A thick blanket of snow had settled when Ellie and Lottie arrived back at school after Christmas. It felt disconnected from the Rosewood they had left. Then, their world had been hazy with fog and rain. Now, the air was crisp and peaceful.

Slowly, her mind clearing with the cool air, Lottie began to realize something was wrong, something Ellie wasn’t telling her.

They were accompanied by Samuel Petrov, who would be staying on campus. The school had assured them security would continue to be maintained at the highest degree since their Partizan and Haru had been ‘called away on a confidential expedition by the Partizan Council’ – or so Haru’s note had alleged.

A routine quickly formed, and during classes Samuel would wait for Lottie outside the door, then escort her to the next class and so on. The blanket of protection quickly began to feel suffocating, but it wasn’t until their third day back, when they were in the library studying, that Lottie started to become suspicious.

The instructions from the crown were simple enough.

Do not tell anyone what has become of Jamie.

Cease all research into Leviathan’s plan.

Do not go after Jamie.

Lottie had no intention of following these rules, but she hadn’t expected to find herself being watched so closely.

‘He never showed up for movie night,’ Raphael moaned for the hundredth time, an untouched mug of tea turning cold in front of him. ‘He didn’t even say goodbye; it doesn’t make sense I tell you …’

Ellie didn’t so much as flinch, her eyes cast down over her coursework, the perfect tableau of a high-school girl studying for her exams. It was creepy.

‘Not to mention that he completely abandoned Vampy. It’s just so unlike him,’ Raphael continued, yet still Ellie didn’t look up.

Lottie’s heart wrenched at the thought of the cat.

Saskia, Anastacia and Binah’s eyes flicked between the two girls, the only ones aware of what had really happened, all of them sworn to silence. They weren’t what Lottie was worried about. Behind Ellie’s chair, watching her pointedly, was Samuel.

Lottie gulped, trying to make her voice as calm and hinged as possible while feeling like her heart might explode at any moment. ‘I’ve told you, Raphael. Jamie and Haru have been loaned to an important mission by the Partizan council and their whereabouts cannot be disclosed.’

Lottie felt like a robot, spewing out lie after lie at the whim of her programmers, and all the while Ellie stayed silent. Her role as Portman had never felt like such a prison.

Raphael finally picked up his tea and held it to his mouth. ‘I just wish he’d said goodbye.’

Me too, Lottie thought. Part of her envied Raphael’s obliviousness, wondering if it would hurt less if she had no idea where he was.