The Legend of the Eight: The Hunted (Book 5)

11: Lineage

ELEVEN: LINEAGE
FEBRUARY 14
PHOEBE DOMINGO

DREW WAS NEXT TO HER in the bed, snoring as he slept. It was early—even for them—and he would probably sleep for another hour or two. They were up late last night and despite the little sleep she got, Phoebe was wide awake.

She was on her phone, switching between staring at the time and rereading messages from Finn Parker. He was on his way to meet her for another one of their chats and there was a pit in her stomach when she thought about sneaking away to meet him.

She wasn't sure how to tell Drew about him and every passing day that she kept the secret only made it worse. The guilt weighed on her like a ton of bricks and she was scared she'd break under it. It should've been easy to tell him—she wasn't doing anything wrong—but every time she tried to tell him, something stopped her and the words never made it out.

So she slipped out of the bed they slept in, changed into a sweatshirt and jeans, and left her dorm quietly—hoping to return before Drew even noticed she was gone.

WIND BLEW AT HER FACE as she walked, whipping her mess of brown and purple hair around wildly. She was almost to the edge of campus where Finn waited for her and when she got close enough, she could see him blowing clouds of smoke into the breeze.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets when she met him and he put out his cigarette with his foot. Then he winked one of his violet eyes at her and smirked.

"There you are. I thought you might be pissed about what happened to your friend. How's he doing?"

"Damon?" Phoebe asked because last she heard, Damon Donovan was in the palace infirmary, recovering from a nasty run-in with a few Shadow Thieves. He reached out to her after talking with Dr. K and had a plan to use Shadow Magic to cure King Walter. Finn connected him with someone who might help—his grandfather, Darius. Darius sent him to a group of Shadow Men who specialized in alternative healing magic but there, Damon was ambushed by Thieves.

"He's alright," she said after a minute but truthfully, she didn't know.

Damon and Wil weren't together anymore and even if they were, Phoebe hadn't spent much time with Wil lately. She found out about the princess's relationship with Sir Oliver through a post on WoMOnline. Before, she would've been the first person Wil told about him and now, they hardly spoke. Phoebe only heard about Damon's accident because Kate mentioned it at lunch days ago. He'd been hexed and needed to keep his distance from the Eight until Dr. K managed a cure. As if his plate wasn't full enough—he was already searching for a miracle to heal King Walter.

"You know, I thought you'd be with lover boy this morning," Finn said after a while. "Given that it's Valentine's Day and all."

She rolled her eyes into a glare and then raised a brow at him.

"Is that what your urgent text was about? You were just trying to mess with Drew and I?"

Finn started to laugh, puffs of cigarette breath billowing out in front of him. "Give me a little more credit, love." He dug through the pocket of his denim jacket and took out an envelope, folded into fourths. "I looked into that Representational Magic for you. Got some answers."

She gestured to the envelope. "What's that?"

"Answers," he said plainly. "From the Ghost himself."

"You talked to Alessandro?"

"Of course I did." Finn had a smug look on his face when he said that. "Someone had to. And you've been avoiding him like the plague so I guess it's up to me."