Rooming with the Wicked

18 | just an accident

Danox was right.

Today's research was as fruitless as Infernis—seriously, they didn't even have ember berries down there—and left me questioning my father once more. This was starting to become a habit. What if the mining incident was only the tip of the iceberg? And Vespyrea...

Part of me wanted to simply confront Dad and ask, but I needed more to go on first. He could easily just lie about everything. No, I needed concrete proof.

Naturally, Leyn was my first stop after finding next to nothing in the historical section or any of the newspaper archives. Sure, Vespyrea had existed and yes there were beautiful pictures and vast information about its climate, flora, fauna, and inhabitants, but nothing except for a few measly articles about a possible volcanic explosion on that fateful day four years ago. None included any scientific proof or actual data to confirm that theory.

Well, wasn't that just suspicious whatsoever. The whole thing reeked of a massive cover-up. I could feel myself getting angry at Dad all over again.

So much so that part of me wanted to side with Danox. He could very well be the one who'd poisoned me and here I was not only trying to take him off my suspect list but digging deeper to find out the truth about the lost shifter realm. Maybe I was losing my mind after all.

That possibility seemed all the more likely when Leyn just stared at me like I'd suddenly sprouted wings when I asked her about Vespyrea's fate.

"I can't help you," she said at last.

I blinked at her. "Wha—"

Her silver eyes flitted to a group of students shuffling toward the exit and she raised a bony finger to silence me. Once they were out of earshot, she lowered her hand and cleared her throat. "Everything we have is in the—"

"Spare me, Leyn," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "There's nothing in any of those books or papers and you know that."

She turned around and went back to sorting through a cart of particularly used-looking tomes. "Then I can't help you."

Bullshit.

My fingers started drumming on the counter. "Can't or won't?"

Her elbow twitched, but she didn't look up. She knew something. Something she either wasn't supposed to know or wasn't at liberty to say. But Leyn had never been one to play by the rules. I just had to be smart about this.

"I know they didn't destroy all the twin crystals," I said.

Another twitch.

"I also know the ones that are left don't seem to work."

The knuckles of her hand clutching How To Avoid Certain Death on Cloudpiercer turned white. Good, I was getting to her—or bad, if she was about to go owl mode and chase me out of here. Not sure which was more likely.

"Now, I'm not a portal expert," I continued, "but—"

Leyn spun around faster than I could blink, book still in hand. Face distorted in a frightening scowl, she hissed, "What are you trying to do here exactly, Ariel?"

I gestured behind me. "What any student comes to the library for—get some answers."

Something flashed in those cold eyes of hers and she sighed. "You're outta luck."

"Where are the records? They're supposed to be public." Leaning across the counter, I added in a low voice, "A volcano? Seriously? They got all that technology out there but can't deliver some actual proof?"

"Everyone agrees. Who are you to doubt such reputable papers?" She set the book down between us, tapping the hand-drawn picture of Cloudpiercer's snowy peak on the cover with one long fingernail. "Haven't seen other sources myself..."