Wind blew from his hand, and the shell lifted off his palm. And no matter how long the shell hovered there, the wind never once went out of control. Barclay had been terrified that his Lore had forgotten the sound of his voice, but now it listened to him like it had never stopped.

He let the Lore settle until the shell lowered gently back into his hand.

“I did it,” Barclay breathed. Root licked his hand proudly.

“Of course you did,” Yasha told him.

Barclay knew he still had more practice ahead of him, but he’d gladly stay up all night to do so, just so he could show Runa in the morning. He didn’t feel one lick tired. He probably wouldn’t ever feel tired again.

“You’re a good teacher,” Barclay told Yasha, hoping that the other boy would smile for once.

Yasha only shrugged. “You’re not wrong. Our Lore has a lot in common.”

“But still… thank you.”

Finally, Yasha cracked a grin—though a small one. “If you ever wanted to practice together, we could—”

“There you are!” Viola called. Barclay looked up and spotted Shazi, Hasu, and Cecily standing at the cave’s entrance. “What took you so long? It seems like you’re never around lately.”

“That’s what we came here to talk about,” Hasu said nervously. “We can’t be friends anymore.”

“What?” Barclay asked, unsure he’d heard right. “Why not?”

“Because Cyril told us everything about Runa,” Shazi said. “The truth.”

Tadg frowned. “I don’t know what he told you, but this is more important. We figured out something about Lochmordra, and maybe even the Isle of Roane. That means we can finally tell—”

“No,” Cecily said. “I mean, we can tell the Guardians. But we can’t tell Runa.”

“What do you mean?” Tadg demanded. “Why wouldn’t we tell Runa?”

Cyril’s three apprentices exchanged a dark look.

When neither Hasu nor Cecily seemed willing to speak, Shazi blurted, “Because Runa is a murderer.”

SEVENTEEN

Barclay had always known that Runa and Cyril hated each other, but he was still shocked that Cyril would make up such a horrid lie. Because of course it was a lie. Runa might’ve been intense at times, but Runa was, without question, good. And no matter what the girls said, Barclay had already decided not to believe a word of it.

Tadg seethed. “That’s nonsense. And it wouldn’t be the first time Cyril lied about Runa.”

“Cyril isn’t a liar,” Shazi shot back.

“Shazi…,” Hasu squeaked. “We promised Cyril we wouldn’t say—”

“But they deserve to know, don’t they? I’d want to know, if she was my teacher. After all…” Shazi’s voice went quiet and grave. “Any one of you three could be next.”

“You think we’re in danger?” Barclay asked. This was growing more and more ridiculous. “How could any of you believe that?”