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When they arrived at the place Carmichael was supposed to have gone to after leaving the academy, Elliot led the way up the stairs to the front door and knocked. The building looked just like every other house lined along the street, but a rather large sign hanging from the porch read 'Kolin and Son Ironworks'.

          "Are you sure this is the place?" Clementine asked Elliot. "Carmichael didn't really seem like the ironsmith type."

          He nodded and knocked again. "This is the place."

          "What if he gave you a fake address?"

          "Why would he do that?"

          Clementine shrugged.

          "This is where I've been sending my letters and getting replies from."

          "Like I said before, maybe he's mad that you didn't get expelled, too."

          Elliot sighed irritably and knocked once more, but much louder and harder this time. It wasn't hard to tell him was aggravated, and Clementine suspected the mention of his father's visit later had something to do with it. Why wouldn't it? The guy had killed Elliot's mother. Anyone would be mad or even a little paranoid.

          "Maybe we should come back later," Mathew suggested.

          "I don't want to come back later," Elliot snapped. He banged on the door once more. "Carmichael! It's me, Elliot!"

          Somebody shuffled around inside. They waited as the sound of a squeaking door was followed by thumping footsteps. And then, as the door unlocked and opened...a tall, grisly-looking man stood in front of them.

          "You're not Carmichael," Elliot uttered.

          The man fiddled with his greasy moustache. "Nah, I'm Clyde, Carmichael's boss. You got any idea where that little brat is?"

          "No," Clementine answered.

          "It's been weeks since he was supposed to be here, so I offered his job up to someone else. You see the little asshat, you tell him from me that he's fired!" he snapped.

          "He still hasn't turned up?" Elliot asked in worry.

          "That's what I just said." Then, the man shut the door in their faces.

          "Wow, how rude," Mavis said, crossing her arms.

          "It doesn't make any sense," Elliot mumbled, stepping back down onto the street. "He told me he'd be here."

          Mathew sighed and patted Elliot's shoulder. "Perhaps Clementine is right. Maybe your friends lied to you because they were jealous."

          Elliot sighed sullenly and shrugged. "They just didn't seem like those kinds of people. Why even bother giving me an address and asking me to write if he was just going to ignore me or not actually be at this place?"

          "Don't worry, Elly," Mavis said, patting his other shoulder. "You have us now, and we're not going to let you down."

          Clementine nodded. "Forget Carmichael. He was a bit of an idiot, anyway."

          "Yeah, I guess so. Sorry I dragged you all out here for nothing."

          "We're glad to help," Mathew said.

          Elliot looked up and down the street. "What should we do now? Should we go back and see if Sebastien is okay?"

          Clementine shook his head. "We should give him some time to rest. Maybe we could go sit somewhere?"

          "That sounds fun!" Mavis agreed.

          With a nod, Elliot moved away from the stairs and started leading the way up the street. "All right. We should keep an eye on the time, though. My auntie hates when people are late for dinner."

          "Could we sit somewhere for hot drinks?" Mathew suggested.

          "There's a little café just over the road there," Elliot said, and then led everyone across the icy road to the small, cosy-looking café squished between a tavern and a clothes store.

          Everyone filed inside when Mathew opened the door, and then sat at the only available booth. They each told Elliot what they wanted, and with a nod, he headed over to the counter.

          Clementine leaned back in his seat and gazed out the window, watching as the automobiles and carriages passed by. His thoughts immediately jumped to Sebastien, and he wondered whether or not he'd found anything yet. He also wanted to know what his theories were, but he'd have to wait.

          He had his own theory—or part of one. Elliot's aunt had called him her son, Elliot had mentioned remembering a childhood friend, and it was a fact that dybbuk's latched on to family members. Elliot's bedroom was also completely different to his space at the academy, and it all led Clementine to suspect that maybe Elliot had a cousin—Elliot and Ellis Davis. His aunt could have been Ellis' mother, which would explain why she called Elliot her son. But his aunt had mentioned Elliot's father—she said your father, and Elliot had reacted as if it were his father, so did Elliot and Ellis share the same dad? Was he thinking about this too much? No, he needed answers, otherwise he might not be able to help Elliot in the little time he had to do so.

          "Hey, Clemytine."

          Taking his eyes off the horses passing by outside, Clementine looked over at Mavis.

          "How are you and Sebastien doing? You two are really cute together, but I don't want to be a bother."

