The Vanguard were responsible for everything?
But—
"Why?" I breathed, retreating a step.
No matter how I looked at it, it made no sense. None. Zero. Attacking supernaturals, sure. That was right up the organization's alley. But attacking a member's daughter? It just...didn't fit.
Unless Dad was in on it.
Bile rose and my stomach churned. Was he really willing to sacrifice his own flesh and blood for their—for his cause? Did he hate supernaturals that much? Or was this about something else?
I clenched my fists until my nails painfully dug into my palms.
Professor Flamel steadied himself with both hands pressed flat on the desktop. With white knuckles and frantic eyes, he stared right at me. "The treaty negotiations—your father..." He cleared his throat. He—They need his vote. His and the other undecided ambassadors' votes."
I froze.
Undecided?
That made even less sense. My whole life he'd been on and on about how he was called to be an ambassador, how it was his responsibility to make sure things didn't get out of hand, how he had to help keep the balance. How he was so sure of everything.
The reason he'd stopped being a father. Priorities and all.
And now he was supposed to be unsure?
"Undecided...how?" I asked slowly.
"Your father," Professor Flamel said, "he's against the mining of energy crystals. He's been trying to convince the others to stay away from Glimmerweald."
Come again?
"Professor, are you sure—"
His glasses slid off his nose and landed on the desk with a soft clatter when he nodded. "Yes. The seelie queen herself will attend treaty negotiations this time. As well as the high council of Pandaemonium."
The demons were coming too? What the literal hell was going on here?
I shook my head. "But Dad... He's in the Vanguard! Why would—why would he...?"
"What?" For the first time in, well, ever, Professor Flamel looked truly shocked. His elbows shook and he took a deep breath. "What are you talking about? He's been working against them. Not openly, of course, but he's been trying to weaken them bit by bit."
"That's not... That can't be true." I stumbled backward until my spine hit the closest lab table. "My dad... He's not a good person. He's... He—"
"Ariel, please, you have to listen to me." Professor Flamel's voice was low. "We don't have much time. They're after you because he won't yield. They know that now. They're going to make an example out of him and sway the negotiations at the same time."
Wasn't this just ironic? Offing the one person my dad didn't give a crap about. For an organization whose ruthless and calculated reputation preceded it, its members sure were stupid. Maybe I should point them in Clarence's direction instead.
Oh, right, he was one of them. Just like Dad.
"Ariel—"
I pushed myself away from the table. "Even if that was true, my dad doesn't even care about me!"
Professor Flamel slumped back into his chair. "Of course, he does. You have to"—a raspy cough made him double over—"you need to leave. It's not safe here."
My head was starting to spin for a whole different reason. Professor Flamel was one of the smartest people I'd ever met. How could he be so easily fooled?
"No." I shook my head again. "I'm not about to into the next trap like some—some pawn."
"Please, Professor Renis can escort you to the portal, but you need to go. Now."
So, he was working with Renis.
I crossed my arms. "Not until someone explains what the hell is going on here. This is my life. It has nothing to do with my father. My future"—the future I'd build for myself, by myself—"has nothing to do with my father!"
"I wish that mattered," he breathed, reaching for a vial of pale green liquid. A healing potion. "Just—just until the negotiations are over," he continued, unscrewing the cap. "Whatever the ambassadors decide, it won't be safe until it's set in stone. Please, just trust me on this."
"Trust you?" I blurted. "You kept things from me! I practically had to beg you to tell me where that stupid portal even took me."
"I—"
"And don't you dare say it was for my own protection."
His face fell. "I didn't know!" He closed his eyes and downed the entirety of the potion. "Not until Professor Renis and I went to Pandaemonium."
Some of the rage dissipated. "What are you talking about?"
"I thought the vynari was a coincidence... Thought it was some random unrelated incident. But I was wrong." His frown deepened as he leaned forward, shoulders slumped. "Vynari are controlled by some of the highest ranking demons—their most elite soldiers—"
"Ember Knights."
His eyes widened. "You know?"
"I know of them."
"It was sent to Glimmerweald for a reason. It killed the seelie and fae guardians. It was supposed to kill you too."
You don't say.
Somehow hearing this confirmation that someone had gone to great lengths to end my life didn't have the desired effect. The relief I thought I'd feel fell short. It did make one thing abundantly clear though.
"Someone wanted to blame the demons," I said.
Professor Flame's eyebrows shot up. "Exactly."
Trust me, Professor, I'm just as surprised as you are. Past me would have undoubtedly blamed the demons, just like the majority of the general population would once they found out. Now me knew better.
"But something changed," he continued. "The news about the vynari never reached the ambassadors. No one knows what happened to the fae and seelies. Someone doesn't want this getting out...yet."
If what Professor Flamel was saying was true, it could simply be because their plan hadn't succeeded one hundred percent. Or...this was all one big fat lie. A ploy to get me to trust the wrong people. Professor Flamel sure was suddenly very informed for someone who had been anything but keen on sharing information until recently.
"How do you know all this?" I asked quietly.
"We—Professor Renis and I—have a contact in Infernis." He paused. "An Ember Knight."
"That's where you got all this?"
"Some."
"And you trust this—this Knight?"
"He hasn't been wrong so far. And he's proved to be very...resourceful." He leaned back and sighed. The healing potion seemed to be taking effect. He looked a little less pale. "That's not all. He said... He said there's a rogue Knight. A traitor working for the Vanguard."
