitches.
“I need a minute,” Grayson says in a tight voice and pushes through the tent door.
CHAPTER 52Eloise
I want to follow Grayson outside, but I also don’t want to intrude on his private moment.
“It makes sense now why no one has been able to call the Key in such a long time,” I say. “Two people are required and one of them has to have a moral compass. Which as far as I can tell is in very short supply among Mages.”
Sage grunts her agreement. “Not to mention the Chancellor’s so convinced of his superiority that there’s no way he’d think the answer was in our camp all these years.”
“This poem explains why the Key never stayed for us,” I say. “We never got all the elements right at once.”
“It took me and Liam a long time,” Sage admits. “Not that I minded all the practice.” She smiles a sad smile. “And even when we called it correctly, sometimes it’d disappear five minutes later. I used to get so frustrated, but Liam never did. He called it a gift—the best problem to have. Now I’d give anything just to hear him say it again.” She sighs. “Anyway, after we used it to widen that ward tear, Liam thought we shouldn’t call it again. He was headed to University and he wanted to wait and find the Archive Door.”
“So, it wasn’t you who made the tear?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “The Key allowed us to manipulate it, butit was already there. Maybe Brachan and Moore made it. I have no idea.”
“Did Liam ever figure out where the Archive Door was? Because the poem mentions an arched doorway, but that could be literally any door in the University,” I say just as Grayson enters the tent.
“Liam never made it that far,” she says.
“Brachan wasn’t a University student,” Grayson says, and we both turn. “He was a cobbler’s son and wouldn’t have had access to the entire University.”
Sage adjusts her fingerless gloves. “So, you’re saying the Archive Room is in a common space instead of tucked into a private tower?”
I consider it. “The dining hall, the library, and the training room are all common rooms that have arched doorways.”
“Right,” Grayson says. “But for me, there’s one room that isn’t like the others.”
When he doesn’t immediately tell us which one, Sage says, “Are you going to spit it out or do you want a round of applause first?”
My lip quirks up.
After a drawn-out second Grayson says, “Akari told us flat-out that the training room is protected by vicious spells. She implied that being there after hours is a sucky way to die. Seems a little overkill, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it make more sense to protect the irreplaceable library rather than a room filled with simulations and workout equipment?”
I never thought about it that way. “Even if we call the Key and find the Archive Room,” I say, my stomach doing a nervous flip. “How does that stop your uncle from getting the Key? How does that save my family or the Lawless?”
Grayson and Sage share a look.
“Sage, I need a minute with Eloise,” he says.
“That’s a hard no,” she replies. “I didn’t show you the poem so you can cut me out of a plan that you and I have been working on foryears.”
“You two have been trying to call the Key for years?” I ask, shocked.
They both go to answer, but Sage is faster. “I’m referring to our plan to take out his shithead uncle. The Key is a new development.”
I exhale. I absolutely understand why they’d have that plan. My gran probably has one, too, in her ornerier moments. But I can’t imagine a world where that could work. The Chancellor’s magic is both legendary and terrifying. Not to mention he has a fleet of Guardians at his back.
“Which isexactlywhy I need to talk to Eloise,” Grayson says again. “She deserves the opportunity to decide if she even wants to be a part of this.”
Sage narrows her eyes. “I’ll be in my tent when you’re finished.”
The moment the door closes, Grayson turns to me. “I know this is a lot—the Lawless, my uncle, the Key. And so, I’m going to ask you one more time if you want to bow out of this fight. Not for good. Just for tonight.”
“And what happens tonight?” I ask him.
