Emily’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “What?”

“I trust you’ll understand how important it is that this never leaves the safety of your mindspace,” Noah said, ignoring the horrified expression on Emily’s face. “If it ever gets out, Moxie is dead.”

“I don’t believe you,” Emily’s voice trembled slightly. “It’s impossible. Evergreen is a Rank 6, and she loved Moxie. Moxie loved her. They were really close. You’re lying. Why would she ever do that?”

“On my Runes, I swear that everything I tell you while we remain in your mindspace is the truth and that I will not attempt to lie or twist the truth in any way. Do you accept?”

Emily’s eyes widened, but she didn’t wait for long. “Yes. I do.”

Ice raced through Noah’s veins as he swore the Rune Oath. It gripped his spine like the hand of the reaper and he grimaced. Emily stiffened as she felt the Oath take effect.

“Repeat it,” Emily demanded, rising from her chair once more. “Say it again.”

“Evergreen called Moxie back to the Torrin estate over vacation to kill her,” Noah said. “We went – and we killed Evergreen instead.”

Emily stared at Noah intently, clearly waiting for the Rune Oath to come into effect and shatter his runes. A second passed. Her face paled and her eyes widened.

“You killed my mother.”

She was your mom? Who the hell did it with – you know what, I don’t want to know.

“I’m not the most compassionate person,” Noah said slowly. “But Moxie was too worried about you to actually say this, so I’m doing it myself. I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not. Evergreen was a terrible person, and she had it coming.”

Emily’s hands clenched. Ice gathered around her fists, swirling furiously. Noah matched her stare. He didn’t know Emily that well, but he’d seen how she acted around Moxie. Between her and Evergreen – Noah was pretty sure Emily would choose Moxie.

Pretty sure.

It was a tense few seconds. The look in Emily’s eyes told him that she was very strongly considering trying to kill him then and there – but that would have triggered the Rune Oath, shattering her own Runes as well because of the bond. If she wanted to try anything, she’d have to wait until the Oath ended at the end of their time together in her mind.

With a supreme force of will, Emily let her hands drop. The hatred and anger were joined by new emotions. Fear and confusion warred across her face. Noah actually felt for her.

She couldn’t believe him, because believing him meant that her beloved mentor had killed her mother – and that her mother had tried to kill her mentor first. Noah suspected that it wasn’t actually Evergreen herself that Emily mourned as much as the idea of who she could have been.

“Why?” Emily asked, struggling to find words. “How?”

“The whole story isn’t mine to share,” Noah said. “I’m already robbing Moxie of this discussion. What I can say is that Moxie has always had Evergreen’s sword hanging above her neck. Evergreen didn’t approve of how you were acting like a living being instead of a puppet during the Survival Exam, so she decided that Moxie had been teaching you badly.”

“You’re lying.” Emily took a step back. “Why would she do that? She was fine with it.”

“No, she wasn’t. She just didn’t want to cause a fuss.” Noah shrugged. “I don’t expect you to believe me right now, Emily. Even with the Rune Oath. You’re probably trying to figure out how I’m working around it or something, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“That’s up to you. I’m giving you information, not telling you how to think. Moxie was functionally a slave to your family for the majority of the time you’ve known her, and she didn’t want to tell you because she cares about you too much. She was worried about how it would affect you.”

“So why are you telling me, then?” Emily stormed up to Noah, craning her head back to glare into his eyes. “What’s your angle?”

“Do you want the real answer to that?” Noah asked. He raised a hand before Emily could answer. “Think before you say anything else. I’m offering you more information than I’ve given anyone other than Moxie for one reason alone – I love Moxie, and this is hurting her as much as it’s hurting you.”

“Why would I have to think before answering that?”

“Because this information is dangerous. I’ve killed to protect it, and I’ll kill to protect it again,” Noah said softly. “Ignorance is safety. You can take my words as they are and speak to Moxie about the rest.”

“But you’ll tell me something she won’t?”

“Yes, so long as not so much as a whisper of it ever leaves your lips.”

“Why? Why would you trust me with it? What kind of trick is this? A way to make me trust you?”

Noah gave her an emotionless smile. “You have no choice but to trust me, Emily. I’m bound by Rune Oath. I already told you why I’m offering this, and it’s not for your sake. It’s for Moxie’s. Knowing the full truth will make things make more sense.”

