“About the library?”
“I scared her half to death,” I said. “I lost control. There’s no telling what might’ve happened.”
“You scared her?” Clem scoffed. “That’s not why she ran.”
“She told you about that?” It was bad enough that I’d scared Rachel. It was infinitely worse that Clem knew the gory details.
“We were friends. I mean, we still are,” Clem said. “She scared herself, Jace.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. She didn’t do anything,” I said.
“When you went all Eclipse Warrior on her, that was scary,” she said. “But what scared Rachel wasn’t that you slipped. It was that she liked the darkness she saw in you.”
“That’s not—”
“It is,” Clem confirmed. “You should remember that the next time you decide to hide yourself from your friends. You’re not as scary as you think you are.”
Clem leaned forward and brushed my lips with hers. Then she picked up her tray and walked away.
The News
THE Manual of the New Moon was missing from my desk. I’d tucked it into the top drawer after I’d gotten out of the hospital and forgot about it until the last day of school. It just didn’t seem all that important anymore. I wasn’t really one of them, and my history wasn’t the same as theirs.
I was rooting around for it in the closet when I heard footsteps on the stairs.
“Who’s there?” I called. The last person who’d arrived in my cottage without knocking was an assassin.
“Elder Hirani,” a melodious voice answered. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
“Not at all, honored Elder,” I said. “I was looking for something. Gathering up my stuff to move back into the regular dorms.”
“Ah,” Hirani said. “Your time as the School champion has come to an end. How did they pick one this year?”
“The headmistress did it based on grades,” I said. “Not a terribly popular opinion, especially since it had nothing to do with fighting ability. The Five Dragons Challenge is going to be very interesting this year.”
“Anyone you know?” she asked.
“Nope,” I said. “A fourth year, I guess. Should be a bigger batch of new initiates next year, though.”
We both had a laugh at that, and Hirani’s voice sent shivers down my spine. She possessed an ageless, effortless beauty that was enthralling. Spending time with her made me feel warm and giddy.
Also nervous. She was, after all, one of my clan’s four elders.
“I have news for you,” she said. “Let’s have some coffee, and we can talk about it.”
“My mother?” My heart leaped into my throat.
“Coffee,” Hirani said. “Then talk.”
I followed the elder downstairs and sat at the kitchen table while she busied herself with the coffee set. After filling the pot with water and setting it on to boil, she glanced in my direction.
“Does it always take this long?” she asked, deadly serious. “It feels like it’s taking a very long time for this water to get hot.”
“Well, yes,” I said. “It’s not a quick process.”
“Oh, for Flame’s sake.” She snapped her fingers and a pair of mugs filled with steaming coffee appeared on the table in front of me. “Don’t tell Sanrin. He hates when I do that.”
“How did you do that?” I’d never seen anyone make something out of nothing. As far as I knew it violated all kinds of metaphysical laws.
“Somewhere in France, there is a very angry couple who want to know why their French press was not delivered to their room.” Hirani’s smile reminded me of a cat’s feral grin. “Like I said, don’t tell.”
I hid my urgency to continue our conversation behind a sip of coffee from the mug. It really was delicious.
“You were saying you had news,” I prodded.
“Yes.” Hirani’s brows furrowed. She put her coffee on the table and reached out to squeeze my hands. “We’ve found your mother.”
“When do I get to see her?” It had been more than a year since I’d heard my mother’s voice. The thought of seeing her again brought a lump to my throat.
“It’s not that easy.” The elder leaned so close to me I could smell the coffee on her breath. “She was in the data you pulled from the heretics. She’s with them, Jace.”
“No way.” I shook my head. Despite the nonsense that First had told me about my mother and the Eclipse Theory, I didn’t believe she was a mad scientist. It was just one more way the Lost had tried to turn me. “My mother would never side with those lunatics.”
“The intel is solid, Jace.” Hirani shook her head. “I’m sorry. We’re not sure why she went over. Our hookups say it was last year sometime—”
“It’s my fault,” I said. “I crossed Tycho, and he threatened my family. I warned her, and she ran.”
“When?” Hirani’s eyes were calm and comforting. Staring into them eased the knot of tension that had taken root in my gut.
“It was before the holidays.” I remembered that day like it was yesterday. How angry I’d been. How stupid.
“Then it wasn’t your fault.” Hirani let out a sigh of relief. “She joined the Machina Project in October. Not long after you started class here.”
A chill settled over me. My mother, who First claimed had been instrumental in the New Moon resurgence plan. My mother, who was a better fighter than she had any right to be. My mother, a camper who knew at least two of the sacred sages on a first-name basis.
“What do we do now?” I asked, knuckles whitening around my coffee mug.
“She’s important to them,” Hirani said. “They’ll have her under close guard. She’s brilliant. The Machina you stole was her work.”
“What do we do now?” I had to know.
“We have to stop the project,” Hirani said as gently as possible. “The Machina were built to interfere with the Grand Design. They warp jinsei and distort probabilities. The models they have now are unpredictable and as dangerous to them as to their enemies, but they’re getting close to
