A wave of relief washed over Anastacia, her shoulders relaxing.
“I hate to change the subject,” Raphael chimed in. Out of all of them he looked the least stressed, his skin fresh and dewy, no sign of a restless night anywhere on his face. “But is Jamie coming?”
Poor Raphael! He tried so hard to be a good friend to Jamie, and Lottie knew better than anyone how difficult that could be in the face of Jamie’s stubbornness. Lottie had decided it was best to leave Jamie to figure things out on his own, but recently she’d started to wonder if that was such a good idea.
“He’s not,” Ellie said bluntly, the edge in her voice making it clear she didn’t want to continue the discussion.
Ellie and Jamie had hardly spoken, the two of them drifting apart. It felt like an impossible task to bring Jamie back into the fold, waiting for him to find his own way. And the longer it went on, the colder the space between them became.
“That’s a shame,” Raphael replied at last, the disappointment on his face matching the gloom that hung over the rest of them.
Lottie fingered the envelope containing her results, wanting to get back to something normal, something solid and productive.
Micky signed in the corner of the room for Percy, and they all exchanged a knowing look.
“Is it just me?” Lola began, her voice tiny in the large, echoing room. “Or does everything feel a bit, well, bad?”
The rest of them nodded in mute agreement. Yes, they were back at their beloved Rosewood, but it didn’t feel the same. It hadn’t felt the same since the incident at the Tompkins Manor.
Enough! Lottie slipped a fingernail beneath the envelope flap and pried it open, pulling out the yellow card.
“It’s like something’s missing,” Micky said, picking up Lola’s solemn tone. “It’s as though we’re not ready to be back yet.”
Lottie stared down at the numbers in her palm, the hazy glow of the fairy lights blurring her vision.
Congratulations on another successful year . . .
The king’s note taunted her while she stood completely still, unable to tear her gaze away from the dreadful reality staring back at her.
It was not possible. She’d worked too hard. She was a good student; they all knew that.
“Guys . . .” She spoke with unexpected calm, still not believing it, as though detached from it all, floating above her own head. Finally she looked up at her friends, holding out the card. “I’ve failed the year.”
3
THE ONE THING LOTTIE HAD been sure of was her grades. In all her worst nightmares—that Leviathan might hurt Ellie, that Jamie would be lost forever—never had it occurred to her that something so simple would be her downfall. That she would fail the year.
It was only by a few points, but those tiny errors would be enough to have her let go from Rosewood. If that happened, her job as Portman would be in serious danger.
“It has to be fake.” Ellie snatched the card from Lottie and stared at her results. “This doesn’t make any sense; that English grade alone is far too low. What if Leviathan—”
“But why would they do that?” Lottie tried to rationalize it. “And even if they did tamper with the results system, what could we possibly do about it?”
“Ellie’s right,” Anastacia stated, plucking the card from Ellie with just as much conviction. “You worked too hard; these grades can’t be right.”
Part of Lottie wanted to believe that someone had messed with the grade, because she would never have allowed this to happen. Too much was at stake.
Or would she?
Before her mind had time to dwell on the doubts, she looked up to see Percy and Binah signing intently, and from her little knowledge of sign language it looked like they also believed something fishy was going on.
It was the strangest feeling to look around the half-lit study and see nothing but unwavering faith on her friends’ faces. Not one of them showed an inch of doubt that she would pass the year, turning instantly to other possibilities.
“There was a break-in,” Binah announced, turning back to everyone, some sort of conclusion having been reached between her and Percy, who nodded solemnly for her to continue, “at the exam board headquarters—no witnesses and no suspects. It was only petty theft, money stolen from people’s bags, but all the CCTV footage was tampered with. Percy believes, from his experience, that Leviathan easily have the tools to achieve such a thing as grade tampering, and without being caught, either by hacking or by brainwashing a member of the exam board.”
“Well, that’s it, then,” Raphael declared. “Leviathan tampered with your grade. You can contest it with the exam board and this will all be fixed.”
Somehow this didn’t make Lottie feel any better, because there was a much more important question than how they’d done it.
Why would they tamper with the grade? What did they want?
“Don’t you see? They probably want me to contest the grade.” Shaking her head, Lottie turned to Ellie, who was grinding her teeth. “It doesn’t matter if Leviathan did it; we can’t prove anything, and if we bring attention to it, people might think I really did fail the year and I’m looking for an excuse.”
Silence, brooding and somber, spread through the room, each of them dwelling on the harsh truth. And at the center of them all was Ellie, a look on her face like she’d been poisoned, which had nothing to do with her cold.
In the quiet, a little voice in Lottie’s head wished she could get away, to take Ellie, the twins, and Anastacia, all of whom had been through so much over the past year, far away from their troubles.
The thought settled in her mind, a nonsense fantasy slowly forming into an idea. All the events of the day were bringing her right up to this moment.
“So what
