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I’m relieved Talon doesn’t fly to request my presence that night, though I know tomorrow, I’ll have to deal with Natheran Reiks again.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
THE COMPULSION
Ivolunteer at the library with Daria today. We’re assigned to different sections: she’s to file returns, while I have to re-alphabetize the occult department. My task is one of our regular painstaking jobs, courtesy of students who apparently can’t put books back where they fucking took them from. I don’t mind the numbingly boring activity today. My mind’s on tonight. It will be the very first time I’m not spending a festival in the Darklands.
I checked with Mar before she left this morning. She confirmed several students in the tower remain on campus over the weekend. I’ll have to join their circle, which will be awkward as hell given that I don’t know them well. I’veseenthem, of course. We live in the same dorm. But as we Frejr have our own floor, I haven’t really gotten to know anyone else.
I hate what it says about me. Reiks was at least partially right. I don’t exactlyhide, but I’m not part of whatever goes on around me. I’ve removed myself from the rest of the world. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I was so eager to avoid Reiks’s party. I’ve never been to a party that wasn’t thrown by my family.
I have valid reasons, but it’s no less pathetic.
“I thought you’d be on your way to the Evil Forest, or whatever.” Daria plops down next to me on the beat-up red sofa in the break room, a steaming coffee in each hand. She hands me one.
“You’re a goddess,” I proclaim, taking a big gulp like the addict I am. Caffeine isn’t likely to help my already restive body and mind, but I can’t imagine facing whatever nonsense is coming my way without it. “And it’s the Darklands.”
“Same difference,” she says cheerfully. “Why aren’t you going home?”
Great, I’ve gotten so predictable my friend's surprised when I don’t run home on a weekend. “Why aren’tyou?” I grumble, irritable.
I regret my tone immediately because she’s not the one who annoyed me, but Daria doesn’t seem to mind. “Home’s a long way away. A full day’s ride, if I splurge for a direct train. Not all of us can afford hovercraft.”
I blush, feeling stupid. Of course she wouldn’t travel two thousand miles for a weekend. Hovercrafts slow to a crawl in cities to avoid trampling the occasional passerby, but on the highways, they travel at a blinding speed. By train, the Darklands are a good five hours away.
“Don’t pity me.” Daria laughs good-heartedly. “That was just an excuse. The actual answer is that I don’t want to return to Dorath. I could catch a ride if I really wanted to.”
I wonder why I didn’t know that about my friend. “Why? Don’t you get along with your family?”
Daria ponders my question as she takes a tentative sip of her lukewarm drink. “I wouldn’t say that. They’re fine, all things considered. It’s my role within the whole family dynamic I’m not fond of.”
I’m dead curious, but she gets to her feet. “We’d better get back to it.”
I know an evasion technique when I see one, so I respect her privacy, and follow her back into the library.
Talon finds me just as I wrap up my last shelf. “I’m not sure you’re allowed in the library,” I tell the bird.
He croaks indifferently and hops onto my shoulder, raising one leg.
Be ready in three hours. I’ll pick you up at the tower. N.R.
He’s never one for pleases and thank yous.
“Cute bird.”
I jerk in surprise. Daria snuck up behind me so silently I never would have guessed someone was getting close. “Gosh, you’re stealthy.”
She’s put on her jacket over the form-fitting cargo pants and compression T-shirt she favors. Tailored at her waist and falling in a waterfall to her back, it’s considerably prettier than her typical practical clothing.
“Nice top.”
She makes a face. “It’s windproof. Can I pet him?”
I glance at Talon dubiously, looking into his bright blue eyes. He doesn’t exactly look cuddly, though his iridescent plumage is rather spectacular. “Not sure? He’s not mine.”
In fact, I’m surprised the bird stuck around so long after he delivered his message.
Daria snorts. “I know that.” She brings her hand to the bird’s face, letting him get a good look before running it along his head. “Who’s a pretty raven? And you look quite intelligent, too.”
