“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m being a terrible listener and a worse friend.”

Tessa flops down on her bed. “You didn’t answer the question.”

“You noticed that, did you?” I keep my voice light, teasing, but inside, my nerves clatter together like a pair of cymbals. Should I tell her? Can I trust her with the truth?

Her face goes serious. “Is it about Bram?”

“No!” Heat rushes to my cheeks. “Why would you say that?”

“It just seems like there’s something unfinished between the two of you.”

“I stole something from the library,” I say, as much to change the subject as anything. But when Tessa’s eyes go wide with alarm, it makes me wish I could snatch the words back. “I’m planning on putting it back,” I amend, though I really can’t return a ripped page.

Tessa’s expression softens, and she reaches for my fingers. “Tell me what happened.”

My mouth goes dry as I sit beside her and retrieve the page from my pocket. Some irrational part of me is worried that it will disintegrate the moment I try to open it. Or burst into flame. A nagging fear that Latham will have found a way to keep me in the dark again. But the parchment stays solid as I unfold it across my lap.

“Oh,” Tessa says when she sees Avalina’s name. “This is why you risked the wrath of the librarian by going to the sixth floor. Not for a law book.”

I nod absently as I study the entries. “She was a Mixer,” I say aloud. “From Leiden.”

“The City of Glass? My childhood tutor moved to Leiden a few years ago,” Tessa says. “I could write a letter to him and ask if he knows anything about her.”

I lay a palm on her forearm. “Yes, that would be helpful.”

“How strange,” Tessa says. “It doesn’t say why she was expelled.”

But my gaze has drifted to the bottom of the page, and a spasm of relief goes through me. The most important information in the entry is what isn’t here. A death date.

Avalina is alive.

Chapter Eleven

The Grand Council Chamber takes up the entire top floor of Ivory Hall.