4
The Sandman’s words reverberated through my head as I stood in the House of Wonder foyer with the rest of the kids. My suddenly numb fingers loosened on the moth pendant, and it slipped and clattered to the floor, making more than a few people around me jump and stumble away. I bent and retrieved it, sliding it into a pocket, where it clinked against my brother’s key.
“The mark of your house must be worn on the front of your shirt at all times,” Daniella said over my harsh breathing.
“Or death,” Wally whispered in her Walter Cronkite voice.
A few people around us heard Wally and snickered appreciatively. I mean, let’s be honest here. These folks were dealing with a room full of high-powered, untrained, supernaturally charged kids who’d just survived the wildest rides of their lives.
The adults didn’t really think that we’d just go casually along with whatever they said, did they?
Except apparently they did. A moment later, those same pure white gargoyles who’d brought us the trays started breaking up the groups based on the marks they wore, moving as if they were running on autopilot, the gargoyles’ eyes flat and free of emotion. Turned out my crew wasn’t the only one that had reunited when given the chance. I watched as Gen pulled away from a girl with bright blond hair who had a sunburst tacked to her shirt. The muttering and whispering grew into a swell that would cover anyone trying to talk quietly. Which was perfect.
“Gregory, are those gargoyles alive?” I asked. “They look . . . off to me.”
He glanced at the servants of the House of Wonder. “They’re like the golems we fought. Controlled by someone here and directed as such with those collars. They have no thought processes of their own.” The sneer was obvious in his voice even though I couldn’t see his face. “Why? What are you thinking?”
I was thinking the gargoyles could easily be fooled.
The idea that had been trickling through my head picked up speed and force, pushing me toward Ethan. I stepped up so I was right behind him, my lips right behind his ear, close enough that I could feel him shiver. “We . . . I need you to do something with your magic.”
He spoke over his shoulder, muscles tensing. “What exactly do you want me to do? Because if it’s anything big, everyone will know. I can’t get away with stunts here either. If anything, they’re going to watch me even closer because of who my father is.”
The thing was, the idea was still forming, and the white gargoyles were getting closer. “I don’t know . . . just give me a second.” I was thinking as fast as I could, and I was frustrated at how this was going. But I felt it in my gut—if we were separated now, it wouldn’t go well for any of us. That feeling low in my body that warned me of oncoming danger was pulsing in a way I didn’t like, not one bit. And then it hit me, the pieces falling into place.
We couldn’t be separated, which meant we needed those gargoyles to think we were in the same house. “Can you make our marks all look the same on one side, like on the back side of the pendants? So they room us together but we can still get to our different classes? The gargoyles won’t know the difference when they lead us away.”
He did twist around then, frowning even as he nodded. “I can, but it won’t last. A few hours at best and then the spell will dissolve.”
“You could set the spell again,” Gregory said.
“Only if I’m with you.” Ethan bit out, “And that’s not a guarantee.”
“I’ll figure out that part when I have to,” I said. “But we can’t separate, not tonight.”
He gave the slightest tip of his head. “It will have to be the coin. I don’t think I can do anything more intricate like the sunburst. Not that anyone would believe you are all from the House of Wonder.”
“Sweet as poop pie as always,” Pete muttered.
While I agreed with Pete, I had to keep us moving forward. The coin was actually the best option—the students in the House of Unmentionables wouldn’t be subjected to as much scrutiny, which meant we had a better chance at flying under the radar. “We’ll find a way to get duplicates later.”
“I can do that,” Gregory said. “I can get more coins, I’m sure.”
I put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a squeeze. “Good deal. Let’s do it then.”
Ethan’s jaw ticked. “They know where I belong. It won’t work.”
“You’d want to be down in the bowels with the rest of us?” Gregory asked. “Because that’s where we will be, not up in the tower with the rest of the pretty boys.”
Ethan cringed a little.
“Gregory is right, you don’t do dirty living,” I said. A trickle of warning whispered through me. This was the right path, I was sure of it. “So do this for the rest of us. I promise we won’t have a party without you.”
From the side, I could see Ethan’s lips quirk and his hand slide to his waist, where he kept his wand in a thin leather pouch. “Each of you put your mark against the back of my pouch. It’ll feel weird, but don’t let go until I say.”
We did as he said, and an immediate tingle of cold air wrapped around my fingers, making me want to jerk my hand away and drop the suddenly frigid pendant. I flicked my fingers open, exposing the pendant in my palm. The spell had worked—one side was a coin, the other the hideous moth.
Daniella’s eyes swept over us, and I willed her to look away. She paused, and I wondered if we all just looked like we were giving Ethan a weird secret handshake goodbye. When her eyes moved on, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Ethan slumped a little. “That’s the best I can do.”
We pulled our hands back and I slapped the pendant onto my shirt, coin side out, just as one of the ghostly pale gargoyles stopped in front of our group. Its white eyes passed over our shirts and the coins that were now attached to all but Ethan.
“Unmentionables, this way. Wonder, remain here for further instructions and your welcoming party.” The gargoyle spoke around a mouthful of teeth, surprisingly eloquent for the amount of chompers filling its gaping maw.
“Welcoming party, must be nice,” Pete grumbled. “I bet they get better food than the rest of us too.”
“We’ll get you something to eat.” I clapped Pete on the shoulder. “Maybe even a Snickers bar.”
He sighed. “That would be amazing.”
I tucked in at the end of the line, putting Gregory at the front of our crew since he was the only obvious Unmentionable in the group. “Wally, between Orin and Pete.” Because there was one more problem.
Wally and I, being girls, would likely end up in a different room from the three guys. Again, that warning that we needed to stay together ran down my spine. I pulled my hat down a little more, wishing that I’d strapped the girls down for one more day. I was banking on a lot of apathy from the Unmentionables in general, not just the kids but the house directors and those who overlooked the entire system.
We had to move. I could all but feel the eyes of Sunshine and Rory on me. Wondering what the hell I was doing.
Because I knew that the House of Shade’s entrance was on the far side of the massive foyer in the exact opposite direction I was headed.