Veil of Shadow and Rain ✓ [TSC #1]

Chapter 14 - Twists and Thoughts

Wren's heart sank horribly. They had arrived at Nicaea. She didn't say a word as Jake talked on.

'You know, I doubt there could've been anyone in the West Tower corridors that night.' Abruptly, he stopped in his tracks so immediately Wren almost crashed into him. 'What's your problem?' she said loudly.

'Wren -' Jake whirled around, his blue eyes staring into her different ones, 'Wren, you don't think - you don't think it could'be been Nicaea, do you?'

Wren, too, stopped whatever she was doing. It took her a moment for her brain to register his words, then she said, 'Wha - no, no that's not possible.'

She started walking away. Jake hurried to catch up with her. 'No, think about it, Carrots,' he said urgently, reusing her nickname again, 'actually think about it. It could be a cross -'

'No, it's not possible!' said Wren loudly, whirling around to face him. 'It's not possible, Jake! Nicaea wants to kill me, and if she'd been in the same corridor I'd been in, the same one I was breathing oxygen out of, she'd kill me. She wouldn't go murdering Lucian Ailwood, you idiot, she'd go after me!'

'The thing is, what if she didn't notice you were there?' said Jake excitedly, his voice rising higher up an octave. 'What if she thought he was you, and -'

'That's ridiculous, Jake, come out of your dreams,' said Wren. 'There are a lot of differences between Lucian and me!'

'Yeah, but - well, you're both the same age, and it could've been hard to -'

'He's a boy,' said Wren, goggling at Jake. 'He's blonde, I'm a carrot, he's got this permanent scowl on his face which I don't -'

It was Jake's turn to goggle at her.

'Are you thinking at all, Carrots?' he said. 'Nicaea could've made a mistake!'

'If there's one thing I learned, villains don't make mistakes!' growled Wren. 'Besides, why would she come to the bloody Academy when she could've just barged into the Palace?'

But Jake wasn't listening. He was pacing the Hall. 'Imagine if Nicaea wanted to come here, to the Academy. She wanted to create a diversion, really ... hey! What if she was the one was set the fire! It wasn't Emmett or Rafe who set the place on fire, was it?'

'No, it wasn't ...' said Wren slowly. She could see where Jake was going. If, if Nicaea had set the place on fire, clearly, she'd wanted to cause a diversion, knowing Wren would indulge herself into the mystery, into thinking it was trap, thinking there was someone out there... Yes, that would be closest to what Wren would've done, Wren thought, but a thing she hadn't done. Nicaea hadn't thought about how Wren would relate all this to her ...

'You know, Jake,' she said, 'I think you might have a point.'

'What?'

'I think you might have a point,' repeated Wren. 'No ... you do have a point! Nicaea could've - no, you don't have a point.'

'What?'

'How could Nicaea possibly slip into the Academy, Jake? We've got tons of security here, she'd never be able to make it pas them - even if she did, someone's bound to see her anyway -'

'They can teleport,' said Jake simply.

'Oh God, Jake, speaking to you makes me feel like I'm top student in the academy. Didn't you listen to what the professor said during Revealing Charms lesson?'