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She was growing increasingly nervous as the days passed by with no response to her letter.

Eva pulled a fresh book from the pile to replace her tossed book. Before she had the chance to crack it open, Zoe stepped into the room.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Zoe said as she lifted up a thin piece of paper. “Hunting you down in Ylva’s domain is tedious.”

Eva’s breath hitched in her throat. Her eyes homed in on the paper and did not wander.

It wasn’t any regular paper. It was an envelope.

Since arriving at Brakket, the total number of letters she had received could be counted on one hand. All of which were missives from the school itself for book lists, schedules, or other announcements.

Using her extraordinarily sharp fingers in place of a letter opener, Eva broke the seal and pulled out the contents. A handwritten letter. The words were something of a cross between chicken-scratch and the loopy cursive of a calligrapher. In short, somewhat unreadable.

Still, Eva narrowed her eyes and concentrated.

Dear Miss Spencer,

Eva winced at both the formal greeting and the use of her last name. She had certainly never mentioned it to anyone. It was something of a shock to see it here.

Your letter has been received. My wife and daughter are well for the most part. Genoa is still bedridden, though conscious for a majority of every day’s hours. She has become somewhat stir crazy as of late.

Juli has been… closed off. She meets with Ylva far too much for my desires. Worse still, she hasn’t told me what they meet about. I know that the ring she still wears ties Juliana to Ylva, but it still weighs on a father’s mind.

Not once has she returned with the slightest scratch. Ylva has assured me that no harm will come to Juliana in her presence. Given my experiences with Ylva in her domain, I’ve no real reason to distrust her.

Eva blinked. She hadn’t been aware of any meetings between Juliana and Ylva. Though Ylva had been missing from her domain on occasion, taking Alicia and leaving only Nel behind. And she mentioned being taken away from something important after Eva returned to her domain from Hell.

An inkling of curiosity welled within her. What could they be doing together?

Along with the feeling of curiosity, a surge of elation flooded through her. If Juliana was associating with Ylva still, maybe she wouldn’t keep her distance from Eva.

Eva had been exceedingly concerned that Juliana blamed both Eva and Arachne for her mother’s current state. Between Arachne’s self-imposed solitude, Juliana being away, and Shalise’s inability to leave Hell, Eva was missing the early days of her schooling.

With what was in the letter, she was wondering if it was a mistake to have not written to Juliana after all. She stayed her hand under the assumption that Juliana would want a little space. Juliana was still quite far ahead of the current curriculum in school, so it wouldn’t be a troublesome thing for her to return even as late as the start of next year.

By then, Eva planned to have Sawyer dealt with. She didn’t know what to do about the Hell thing, but that would affect Juliana whether or not she was at Brakket.

Eva’s elation crashed down around her as she thought more about the implications. Juliana was meeting with Ylva, but neither had mentioned a thing to Eva.

Maybe she didn’t want to meet at all.

Shaking her head, Eva turned back to the rest of the letter.

As for me, I suppose I am well enough. I am merely grateful that none of my family was taken from me. Thank you for asking.

The rest of your letter, I will not lie, has caught my interest. However, I will mention that I find myself conflicted in my interactions with you. Between the scare of losing my daughter and my wife’s injury, and your associates’ proximity to those events, you somewhat frighten me. Though I know, intellectually, that you had little to do with causing those incidents.

On the other hand, you have allowed me to witness a great many things I never imagined the possibility of interacting with. Gargoyles, for instance. A species thought to be all but extinct. And I witnessed the birth of a new member of their species. Truly a magical event if ever there was one.

Regarding your trapped creature, because of the ice, I was unable to get a clear idea of what it looks like through the photographs you sent. However, I can’t say that your description matches anything that comes to mind. I would need to do an inspection in person.

Again, I come to a conflicting moment. The opportunity to be among the first to examine what could possibly be an entirely new creature is not one I feel I can pass up. Genoa has practically insisted I go. She must see me as being as stir crazy as she is.

Per your invitation, I will be arriving this weekend. Saturday at noon.

Though I hope you will forgive me for declining your offer of staying at the prison. I believe the hotels of Brakket City will suffice.

Sincerely,

Carlos T. Rivas

Eva smiled as she folded the letter back up. That, at least, was some good news. An actual expert coming to look at the enigma could lead to a breakthrough.

“Good news?”

Eva suppressed a start as she glanced up. She had completely forgotten that Zoe was still in the common room. After having taken a seat in one of the chairs, Zoe had pulled out a stack of papers and started going through them in silence.

Essays, most likely. She assigned far too many for her own good.

“You could say that,” Eva said as she replaced the letter in its envelope. “Carlos is going to stop by the day after tomorrow to look at our icy little friend.”

Putting on a small frown, Zoe set down her current essay. “Is that a… wise idea?”

“Have him come here? Why not? He’s a magizoologist with several published books under his belt.” Eva thumbed over her shoulder at the pile of discarded books. “If he can’t help even a little bit, I don’t know who can.”

“I mean…” she trailed off, rubbing her forehead just above her eyebrow. “What I mean to say–”

“I know what you mean,” Eva said. “His wife and daughter had quite the hardships recently. Arguably because of me. And if not because of me, probably because of Arachne and Zagan, one of whom will be at the school. We’ll try to avoid him, I think.

“But I still want to be friends with Juliana. She is pretty much the first person that I’ve met who I have become friends with. Not counting Arachne. Sure, it started out mostly because I didn’t want to be seen as an extreme anti-social, and then because we were roommates, but we still became friends.”

Eva paused, thinking. They were friends, right? Eva had thought so, but she had to admit to herself that her experience in such matters was lacking.

Shaking her head, Eva moved on. “And I still want to be friends with Juliana. So consider this testing the waters. If Carlos absolutely hates me, then I suppose there won’t be much I could do. He and Genoa will probably cart Juliana off to some other school, if they don’t just home school her. Otherwise, maybe I can arrange to meet with Juliana. Perhaps just an afternoon at the coffee shop to start with.”

Such an encounter felt like it would be very awkward. Eva could imagine it now, both of them sitting across from each other and not doing more than nibbling at whatever food they ordered in absolute silence.

But baby steps. That could wait until after Carlos.

“In any case,” Eva said, lifting the envelope, “what is written here gives me some hope that he doesn’t loathe or fear me.”

Dropping the letter on the table, Eva reached over and pulled up the next book. Not one written by Carlos, but some other zoologist. She hesitated in opening it up.