Page 67 of Serpent and Shadow

I nodded, and Nyx’s brow furrowed.

“Alaric’s right,” she said. “You didn’t even phase into a closet, which would’ve at least had a door. You could’ve actually been trapped there indefinitely, or even died, if you hadn’t been able to phase back out again.” She stared at me, like it was the first time that had occurred to her. “I mean… how? Why? Why would your magic send you someplace like that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.” I looked between the four of them, warming my hands with my mug of tea. At their disbelieving stares, I felt myself getting defensive. “What? I didn’t aim myself there, you know. I didn’t aim anywhere at all. And no, I have no idea why my magic sent me where it did.”

As I watched them process my words, it struck me there were a lot of unanswered questions about what I’d done.

Bones had said that though, didn’t he?

He’d told me he’d phased to all sorts of strange places.

“I was seen,” I said numbly, although I’d told them that before. “I’m wondering how worried we need to be about that. The way that mage talked, he didn’t recognize me, and I didn’t know him. But if I’m right and it was the Bones Estate, someone there most definitely will recognize me. If he reports back to Malefic or Sirena or one of the other Dark Cathedrals, someone will want to look at his memories.”

“Right,” Jolie followed along grimly. “I can’t imagine it’s normal to find a strange witch hiding behind a wardrobe in a restricted part of the castle. They’ll definitely want to know who it was. Leda’s right, someone will look at his memories––”

“But this is good news, isn’t it?” Luc blurted.

We all turned to stare at him, frowning.

He gestured a bit wildly with his hands.

“I mean, okay, it wasn’t ideal, the way it happened,” Luc conceded. “The fact it only worked because your life was in danger, and you had no control over where you ended up… or how and when you got back… but the point is, Leda, it worked! You can do it. You can phase!”

He shoved his glasses up higher on his nose, like he did when he was excited.

“Can we just take a second with that? We’ve spent months trying to figure out whether that was even possible!” He looked at me, a smile still ghosting his lips. “I admit, I’ve been pretty skeptical after so long with no progress, even with Forsooth and Blackstone believing it. It just seemed so wildly improbable, even if Bones managed it. The idea that you could learn it too, just because the two of you share magic, was starting to feel far-fetched.”

I didn’t know how to answer that, so I didn’t.

Truthfully, his words surprised me.

Why had he given up so many of his nights, if he hadn’t even believed it was possible?

True, we’d talked about other ways to get into the Black Tower, and we’d discussed other aspects of getting Bones free of his father, like the collar and how to get into the dungeon, but we’d all decided phasing was probably the only realistic way through the chimaeras.

Had Luc only been helping to keep me from doing something crazier?

I glanced at Nyx, Jolie, and Alaric, and wondered what they’d believed.

“You’ll need to be able to control it,” Luc said, reddening a little, which made me wonder how he’d interpreted my silence. When I continued to not speak, his expression and voice grew indignant. “I really don’t know how you don’t see this as good news, Leda?”

“Oh,” I said, surprised. “I do. I mean, yes… it is good news. Of course it is.”

I glanced at Alaric, who continued to look worried, and Nyx, who was staring at me in darkly amused disbelief.

“I guess I’d thought I would have some control,” I admitted, looking back at Luc. “Or really, that there’d be some rhyme or reason, some logic to where I landed. I thought I’d have some sense of how it all worked, so I’d know what to try next.”

I leaned on my palms where they rested on the leather couch.

I drummed my fingers against the leather.

“Bones told me he got dragged to places with a strong emotional resonance,” I added, thinking aloud. “But what was my magic’s logic around that room, in particular? It’s not like I have a particular attachment to being in a dusty, rat-infested crypt. Pretty much any other part of the castle would have held more meaning for me.”

Nyx snorted a half-laugh, in a way that sounded like she agreed with me.

“You thought you’d go to Bones,” Jolie reasoned.

I looked at her, hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”