That would explain the vynari on the loose.
A shiver ran down my spine. "This traitor... You don't happen to know who it is?"
He shook his head. "No. They're being very careful."
Crimson eyes, bright and teasing, flashed before me.
It couldn't be... No. He wouldn't. He'd helped me. He knew about my father and my fears and he'd still helped me.
A shiver ran down my spine.
But...he was here. At school. And he hadn't seemed that surprised when the portal had taken us to Glimmerweald—when he'd seen the vynari tracks.
No.
Haze was my...friend. Kind of.
"Ariel, let us help you." Was there a quiver in Professor Flamel's voice? "Please."
"I-I'm sorry, Professor," I said, already backing toward the door. "I can't."
Never again would I blindly take someone's word for something. Especially not now. Too much didn't make sense, too much was too convenient. Too cluttered at the same time. Too weird.
I hadn't run before, and I surely wouldn't now. Not when I was so close to the truth. So close to finding out what had really happened to Mom. So close to putting all the pieces together.
"I appreciate all your help," I added when my fingers found the door handle. "I really do. But...I gotta go."
And then I got the hell out of there. He called after me, but, just like last time, I didn't bother stopping. Nothing he could say would change my mind. Not now.
Maybe he really was trying to help me. Maybe he was trustworthy... But maybe, just maybe, he wasn't.
No more chances. Just truth.
The administration building cast a whisper of a shadow onto the stone steps leading to its entrance. Morning classes were still in full swing, which meant the person I wanted to speak to was likely still around. Warm yellow lux crystals lit the off-white hallway all the way to the chancellor's office. If anyone could shed some light on Dad's past, it was her.
Seeing the secretary's empty desk, I speed-walked around the corner, half-expecting the intricate wooden door to be locked, a notice of absence in place. A deep breath escaped me. A wide strip of orange light cut across the marble floor outside Chancellor Riviera's office. What a day to catch a break from my usual horrid luck.
Not that I was about to complain.
My knuckles connected with the dark wood and the door swung open almost all the way. She wasn't here. Surely, she would have locked the door if she didn't plan on being back soon. I was tempted to wait outside, but the pictures covering every inch of the wall made me step further into the office.
With the blinds drawn, the source of the orange light, a triangular lux crustal the size of my head, cast the room in a warm glow. Somehow, I'd imagined it to be relatively bare. It wasn't. Leather-bound tomes were neatly stacked in an open cabinet behind a desk likely carved from the same wood as the door. Countless trinkets filled what felt like every available space in the room.
How anyone could place an ardu dowsing rod between what looked like a spiky, fossilized shell and a turquoise amulet likely of naiad origin was beyond me. Then again, my books were sorted by color and not subject, so who was I to judge?
Not as strange were the walls covered in pictures of the school, its faculty members and students, and what looked like Chancellor Riviera's previous ambassador colleagues. Some of the faces were hard to see clearly in the orange glow, but I recognized my father's strained posture and light eyes, despite his unusually hollow cheeks. Upon closer inspection, I noticed his hair was caramel rather than dyed blond. This picture had to be at least fifteen years old, if not older.
He stood between Professor Flamel, an ambassador at the time judging by the cloak around his shoulders, and another human ambassador I recognized, Ri's father. At this point, it wouldn't even surprise me if he was in the Vanguard right alongside Dad and who knew how many others. For a moment, I felt bad for Ri. The feeling didn't last long though.
A door opened somewhere on this floor and multiple sets of footsteps approached. On reflex, I ducked behind the desk, covering my mouth with both hands.
Please don't let it be anyone with superhearing. Or a superhuman sense of smell.
I held my breath until the sounds grew distant once more. That was my cue to leave. Definitely shouldn't be testing my luck today. Especially with the chancellor likely to be back any minute. If she found me in here, even if I wasn't exactly snooping, she'd be even less likely to answer any of my questions.
I pushed myself off the small round carpet beneath the desk and promptly collided with the center drawer above my head. Pain radiated from the top of my skull. Clenching my jaw, I sucked in a breath and waited, listening for a sign that anyone had heard the muffled thump. Hearing nothing but total silence, I counted to ten and slowly got up, one hand on the underside of the drawer responsible for my headache.
Naturally, I took a peek inside. It was empty, save for a single handwritten piece of paper. A list of names. Students' names as far as I could tell. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. Several of the names were quite familiar, including my own. Seeing the words at the top, I stumbled back a step.
Portal access.
Kenas' name was on that list.
As was Jaydis'.
Why were their names on there? And why was this here?
No mention of Haze even though I'd seen him walk through the gateway alongside me. Unless whatever he was up to was above Chancellor Riviera's pay grade. That probably shouldn't even surprise me.
Still, something was off. I reread all of the names yet again, stopping at my seelie roommate's. His last name was Nemorio...
Why did that name feel so familiar?
I slid the list back into its place and shut the drawer just as a new set of footsteps echoed down the hallway. They sounded light, rushed, and determined. Fast approaching.
Crap.
I darted across the room and through the gap in the door. Leaning against the wall as casually as I possibly could, I brushed a stray strand out of my face just as Chancellor Riviera rounded the corner and her deep brown eyes landed on me.
"Ariel." A warm smile appeared on her face. "Are you here to see me?"
I nodded. "If you have a few minutes."
"Of course. Come on in."