“Shame is for other people,” he says. “You know, I’ve never seen anyone fling herself over a table in a crowded dining hall quite like that before. It was fairly epic. I think you startled the hell out of Matteo. You should have seen his face. Even after you were carried out, he couldn’t quite get over the whole thing. Wouldn’t talk to anyone.”

“He’ll have his chance to get even, I’m sure.”

Ash shakes his head. “He knocked you out cold. Blackwood called it even.”

I touch the side of my head where I felt the sharp pain yesterday, and sure enough, there’s a bump. “Oh.”

I sit down on my bed.

“Don’t you dare think about lying back down,” he says.

I take a swig of the water on my bedside table. “If I do, are you going to let me punch you again?”

He sits next to me and smirks.

I look at him squarely. “Why did you do it?”

“Get you out of bed? Who would pine after me if you weren’t around? It would get depressing.”

I shake my head. “Did I really make things worse for myself?”

His smile fades. “Yes. With Blackwood and in general. Between Charles’s death and Nyx being in the dungeon, the school is turning on you.”

“And again, why are you here, dragging me out of bed…caring about any of this? Is it just because I live with your sister? Are you trying to make sure this doesn’t spill onto her?”

“Well, that’s certainly the reason I slept here last night,” he says.

You slept here? is what I’m thinking, but what I say is: “So if I’m such a liability, why don’t you just get me assigned to a different room?” I instantly regret my words. I don’t want to leave Layla or stop spending time with Ash. But I also don’t want to live with the constant fear that they might walk away from me at my weakest moment. I’ve always been sure where I stood with people and who I could count on, but at this school I have no idea.

“Why are you so impossible?” he says.

“You should ask my best friend. She’ll give you a long list of reasons,” I say.

He smiles, but there is sadness in his expression.

“Look, I’m not saying I’m not grateful. I’m so grateful. You and Layla…well, I don’t know what I would do without you. And when you and I were caught after curfew together, it made sense that you guys stood by me. But at this point I don’t understand why you’re helping me, especially if the Lions are as powerful as you say they are.”

“As I told you, Layla’s more moral than I consider healthy. She’s also unshakably curious. Once this situation became a puzzle, she was going to solve it whether you were here or not. And, well, she finds you infuriating, which, as you can tell”—he spreads his arms to indicate himself—“is a quality she greatly admires.” He laughs. “She’s come to think of you as a friend.”