Chapter 4: Intermission

Amity’s stomach twisted itself into knots. Her hand gripped the brass doorknob. Its carvings writhed like insects at her touch. A Blight spared no expense, even for the most private rooms. She turned the knob, opened the door. Ink and leather met her nose. A stack of parchment lay on the desk: neat, tidy.

Mother didn’t look up. “Who was that girl on your crystal ball the other day?” she asked over the scraping of her quill.

So this was about Luz, not Boscha. Fair enough. Healing magic still pulsed in Amity’s lip, earthy and cold; an illusion suppressed the bruise.

“Just some nobody. A transfer student.” A practiced lie. “She got it into her head that we were friends, but I set her straight.”

Amity’s stomach was doing flips. Amity felt the dark green walls folding in on her. Amity couldn’t breathe. Amity knew that these were normal sensations, when lying to one’s parents.

Mother dismissed her with a hum of satisfaction.