Page 123 of Alchemy of Souls

“There you go,” Akari says, and now my uncle is fuming.

“You ungrateful little—” he starts, but that’s also where he ends because Akari spellworks a cloth around his mouth.

“That’s more than enough of that, thank you,” Akari says.

My uncle’s eyes promise violence and he thrashes, but then she touches his bound hands and he stills. I know without askingthat she’s draining his magic. And for the first time ever, I scent my uncle’s fear.

“I’m a wee bit scared of you,” Maggie says, staring at Akari in awe. “Ye handled the Chancellor like he was nothing more than a cranky toddler having a scream.”

“It’s well past your curfew, O’Donnell,” Akari says as she casts a spell to reinforce the Chancellor’s bindings and stands him up.

“Didn’t say it wasn’t,” Maggie says, lifting her chin. “But ye will have to drag me out of here by force if you think I’m leaving without Eloise.”

Akari’s face remains neutral, but I can scent a faint whiff of amusement coming from her. “Belrose, does O’Donnell have your permission to enter the Archive Room?”

Eloise’s eyes widen. “She absolutely does.”

“Get on with it, then,” Akari says, yanking my fuming uncle out of the way.

Maggie doesn’t waste a second. She barrels through the door and the girls embrace. They cling to each other, tears in their eyes, and they billow the scent of love that smells like coming home.

“You got pulled out of a window, ye daft cow,” Maggie says into Eloise’s hair. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again or I’ll kill ye myself.”

My gaze shifts to Akari. “You didn’t attack us,” I say. “Or immediately defend my uncle. Why?”

Akari raises an eyebrow, remaining on the other side of the threshold with a hand on my bound uncle. “I’m the head of the Guardians, Stone. My loyalty is sworn to the University and to the magic that created it, includingthe Key. You two are now the Key Bearers. The Chancellor does not supersede that.”

I study Akari more closely, realizing that must be why she didn’ttell the Chancellor that Eloise was in this room. Which is when it also occurs to me that she did something else. “It was your method of unlocking the door during our punishment that allowed me and Eloise to get into the Archive Room.”

“Was it? How interesting,” she says, giving nothing away. “Now, I must get my prisoner to his cell and call off the Guardians in light of recent circumstances. But given that it’s the middle of the night, Archive Room or not, I expect you three to get to your dorms.”

Now I’m even more convinced. Akari washelpingus.

“Wait,” Eloise says, pulling back from Maggie. “We can’t leave. The wards, Grayson—your unclefixedthe tear.” She gestures to the table and the tree.

I make eye contact with Eloise, understanding passing between us.

“What are ye on about?” Maggie asks as she follows me and Eloise to the table.

“The Lawless—they’re trapped outside the wards and if they stay out there for too long without supplies, they’ll die,” Eloise says, and it does something to me, hearing her defend the people I’ve been fighting beside for so many years.

Akari simply observes and my uncle narrows his eyes.

“Isn’t that the point of the wards, to keep the Lawless out?” Maggie asks, but stops. “Scratch that, yer video disproved all that, it did. But what do ye plan on doing about it? Yer not going to—” She stops, color draining from her face. “Saint Patrick above, yer absolutely mad.”

“Think about it, Mags,” Eloise says, the iridescent blue of the dome reflecting off her face. “It could just as easily have been Gran who refused her Labor post and got trapped out there. Or your mom.”

My uncle loses his shit. But Akari only tightens his bindings.

“Settle down, Chancellor,” Akari says. “Or you’ll miss the show.”

“Gray?” Eloise says, and I meet her gaze, offering her my hand, palm up. She slips her slender fingers into it and pulls out the Key from her pocket.

“We do it together,” I say.

“Together,” she says.

We both grip the Key handle and glide it over the outside of the dome—the same way we unlocked the door and the same way we survived Akari’s punishment. The Key blazes a golden trail along the gossamer bubble and the instant we complete the arch, it pops, dissolving into a million flecks of light.