I close the door and rest against it. They’re right. I brought Alice to the Lodge the night of Nick’s father’s betrayal. Calling her a Vassal, a non-initiated supporter of the Order, was the first lie I could think of to explain why she was my guest. “I only recommended that we make you an official Vassal so that we’d have a paper trail to back it up, Alice. Not so you could go flashing around the Gawain greens.”

“And it was good you did,” she mutters, and digs into the Bojangles bag. “Otherwise, people would wonder why I was hanging around the Lodge all the time in the archives with William trying to get up to speed with your new Crown Scion lifestyle. Archives which are, by the way, fascinating, and I can’t believe you aren’t in there every day yourself.”

I could be spending that time studying the ancient spirit whose abilities I’ve now inherited, and those Scions of Arthur who came before me. But I don’t. It feels too much like reaching for the man himself.

My phone dings on the bed, saving me from having to explain that to Alice. I swipe it while she eats. A message from Mariah.

Saw your text. Okay to video with me and the doc?

Yep, I tap back. “Hey,” I say to Alice. “Mariah texted. Gonna check in with her and Dr. Hartwood about last night.”

Alice’s head pops up, dark brown eyes eager and curious. “Oooh. Rootcrafter secret meeting. Need me to step out?”

“Nah, you’re fine.” Alice, William, and Sel are the only people I’ve told about the Rootcrafter community on campus.

I lean the phone up against Patricia’s jar of oil and swipe the call open when the notification appears.

Mariah’s warm, red-brown face appears on the left side of the screen. “Hey, Bree-Bree.” She waves, grinning behind her glasses. Her hair is in long box braids, pulled up into a bun by a wide scarf.

“Hey, girl,” I reply.

“That Alice back there?”

“Hi, Mariah!” Alice waves. “Don’t mind me.” She settles on my bed with her phone, happy to leave the conversation to us.

I peer around Mariah in the video. From what I can tell, she’s in her dorm room. “What’s going on?”

She shrugs. “Lotta nothing. Currently doing an excellent job of ignoring a take-home test. You said something went down last night. What happened?”

I blink. “You didn’t feel it?”

She raises a brow. “Feel what?”

“A… root shockwave?”

“No! Hollup…” She leans closer, eyes searching my features. “Did you get attacked bad enough for your root to flare?”

“Yes. No. Not really?” Alice makes a frustrated sound and I turn to face her.

“Bad enough they’re making her move outta the house,” she adds, adjusting her glasses without looking up.

“Whoa!” Mariah gawks.

“I’m fine!”