Emily’s gaze bore into Noah’s features, searching his face for anything she could use. She was clearly thinking through his offer rather than just blindly accepting it. Finally, she swallowed and gave him a sharp nod. “Tell me. I want to know.”

“You asked why I was willing to tell you this, right?”

Emily nodded.

“It’s because I don’t care about your family,” Noah said simply. “I’d kill every last Torrin if I thought they pose a risk to Moxie, and I wouldn’t lose an instant of sleep about it.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Emily spat. “You’re a Linwick.”

“No, I’m afraid that’s not true either.”

“What? That’s a lie. You’re tricking the Rune Oath somehow. I know who you are. You’re Vermil–”A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Also wrong,” Noah said curtly. “My name is Noah. I killed Vermil months ago, a short while before you first met me.”

Emily’s mouth opened. Then she froze. Thoughts flashed behind her eyes. She took a step back and swallowed, understanding finally dawning on her. “You didn’t know anything about Arbitage. That’s why you attended the class she taught.”

“Nothing about magic at all,” Noah said with a nod. “I’m not from this world.”

“Where are you from, then? What are you?”

“Honestly, I’m not so sure myself. Do you consider the place you’re from the place you spent the most time in?”

Emily sent him a baffled look. “Yes.”

“Then I’m from the afterlife,” Noah said. “I clawed my way out of it and I’ll never go back.”

Emily stared at him, but there were too many pieces starting to click for her to deny it. “You’re… what, then? A god? A demon?”

“Neither. I’m Noah – and I’d thank you for keeping that between us.”

“Or what?” Emily challenged.

Noah tilted his head to the side. “You’ll make Moxie sad. She knows as well.”

Emily’s features crumpled – and Noah knew he’d been correct. Emily wouldn’t share anything. Not because she cared about him, but because she cared about Moxie.

“I wouldn’t have said anything, but I just wanted to know what your reaction would be if I’d threatened to,” Emily admitted. Her voice was softer – smaller than it had before. “You really aren’t Vermil.”

“No, I’m not.”

There were several seconds of silence.

“Are you really dating her?” Emily asked.

Noah almost laughed. “That’s what you want to ask? Out of all the revelations I’ve revealed, that’s what you care about?”

Emily nodded.

“Yes, I am.”

She snorted. It was borderline a hysterical laugh, one born more from disbelief and shock than actual amusement. “Vermil was a piece of shit. You – no. He tried to hit on me. I couldn’t believe Moxie was making me spend time with him after that. It made no sense, even though you were acting different. And, if you aren’t him… I guess I owe you an apology. I’m sorry for acting like such a bitch all the time.”

“Apology accepted. Vermil got what was coming to him,” Noah agreed. “But this isn’t about Vermil. We don’t have forever, Emily. The potion wears off in less than thirty minutes now. Ask your questions and ask them fast.”

“You actually love Moxie?” Emily asked. “Not because of her family standing?”

Noah rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Moxie didn’t have a standing in your family, Emily. She was actively looking for a way to escape them. I couldn’t care less what family she’s from. And, before you ask, I couldn’t care less about the Linwicks either.”

Somehow, that actually seemed to reassure Emily. Her tensed shoulders loosened slightly, though she was still nowhere near calm.

“Tell me about Evergreen,” Emily said, swallowing. “More about her. I never knew her that well, but I never thought she was this bad. I just thought she was strict. What did she make Moxie do?”

“We’re already well into territory I shouldn’t be on, but just about everything. Moxie didn’t have much free will. And, even in spite of that, she still cared about you. She was looking for a way to keep teaching and spending time with you while also breaking the grip the Torrins had on her. That’s how much she cared. Instead of just running and abandoning you, she stuck around.”

Emily flopped back into her chair, her face nearly as pale as the ice surrounding her. She swallowed, then wiped her eyes with the back of a sleeve before they could start to water. “Is she free, now?”

Noah nodded. “Freed with Evergreen’s death. The story is that a demon snuck in with Moxie, but she was unaware of it. The demon killed Evergreen, and Moxie’s Runes were shattered as punishment for failing to detect the demon.”

“Her Runes were shattered?” Emily cried out. “She’s crippled?”

“No. I fixed them. It was part of her plan.”

Emily stared at Noah. “What? How is that possible?”

“Put a pause on that. Ask the questions you actually care about first, and we can get to the other stuff later.”

