Page 57 of Alchemy of Souls

“I don’t—does it matter?” I want to explain, but what am I going to say: I don’t like Adrien, I think I like you. Why am I so bad at this?

What I want him to say isIt does matter, but what he actually says is, “We’re only fake dating. You don’t owe me anything.”

I feel those words like a blow, so I change the subject. “Maggie wants you to amend the room spell to admit her.”

“Not a good idea,” he replies, and maybe I’m imagining it but he sounds distant.

“It’s Maggie. I can’t just shut her out,” I say. “I won’t.”

The sconces dim in preparation for curfew. “Eloise, I know she’s your best friend. But this isn’t the time for anyone to have access to our room. In a little over a week, none of this will apply. But right now, I have to make the hard decisions that’ll keep us alive, however frustrating that might be.”

I press my lips together. I want to argue. But he’s not wrong. “You just don’t know what an impossible position I’m in.”

He glances at his boot. “Yeah, I do. My crew is no better.”

The sconces blink in warning and we walk toward our room. He doesn’t fully get it, though. He doesn’t love his friends. He doesn’t think of them as family. I can push Maggie off for a little while, but eventually this is going to come to a head and I’m absolutely dreading that moment.

I open our suite door and bend down to untie my boots.

“I wouldn’t take those off just yet,” he says.

“It’s curfew,” I say, standing.

He glances at his boot for a second time. “We’re going out.”

“What?” I bite out in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“We just need to wait a couple minutes for the Guardians to start their rotations.” Then he walks into his room and closes the door.

And I stand there in the center of our living room trying to decide if I should murder him or not.

Flustered, I push open his bedroom door. “Literally yesterday Akari warned usnotto be out after curfew.”

Which is when I realize that he’s shirtless. I swallow, averting my eyes as he moves to his dresser.

“Remember when you said I should scare you but make it a surprise?” he asks. “Surprise.”

I groan, and there is a faint buzzing sound. I look around the room.

Bzzz.

There it is again.

“Did you hear that?” I ask.

“Hear what?” he says, and I scrunch my nose.

“A hum or a vibration maybe? Kinda like a cell phone,” I say.

Grayson pauses, listening, but it’s stopped.

“Ready?” he asks, gesturing for me to leave his bedroom.

“No,” I reply, but walk toward the suite door just the same.

Only as he opens it and peers out, I deeply regret our bargain. My rule-abiding soul is screaming so loudly it’s hard to think.

The hallway is nearly pitch-black, with just the dim glow of a single sconce. Yet Grayson heads down it confidently, his movements quick and silent.