Lottie thought that would be it for the day, but once they’d parted ways with Raphael and the twins and stepped out into the frosty night, Saskia finally spoke up.

‘Are you two OK?’ she asked, red scarf whipping around her in the snow flurry. There was none of her usual humour, no raised eyebrow or smirk. She only looked confused. ‘This all just seems really weird. You two must want to talk about it? I know your family said you’re handling it but we could still do something, and I don’t know why you’re –’

‘It’s being handled,’ Ellie said before Samuel appeared beside them once more, looming like Lottie’s own personal shadow.

All three girls gawked at Ellie’s response, Anastacia and Binah looking to Lottie like she might be able to explain it, but she could only shake her head. She didn’t understand it either.

During the third week the lack of privacy was becoming even more oppressive, and it wasn’t just Samuel that was the problem. The whole school seemed to be watching her with whispers and curious glances, no longer angry but pitying. There was not a single chance to let her emotions slip.

By the following Friday Lottie understood that she was being watched just as much as she was being looked out for, and if she was going to continue her research and start looking for Jamie, she’d have to be come up with a plan to avoid her new bodyguard.

‘Curfew is in two hours,’ Samuel reminded the girls as they laid their bags down in the library, settling down for another evening of studying.

‘Yes, thank you – we’re aware,’ Lottie replied, the curtness slipping through unintentionally.

Ellie flitted over, brushing snow off her winter coat, and placed a white-chocolate mocha on the table. ‘I got this for you, Lottie.’ She beamed at her, the smile too full, too much like the ones she would give her when they first became friends.

Fingers still red from the cold, Lottie took the cup, her eyes locking with Ellie’s, trying to find any sign of secrets that she was hiding. ‘Thank you.’

The two of them nestled into the booth and Lottie had the oddest feeling of nostalgia, like they were playing happy families. The dark under Ellie’s eyes didn’t match her disjointed smile. This was make believe, but why? Why wouldn’t she let them talk about Jamie or Leviathan?

Binah arrived soon after with some maths notes, cursing the cold weather as she shrugged off her coat. ‘This must be the coldest February we’ve had in years,’ she grumbled, slipping next to Lottie.

This was her chance.

The moment Binah put her bag under the table, Lottie let her pen roll off, and with a small kick of Binah’s bag the pen landed exactly inside.

‘Oops! I’ll get it,’ Lottie said.