“He’s okay,” Livvy said. “He’s doing well at the Scholomance. He has a Carpathian lynx in his room! He doesn’t really have any friends, though. He misses you, but he won’t talk about it. But other than that, he’s fine.”

As she said it, though, she realized that she wasn’t sure at all that Ty was fine. The strand that bound her to Ty—that filament of magic—felt wrong, somehow, as if it were slackening. She could feel Ty reaching for her, but weakly.

“Livvy?” Kit said.

“Oh no,” she said. “No, I think I have to go back. I think I shouldn’t be here.”

Now Kit looked truly alarmed. “What’s wrong?” he said.

“Ty,” she said. “It’s hurting him that I’m here. Tell Magnus I’m sorry, but I have to go. Tell him to come find me. I have information for him about Idris.”

“About Idris?” Kit said. “Never mind. I’ll tell him. Go!”

And Livvy went.

She must have been back at the Scholomance in the space of a breath, although to be fair, since she didn’t breathe anymore, she was only guessing that was how long it took. She was in Ty’s room, but Ty wasn’t there. Only Irene, looking accusingly at her from the door, which she appeared to be attempting to chew open.

“Sorry,” Livvy said, and then felt ridiculous. This time she let her awareness of Ty, where he was, pull her toward him, and yet that was not where she found herself. She found herself, instead, hovering once more over Dimmet Tarn.

“No!” she said. And, feeling as if she were fighting her way to him through some impenetrable and gloomy dark chasm, she came at last to her brother.

He was lying in a bed in the infirmary, looking very pale. Catarina Loss was by his side, and a boy that Livvy recognized from Ty’s classes. Anush.

“He just collapsed,” Anush was saying. “Is it food poisoning?”

“I don’t think so,” Catarina Loss said. “I don’t know.”

Ty opened his eyes. “Livvy,” he said, so softly that her name was barely a sound at all.

“What did he say?” Anush asked.

“Livvy,” Catarina said, laying her hand on Ty’s head. “His sister. The one who was slain by Annabel Blackthorn.”

“Oh,” Anush said. “Oh, how sad.”

Catarina Loss said, “His color is improving a little, I think. Are you good friends?”

“Uh, not really?” Anush said. “I don’t know who his friends are. If he has friends. I mean, he seems like a good guy. Smart. Super focused. But he kind of keeps to himself.”

“I’m going to keep him in the infirmary overnight,” Catarina Loss said. “But if it occurs to you to come back to visit him, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Everyone needs friends.”