Of Caverns and Casters ✓ [TLRQ #1]

Chapter 44 - Leavi

It's midnight, and my eyes are still wide open.

Him. That was really Tavion. Tavion in all his charming, late nights out, drink in hand, girl on arm glory.

I don't know why I gave that name to Aster. I didn't think I'd really see anything. It should have been harder—impossible—for him to show me someone random like Tavi than someone like my father. A hard knot forms in my stomach. I wonder if Tavi's thought about me since his late-night, drunken knocking that alerted my mother I had a life beyond vitaliti and got me kicked out of my own home.

It didn't look like it.

I turn over for the dozenth time tonight. There had to be some trick to it. That couldn't have really been Tavion; it was just how I imagined him to be. There had to be some sort of chemical in that powder, some hallucinogen. There had to be.

"But it didn't seem like a hallucinogen," I mutter frustratedly. I pound my pillow, then, still not comfortable, push up. A hallucinogen would have taken too long to kick in, and there would have been something to tip me off. A haze around the edges, a confusion to my thoughts, something. But no. His trick had all the clarity of a normal day to it.

Which is what unnerves me. There has to be an explanation.

Mind made up, I throw the covers off and slip on a robe Marcí loaned me. Wrapping it tight, I cross the hall to Sean's old room, Aster's now. The knob turns easily; Sean must still have the key. My fingertips press the door open, and it slides gently on its hinges.

Moonlight filters through the window, giving form to Aster's sleeping silhouette. His cloak hangs on the bedpost, gently brushing the floor. I tiptoe toward it, reaching inside the folds. My fingers trip over something solid, and I pull out his bowl, along with the little, cloth-wrapped book and bag of powder.

Aster sighs in his sleep and shifts to face me. I freeze. Outside, a nightbird caws, and I cringe, but Aster's breaths stay steady. I relax. He's still asleep.

I slip down the stairs. Where to do this? I consider staying in my room, but the last thing I want is to accidentally wake Aster up. And anywhere downstairs, someone could walk in on the experiment, which won't do either. No. All I need is thirty minutes—just enough time to run a few trials—and then all of Aster's things will be back where he left them. I'll have my answer, and he'll have his materials back, no harm done. As long as no one sees me.

My eyes light on the living room window.

The chill winter air nips at my face as I slip out the door, and I tug the robe tighter. The snow shffs off the porch as I swipe my foot. After a circle is cleared, I sit, facing the forest. The tops of the trees sway, almost hypnotically. Pale moonbeams glisten against the snow, making the air shimmer with an otherworldly light.

You're being ridiculous, Leavi. Focus. I place the materials on the ground in front of me.

The nightbird caws again, and my eyes snap up. There he sits on the railing, black feathers puffed up slightly, as though sensing some danger. Apparently, he pushes his doubts away because he settles down on the bar. His head cocks, considering me. "Kaark!"