Chewing her lower lip, Emily scratched at the armrest of her chair and rocked back and forth in thought. “Evergreen was really going to kill Moxie? Just because I didn’t do what she said?”

“Yes.”

Emily looked down at her feet, shame covering her face. “I hate this, but it makes sense. I wondered why Moxie never took breaks and was always there. I – I thought she just really liked spending time with me. Nobody else did, but I guess she just didn’t have a choice.”

“Did you listen to nothing I said?” Noah snapped. Emily’s eyes shot up to meet his in surprise at the anger in his tone.

“I–”

“I just told you that Moxie literally chose to stay with you than to find a way to escape. She knew her Rune Oaths would get broken regardless, but she would have done it for freedom if she didn’t care about you.” Noah cut Emily off and strode up to her chair so she had no choice but to look at him. “Don’t you dare start feeling pity – Moxie doesn’t want it. She made her decisions. Being trapped doesn’t mean you aren’t in control of yourself. There’s always a choice.”

“But I never even noticed,” Emily muttered. “She was always around me. If anyone should have noticed, it should have been me. You figured it out in a few months, didn’t you?”

“Moxie was sheltering you on purpose. It was her decision to protect you from what Evergreen was doing,” Noah said. “It was noble. Unfortunately, I am not. The reason I’m telling you all of this isn’t so you can beat yourself up. It’s so that you can know Moxie as you really should. You’ve both been caught in Evergreen’s strings for too long.”

Emily didn’t respond to that. She probably needed some time to actually process everything he’d just told her. Unfortunately, time was not one of the resources they had much of at the moment.

“The Mind Meld potion won’t last forever,” Noah said. “And, when it ends, you can’t talk about anything I’ve revealed about Evergreen or myself. If you have more questions, I suggest you push through whatever emotions you’re feeling and ask them.”

“I don’t even know,” Emily muttered, staring down at her hands. “You’re telling the truth.”

“Kind of hard not to. I’m bound by the Oath until we leave your mind.”

That got a snort of actual amusement from Emily. “You don’t sound particularly sad about any of this.”

“I’m not. I told you – I don’t care about the Torrins. I care about my friends and I care about my students. That’s it. You’re included in that group, or we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Caring about someone doesn’t mean being nice to them. It means doing the right thing.”

Emily sniffled. She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, blinking furiously as her eyes watered. “Can – can you just stay here for a moment?”

Noah nodded. Emily stood and quickly walked off into the forest. She was losing time, but Noah suspected that there was no point trying to push further until she had gathered her feelings. Having her entire world turned on its head couldn’t have been pleasant.

He sat back down in the chair that Emily had made for him.

And then he waited.

Ten minutes passed. They’d already spent around ten minutes speaking, so only a third of the potion’s effects remained.

Snow crunched as Emily stepped out of the forest. Her eyes were red with tears – Noah was still somewhat surprised that physical changes like that happened in a mindspace, but it probably had more to do with how people subconsciously knew how their body should feel or react than a real effect.

Like how I get blinded by flashes of light when Runes combine even though I don’t technically have real eyes as a soul.

“I believe you,” Emily said, sitting down across from him. “But I’m still going to talk to Moxie.”

“I’d expect as much.”

There were several seconds of awkward silence where neither of them so much as looked at each other. Finally, Emily sighed.

“I guess I have to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For telling me this,” Emily said. She wiped her face with the back of her sleeve again. “Please don’t make me say it again, though. Isabel and Todd will make fun of me forever.”

Noah chuckled. “Fair enough. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry your mother was a massive piece of shit.”

Emily burst into laughter. Tears started to stream down her eyes again and she hunched over, wiping her face furiously. “You’re such an asshole.”

“I’m aware.”

It was another minute before Emily got a hold of herself again. She sniffled, then took a steadying breath and matched his gaze again. “Is there anything else?”

“Depends what you’re asking about. There’s always more, but we have one more thing I want to get accomplished before our time runs out.”

“Please don’t tell me Moxie is dying or something.”

“What? No. Moxie’s fine. It’s about your Runes.”

“Runes – wait. You said you fixed Moxie’s Runes after they were shattered. How?”

“That’s something else,” Noah said. He turned to look at the Runes floating around them. “What’s important now is your Runes.”

“What about my Runes?”

“Fixing them, of course. We have about ten minutes to go through and turn all of these perfect.”