Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Shy and the Revelation

I know something bad has happened when I arrive at school because Natalie’s waiting in the parking lot for me. It reminds me of the day she broke the news that Lily’s relationship with a human was posted on Roundtable.

I immediately think of Anora.

Turns out, I’m not far from the mark. She shows me a series of posts about Anora that reveal her real name and link her to the murder of Chase Lockwood. This has negative consequences for Anora on all levels but also puts her in danger from human and Valryn alike—really, anyone who wants revenge for Chase’s death. There are Valryn who care very little that she was defending herself when one of their own died, and they think she should be punished.

I meet Natalie’s gaze. “Where is she?”

She hesitates. “Don’t get mad at me.”

My heart beats hard in my chest. Oh no. “What did you do?”

“I told Dad about the posts,” she admits.

I start to push past her with the intention of heading straight to Headmaster Rivera’s office, but Natalie grabs my arm.

“Shy, think about it,” she begs. “Jacobi isn’t here to take down the site, and Anora’s in danger. She’s known to the Order now. Who best to protect her? They’ll take her to Temple and keep an eye on her.”

I’m supposed to protect her, I want to argue, but Natalie’s right. It will be easier if I don’t have to worry about whether Anora’s safe. Still, putting her well-being in the hands of someone else feels wrong.

“In the meantime, we can do some research,” Natalie says. “Figure out who made those posts, who reanimated Lily’s corpse. We have work to do.”

I relent. “Right. Okay. I went by Jacobi’s house this morning and snagged his laptop.”

Well, one of his three laptops.

“I have his phone,” Natalie says. When I give her a look, she shrugs. “What? He’s got a lot of stuff on here, including that app he used to track Lily’s phone. We might need it.”

Fair enough.

Natalie and I find a spot in the library to camp out. We’re supposed to be in class, and we’ll probably get in trouble for skipping, but right now, I couldn’t care less.

I pull out Jacobi’s laptop, and Natalie and I sit side by side as I open the archive. Jacobi gained commander-level access, probably using his mom’s codes. And luckily, the Order hasn’t locked him out yet. I understand why Jacobi looked up his own file; it’s hard to keep myself from doing the same, especially having access as I do right now. After discovering my father was aware of my connection to Anora, I want to research the records and follow the threads of my past lives—of Anora’s past lives…

And I will, but I have priorities, and one of those is figuring out who reanimated Lily’s corpse. So I start with the small lead we’d gotten last night in the cardigan Natalie found at the ritual site. We don’t have a way to prove it is Lennon’s, but at this point, everyone’s a suspect, and it’s best to start eliminating.

I search Lennon Ryder.

The inquiry gives no results, which isn’t surprising considering I don’t think Lennon’s ever been arrested for practicing the occult.

“What about her mother? Her father?” Natalie presses.

“I don’t know their names,” I say.

“Jacobi’s got access to school records.”

I look at her, brow raised. “How do you know?”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve used his computer,” she says. She takes it from me and starts clicking around, navigating the interface like she’s done this a million times.

“So what? You just…head over to his house and look up whoever you want?”

“No,” she says, annoyed. “We’ve been trying to figure out who’s responsible for Roundtable.”

I try to imagine them together without me. Funny enough, it’s hard to do, but apparently it’s been happening. “And that’s…all you do?”

“Shut up, Shy,” Natalie complains, shoving me hard with her shoulder.

I laugh. “Hey, it’s a fair question.”

She glares at me, but she’s blushing, and the corners of her lips are turning up. After a moment, she’s in the school’s records, pulling up Lennon’s name.

“Looks like she lives with her grandmother,” Natalie says. “There’s a restraining order against her father—Goliath Markov.”

My blood runs cold. Natalie must see I’m startled by the name because she asks, “What?”

“I know that name. I’ve heard my dad mention him,” I say and take the computer back. Once I’m in the archive again, I search Goliath’s name. He has a profile and not just any profile: Goliath Markov is Valryn. He’s also been incarcerated at the Compound for the last seventeen years—the whole of Lennon’s life—for several reasons, one of them being impregnating a human woman.

That would make Lennon an abomination.

“How does the Order not know?” Natalie asks beside me as the realization settles upon her. If Goliath was in prison for his relationship with a human, the Order definitely knew about Lennon at one point.

“Maybe they do know about her?” I offer. “Maybe they decided not to do anything about her as long as she stays hidden?” There’s nothing about Lennon that screams abomination. She looks like any other human. But if the Order knows about her and are letting her live, why have they been telling us horrible things about abominations for so many years?

Anora’s questions flood my mind…

Have you ever met an abomination?

You don’t know what they look like?

If they are actually…deformed?

It’s Natalie who dares say what I’m thinking out loud. “She has to hate us.”

She probably does, and while that doesn’t make her a murderer, it does give her motive.

I push the computer aside, standing suddenly.

“Dammit.”

“What?” Natalie asks, and I start to pace.

“The day Anora captured Vera’s soul, I found her in the woods. As we were leaving, I noticed a raven in the trees. Any other time, I would have followed it because I didn’t recognize it. What if it was…”

“Lennon.”