I push Cleaver away from trying to lick remnants of monster shit off my hands. “How about some other time? I really could use a shower.”
Luiza wrinkles her nose. “Ugh. Yeah, you really could.”
I glare at her, and Erin bites her lip. “Well … can we talk afterward?”
“If we have to.” I grab my shower things and head off, but my head is buzzing. I know they’re going to want to talk about Piers, but I’m so drained I really don’t feel like it. But am I ever going to feel like talking about it? Don’t I owe it to Erin, the only person who stood by me all year, to have a conversation with her? To tell her what happened?
Even so, I take as long as I can in the shower. It’s not hard to draw out. It takes forever to rid myself of the filth of the menagerie. I scrub myself with the soap over and over until I don’t feel like I’m caked in shit. It’s only after I’ve completely run out of things to do that I finally step out and head back to my dorm.
Erin and Luiza are still there. I sigh.
“I’m used to Erin wanting to talk to me,” I say as I toss my towel into the hamper by my bed, “but why are you here?”
Luiza grins. “Because mi cantante asked me to be.”
Erin blushes a deep red. “You don’t have to call me that,” she mumbles. “My last name isn’t Singer. That was just a cover-up so no one would know about my dad.”
“You’re still my singer,” Luiza chirps.
I sit down on my own bed and Cleaver jumps up next to me. Are they flirting? Last year, Erin told me she wasn’t interested in any boys at the school. Did she mean that she’s not interested in any boys at all?
Not that it matters. It’s just … did she had to choose Luiza of all people?
“Anyway,” Erin mumbles, rubbing her red cheeks, “Avery, I’m worried about you.”
“What else is new?” I ask with a grin.
She doesn’t smile back. “You exploded today. Piers had to be sent to the infirmary.”
“Good.” I scratch Cleaver’s belly, and his tail thumps against my bedspread. I wonder if he knows what happened. He’s smarter than an average dog … because he’s not really a dog at all. From the wicked gleam in his eye, I bet he knows everything.
Erin glances at Luiza. “You need to be more careful. You can’t do things like that.”
“You heard what he said,” I snap. I immediately feel guilty, and have to look away. I focus back on Cleaver. I shouldn’t be so hard on Erin. She means well.
Luiza holds up her hand to stop me from speaking. “I did,” she says matter-of-factly. “I’m not saying he didn’t deserve what he got. What he said was fucked up.”
I stare at her in shock. I didn’t expect her to agree with me.
“But you can’t keep doing things like that,” Luiza continues. “You’ll be expelled.”
Erin nods. “What happened when you got called to the headmaster’s office, Avery?”
I sigh. I suppose if Erin trusts Luiza, so can I. She protected Erin last year during the menagerie attack, after all.
“Turns out that since my parents captured the djinn, the phylactery belongs to me now. Novac wants me to sign over custody of it to the school.”
Erin gasps, but Luiza just raises her eyebrows and says, “And?”
“I refused.” I shrug. “It’s mine. I don’t want to sign it over. I’m going to find a way to kill that djinn. Owning it means I have a better chance of that.”
“But that thing’s dangerous,” Erin says.
“No, it makes sense.” Luiza brushes some hair behind her ear. “I’d probably do the same.”
This girl is full of surprises tonight. Maybe, just maybe, I misjudged her.
“That’s not all that happened. Mason Dagher was there.” I tell them about my encounter with him. Erin looks distraught, but Luiza smiles with a knowing look in her eyes.