Page 81 of Trivium

Ahmina studied her, deep in contemplation. “Why would you go to such lengths to counteract it?”

“We look alike.”

“We do.”

“Identical even.” Zeina paused. “I think there’s a possibility we are related… Maybe we are sisters.”

Ahmina sighed. So, she had suspected as much as well. “I didn’t know my parents, so it is possible…What’s your date of birth?”

The look on Ahmina’s face when Zeina repeated the date on her birth certificate was all the confirmation they needed.

“Twins then,” Ahmina said slowly, digesting the information. “That’s very rare.”

Zeina didn’t say anything; she simply stood, openly watching the woman she had studied from the shadows for months.

“How did you end up here? Sneaking around, I mean?”

“By accident, but once I was here, I couldn’t leave. Couldn’t go back to…” The thought of going back to scraping through Jarrah, just trying to survive, felt like such a hollow existence.

Ahmina’s face softened slightly, and Zeina cleared her throat. “I didn’t get to go to school. I wanted to stay and learn.”

Without a word, Ahmina glanced at Barrow and then back to Zeina until finally she whispered, “sorry I used you as bait like this, but I couldn’t slip the potion into his drink and run into him in the hall.”

“Is he dead?” Zeina asked, hopeful.

“Unfortunately not. But he will be out cold for hours.” Her lips curved into a slow, satisfied smile.

Zeina matched her expression. “So, how do you want to get revenge?”

56

LOVELEENA

The sun had set and darkness clung to the air, covering everything in shadows. Sitting knees to chest, tucked away where she’d spotted Ren last time he snuck out, she replayed one of her last memories of Park. He had come over to her house, stormed into her room, and tossed a stack of books down on her bed with a thud. When she asked him why he had turned into a librarian, he ignored her joke, twisting himself into a knot over the lost city of Celestia: the closest lost city to Jarrah. Park was a casual man, easy-going, threatened by little. But when he took a special interest in something, he fell into it like a trap door, tumbling down into endless research.

That was only a few months before he disappeared.

She wondered how far Celestia was from here, and if that’s where Park had gone.

If there even was a Celestia to find.

A small movement caught her attention, snapping her out of her memories. Ren was barely visible, but she had been watching him for weeks, noting how his shoulders shifted when he walked and his jaw clenched slightly as he analyzed his next move. Since she had started paying attention in class, she learned how to track, study, and target opponents. Turns out that humans and creatures weren’t that different after all.

Still, she had camped out every night for weeks, and this was the first time her watch had produced anything of value. Finally, she had caught him.

Ren crept across the courtyard and through the wall so silently, so lightly, he could be mistaken for a shadow of the mind, slipping easily through the night. She moved as quickly as she could to keep up. Following him along the outer edge of the wall, she did her best to push away negative thoughts. After coming face to face with the Soul Snatcher, she didn’t particularly love being beyond the wall alone in the dark, following Ren of all people. But fear had never stopped Loveleena before, and it wouldn’t now—not when she was this close to finding out what Ren was up to.

If she had something on Ren, maybe she could use it to blackmail him into helping her find Park. At the very least, investigating him was a way to channel her energy. Keeping her mind focused on a goal helped her control her magic, which she needed to do if she was going to survive without getting her head chopped off and tossed beyond the Great Wall.

It wasn’t long before Ren felt along the wall, pulling away the same stones he had the night they met. She waited, following his lead, staying far enough behind to remain unseen. They crept through the empty streets of Jarrah for so long she started to wonder if Ren had discovered her and was leading her on a chase around the city for fun. She overcorrected, hanging back too far once or twice, almost losing him. Then, finally, Ren entered a small wooden door that descended two flights of old, rotten stairs. Dull torches lined the staircase, offering just enough light to see. Loveleena had only made it down the first set of stairs when she crashed into a solid body. Her dagger was out before she could see who it was.

Ren peered down at her with a smug look plastered on his face. He had been expecting her.

“You didn’t even try to hide.” His disappointment cut through the dim light. Beside him, a middle-aged man stood hunched over, gripping the wall for support.

Loveleena frowned. “How did you know it was me?”

“You basically tumbled down the stairs,” Ren said.