Dawn of Fog and Glass

Chapter Nineteen: Dawn of Fog and Glass

I hadn't planned on Barrett beginning my Saturday. Adams, Stumpy, and I stand in the hallway while the other guards wait for their usual coffees in the lobby.

A shout rings from down the hall. I look. The door to the Headmaster's office opens of its own accord, and out storms Barrett. It slams behind him as if by a ghost, and the ground surrounding him shakes. The anger rolling off him stains the air around us. His guards rush to catch up. A potted plant rattles as he passes, and another cracks. His hair, ginger and messed, looks wilder than usual, distorting the freckles about his face. I tilt my head to the side quizzically.

He barely notices when he runs right into me. I stumble back, nearly tripping over my own feet. He merely grumbles.

I roll my eyes. "Sorry to be such an inconvenience to you."

He pretends not to hear. "Have you talked to Dom yet?"

"No."

"Are you going to?"

"Yes."

"So why haven't you done it yet?"

I give him an exaggerated sigh, shaking my head disappointedly. "Because some people have lives, Barrett," I retort. "Unlike you."

He folds his hands behind his back, mouth forming a thin line. Something about him feels different, feels tighter today. Maybe it's because he apparently had a pleasant visit with his father just moments ago, but he's replaced his usual snarky remarks with cold, clipped words.

He blinks. "Get it done as soon as possible. Whatever you did—which, don't tell me, because gross—just get it over with."

"Fine. I'll talk to him today."

"Fine." He makes to leave, but before he does, he sets his face in a stern line that makes him look scarily like his father. "And, by the way, I searched up the definition of 'megalomaniac'."

I purse my lips, resisting the urge to smile. "And?"

He's silent for a moment, and I know he's choosing his words carefully. One misstep on my part, one wrong word, and his pot overflows. He looks about ready to boil, anyway.

Finally, he settles with, "Sometimes, Arden, you're a real bitch."

**

I catch Dominic by surprise after lunch, when he's taking a walk on the grounds with Barrett and Beth. The Fog, thickened by the early December cold, washes over my ankles and rustles my hair. I asked to come here alone, but my guards insisted on coming. Adams came up with a compromise consisting of the guards staying within eyesight at all times but from a reasonable distance.

Barrett, Dominic, and Beth are walking side by side along the path, their tangle of guards begrudgingly walking a few metres behind. I realize with a pang in my chest that Dominic is in the middle of the three. It would be so much easier if I could just grab him from the side. I shake my head. Snap out of it, Arden.

I step up to them, stopping the group in their path. I feel short when standing before the three of them, but it's not as if it's a new feeling. Their bodies loom over mine, and if the sun reached us enough through the Fog, their shadows would cover me in a frosty penumbra.

Unlike his friends, Dominic wears no coat. The Fog whispers along his exposed skin below his sleeves. He narrows his eyes, confused by my presence here. Beth quirks an eyebrow at me.

Barrett's face stills. The ends of his hair, captured beneath a toque, flutter about in the gentle wind. His gaze is unwavering.

Fix this.