Page 44 of Serpent and Shadow

“I’m fine with it just being us.” I fought to dial back the emotional charge I could feel around my magic. “I’m also fine with using Blackstone to get eyes into Malefic’s operation. If he is working for Malefic, it’s not telling him anything he doesn’t already know. But involving Blackstone beyond that feels like a bad idea.”

“He could be feeding you misinformation,” Luc pointed out. “Using the contact with your mind to spy on you. He could be doing a lot of things.”

“What’s your point?” I asked. “Should I not be working with him at all?”

“I’m just saying,” Luc said, exhaling. “At a certain point you have to trust people. Not everyone, but the people who are actively helping you.”

“But I don’t know if he’s helping me,” I said. “As you just pointed out.” At Luc’s silence, I sighed, glancing up at him. “What do you think Malefic would do, if he knew what we’re doing? If he thought there was any chance we might succeed?”

Luc frowned. I saw him think about that.

After a few seconds, he exhaled, and shoved his glasses up his nose again.

“If he thought you could do what Bones can do, you mean? He’d send someone to take you,” he admitted reluctantly, refolding his arms.

“Agreed,” Nyx said, quieter, from Luc’s other side.

She gave me a look around his chest and abdomen.

“Right,” I said. “So maybe we don’t tell someone that information if we’re not sure of his allegiances. Especially if we know he can overpower me mentally.”

I hesitated, then added more diplomatically. “We can reevaluate Blackstone later. For now, I’d rather be cautious. Even if Blackstone isn’t one of them,” I added, cutting off Luc’s annoyed look. “Someone could be watching the two of them.”

I could tell my answer didn’t satisfy him.

I understood. We weren’t getting anywhere with the phasing, and Luc was frustrated. He likely saw Blackstone as a possible way to move forward.

And yes, I could definitely see the appeal of that.

Probably more than he knew, I understood.

My feelings weren’t useful, though.

They definitely weren’t going to get me any closer to Bones.

Luc had been intrigued, to say the least, when I first told him what Bones could do. By then, he’d figured out there was something different about Bones’s magic, and he’d point-blank asked me if Bones’s phasing was how he and I escaped from that mess in Academy Square.

I didn’t lie, but I might have strongly implied that Bones having that ability could have something to do with his newly-discovered hybrid blood. I also told Luc, Nyx, Alaric, and Jolie that Blackstone and Forsooth thought I might be able to learn how to do it for the same reason, especially given my strong connection to Bones.

I knew Alaric didn’t entirely buy that version of events.

I had my doubts Jolie did, either.

Luc seemed to.

I had no idea what Nyx believed.

Either way, they all talked about it excitedly for a few hours that first night, and Jolie joined in our discussions in the weeks since. I knew Luc felt this would be a huge breakthrough in his own research, if proven. Maybe that’s why he was more inclined to believe it was an ability hybrids could possibly attain. He thought it might also explain something about how the world split into two halves in the first place.

I didn’t care about any of that.

I felt sick with anxiety whenever Luc went on one of his tangents about his research, because I didn’t see how it was getting me any closer to Bones. I tried not to let that show, because I needed their help, but it was a struggle some nights.

I let them believe what they wanted to believe, because I had no choice.

Well, none I was willing to risk, anyway.

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