Chapter 53: Xavier.

Reeve is standing too close for comfort and I can almost feel his breath going down my neck.

"You know I can literally smell what you had for breakfast right?"

He moves in even closer and lets a waft of breath out near the side of my face. I give him a jab in the ribs and smile as he moves away.

He's making me lose focus.

The world is in its white shape again and I look at the space in front of me.

Revee has convinced me to try replicating the Drakin finder once more, but I'm not doing that.

My trip to the park yesterday was not a waste. Even if it was clear enough that it had seemed so to Axel and my father.

The guard had been bristling with annoyance when we came back home yesterday. Something that has to do with the birds that wouldn't stop going after him so I could focus on the entity in front of me.

The thread that unraveled had been that of an entity, something like a spirit but not quite. The birds had been her work, and with Axel distracted I could talk to her.

She's from "