And she’d dragged him back like a barn cat with a bloody mouse and deposited him at the headmaster’s feet.
“How,” Simon asked softly, “did you discover he was gone?”
Her mind stuttered. She raised her chin, forcing herself to hold his gaze. “I couldn’t sleep.” He would know why, he’d found her, he knew everything about her. “So I decided to check on him.”
“Your sympathy does you credit.” A pause, while they both looked down at the man on the bed. “Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of your judgment.”
Pain squeezed her head. She could not think. She could not breathe. “He shouldn’t have been left by himself.”
Simon’s lips thinned. “Apparently not.”
“I found him,” she said. “I can stay with him. Let me help, we have a connection, I—”
“Your
“I know you’re disappointed in my performance as Seeker,”
she said through stiff lips. “But please, I have the cal ing. If you give me another chance . . .”
“Seeking is a gift,” Simon said. “Even if I wanted to, I could not deprive you of your vocation.”
She exhaled in relief. “Then—”
“However, I can and wil determine your other duties at Rockhaven.”
Her
She worked for him. In his office.
Adult nephilim remained in the community, under the Rule that governed every aspect of their lives, that brought 6 4
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them closer to their un-Fal en perfection, that unified and defined them. The younger ones lived in the dorms as proctors. A few qualified as teachers at the school. Most graduates, however, went to work in the settlement’s glassworks factory. Rockhaven Glass had been in operation for a hundred and thirty years, providing exquisite stained and textured art glass for designers al over the world and a steady income for the nephilim.
Lacking any other skil s, Lara had expected to put her business education to work in the distribution center. But Simon had found a place for her in his own office. She’d always liked to imagine that the headmaster took a special interest in her, in her future.
“I can look after him and stil do my job.”
“You are mistaken,” Simon said with icy calm. “From now on, you cannot see him, cannot speak to him, cannot visit him, is that clear?”
A direct order this time, Lara thought dul y. He was taking no chances on her disobeying him again.
“Until I can trust your judgment, you cannot work for me,”
Simon continued. “Tomorrow morning, report to the raptor house. For the time being, you may assist Keeper Moon.”
Crazy Moon, the mews mistress, who preferred her injured birds to people.
Lara’s hands shook. Her throat constricted. “You’re banishing me to the birdcages?”
“By your own actions, you have endangered the community we are sworn to preserve. You leave me no choice.”
“But I’m wasted in the mews. At least . . .” She floundered for a compromise that would leave her pride intact.
“Send me to the glassworks.”
“You are not an artist.”
“No,” Lara admitted. Maybe once she’d dreamed . . . But F
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she wasn’t Gifted like the rest of her kind with an artist’s creativity. She couldn’t sing or play, spin or weave, paint or draw. She had a head for figures and a knack for organization. That was al .
“Your chemistry marks were never high enough to consider you for the lab side,” Simon continued with dispassionate brutality. “You have neither the strength nor the training that might qualify you for the furnace.”
His assessment was no more than she expected. Maybe what she deserved. But she winced, al the same.
“I can stil answer phones. Track orders. I’ve got computer skil s . . .”
“I think . . . Something quieter. More contemplative,”
Simon said. “The Rule cal s us to self-knowledge and obedience. You have proven yourself sadly lacking in both.
This is an opportunity for you to reflect on your true place in the community.”
Her eyes stung. Her heart burned. Al the reflection in the world wouldn’t make her see this as an opportunity.
This was punishment.
She blinked, her gaze flitting to the bed. The worst part was, she wasn’t the only one suffering for her insubordination. Justin was being punished, too.
The chil , smal room pressed in on them. She and Simon stood face-to-face, toe-to-toe, like fighters, like lovers. She raised her chin again, a gesture of defiance. She had never defied him before.
Another first, she thought, trembling with exhaustion and daring. It was a night for them.
“Can I at least say good-bye?”
Simon’s eyes flickered. “He won’t hear you.”
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“Then it shouldn’t matter to you. But it does to me.”
His face was cool and impervious as marble. “As you wish.”
A tiny victory. She would make the most of it.
