“Shy—” Her voice breaks, and I pull her to me, turning so her back is to Natalie, who stands aside, hugging herself, looking very much alone.

“It’s going to be okay.”

Lily buries her head in my chest, and my shirt soaks through with tears and snot and saliva. We stand like this for a long while, and when Lily finally pulls away, Natalie has left, either because I accomplished something she couldn’t or because she doesn’t want to be late for class.

“I should go,” Lily says quietly, not meeting my gaze as she wipes her swollen face with the backs of her hands. She takes a deep breath that trembles as she exhales and then says, “I didn’t sleep with him.”

“I wouldn’t care if you did.”

She smiles, but it doesn’t touch her eyes. “Sometimes I don’t want to be what we are.”

I nod. “I know.”

There are definitely days when I hate what I am. Yesterday was one of them.

Lily takes a deep breath and retrieves her bag.

I offer to walk her to class, but she insists on going alone. As I approach Emerson, Vera’s empty noose remains overhead, and I’m reminded of my agenda for today: Vera is not present over the doors of the building. Her rounds are like clockwork—she hangs until ten and then wanders until school ends at three. I turn and move toward the woods nearest Emerson, sliding my backpack off my shoulder. I shift into my raven form, flying the path Vera takes through the woods, straying from time to time to check thicker brush, but do not find her.

Not that I expected to—I’ve mostly been hoping. A missing soul isn’t good, but there are a number of reasons she might be gone. It is no secret Vera is an old spirit, and her energy attracts all sorts of creatures. What if she summoned a darkling beyond the power of our barrier? Or a death-speaker decided to harness her energy for some dark purpose of their own? There is a third possibility, but with Roth so close to becoming luminary, I don’t want to consider it. Not yet.

I’m not looking forward to my next move. I’m going to have to ask Natalie if she reported Vera’s absence to the Order, something that is going to open the floor for interrogation. At the very least, she’s going to want to know where I was last night. For now, I’ve got to get to class and at least pretend I’m a normal high school student who cares about being here.