          He shrugged as he leaned back in his seat. "We're not like...together, we're just friends."

          "Are you sure?" Mathew asked sceptically. "You two seem to be closer than that."

          Did they? He frowned unsurely as he looked down at his hands, which he rested in his lap. "I don't know." Thinking about his and Sebastien's relationship was enticing that heart-wrenching sadness to return. "What about you two?" he asked, changing the subject. "Have either of you ever dated someone? What about that Jack guy you said was your bodyguard?"

          Mavis shook her head. "Jack was just my protector. All wandering fae must have someone to watch for danger."

          "Wandering fae?" Mather asked.

          She suddenly adorned a hesitant frown. "Oh, just...fae that are exploring the outside and don't want to continue to hide."

          Clementine wanted to ask her if she was exiled, but he didn't want to upset her. She had pretty much confirmed it though, hadn't she?

          "What about you, Mathew?" she asked, looking up at him.

          "Oh, no," he answered, shaking his head. "I have never experienced a romantic attraction to anyone. Perhaps one day I will, though."

          "There is somebody for everybody," Mavis said happily.

          "Oh, Mathew," Clementine said.

          He looked over at him.

          "I talked to Sebastien about how you want to study law when you go to the New World, and I managed to convince him to help you out with getting into it."

          A crooked smile spread across the boy's pale face. "Really?"

          "Yeah. So, just stick with him—both of you."

          "Me?" Mavis asked.

          Clementine nodded. "He'll take care of you."

          "What about you?" she asked. "We're all going to make it together, aren't we, surely?"

          He smiled as best he could. "Yeah, I'm just saying."

          "Thank you so much, Clementine," Mathew said, reaching his hand across the table.

          "No problem," he said, shaking his hand.

          Just then, Elliot returned with their drinks and handed them out.

          "Elliot," Mathew said happily, "Clementine just told me he convinced Sebastien to help me get into law over in the New World."

          "He did?" Elliot asked, sitting beside Clementine.

          "Yeah," he confirmed.

          "That's pretty cool."

          "It's wonderful!" Mavis cheered.

          "What do you want to do when we go to the New World, Clementine?" Mathew asked.

          He looked over at him and frowned. Since he'd always known he'd never get to see that place, he'd never really thought about it. What would he do if he got to live in the New World? It's not like he had any goals; ever since Anette had died, his soul aim had been to find and kill the last of the Ravenblood before they could repopulate. But perhaps...just for a moment, he could fantasize a little.

          "I think...I'd wanna get a house out in the country—somewhere with like...fresh air and open fields."

          "Like a farm?" Mavis asked.

          "Maybe. Somewhere I can see the sky. I think I'd wanna work in botany—I'm good with plants and stuff. Maybe I could make medicine, only I wouldn't charge a hundred times the production price for it. And I'd get a dog—one of those fluffy dogs the police use."

          "I love those," Elliot said.

          "Is that what you're going to do?" Mathew asked. "Perhaps we could all get a house out there and stick together."

          "That's a great idea!" Mavis cheered.

          "What do you say, Clementine, Elliot."

          Elliot nodded. "I love that."

          Clementine smiled sadly. "Yeah."

          "We could get animals," Mavis said. "Chickens, pigs, maybe even a cow and a horse, too. Perhaps...a few."

          "Would Sebastien want to join us?" Mathew asked.

          "I don't know, maybe," Clementine mumbled. "If I'm there, he'll probably wanna be there, too."

          "You know what we should get? Sheep," Elliot said.

          As they went on to talk about animals, Clementine turned his head and stared out of the window again. He hadn't cared about the New World at all before, but now that he'd met Sebastien—now that his allies were so close to winning their right to head over there, he felt a deep regret. His heart ached with sorrow, and he found himself wishing that he could go with them—but he wished to go with Sebastien more than anything else. But that wasn't possible. It would never be possible. And he was a little frustrated that he'd allowed himself to get attached to people. He was supposed to have just gone to Aldergrove Academy, killed the Ravenblood, and let his disease take him. However, he'd made friends...and now, he wished for more time.

          But the clock was ticking. The moment winter break was over...the second he got back to that academy, he'd have to put his everything into killing the last seven Ravenblood.

          He couldn't let anything stop him, not even his desire for just a few moments longer with some boy he'd unexpectedly fallen for.

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