Zodiac (Zodiac, #1)(27)

“I’m saying they’re all the same entity.” She’s now whispering in case whoever’s at the door can hear us. “I think there used to be another House in the Zodiac, and for some reason, it vanished from the night sky . . . and over time, it’s been erased from history.”

There’s more knocking. “Hurry,” I urge Nishi.

Her voice drops so low I have to read her lips to follow what she’s saying. “The only evidence now is in the guise of story and myth, stuff no one will take seriously. I know we Sagittarians can be conspiracy nuts at times, but Rho, if someone from the Thirteenth House is behind this, and all these tragedies are part of a trajectory—from the disasters on Leo and Taurus to what’s happened to your moons—they’re also altering history to cover their tracks. That means they’ve been planning this for a very long time.”

“A group of people?” I guess.

She shrugs helplessly. “So far, all I have is a name: Ophiuchus.”





9


“OPHIUCHUS,” I REPEAT, SOUNDING THE word on my tongue.

“It’s the name of the Thirteenth House. Do you think your Advisors would know anything about it?”

I gaze at the beauty products littering the room, thinking. My gut tells me my Advisors will dismiss our theory. Most of them already have no faith in my leadership; if I point an accusatory finger at a childhood monster, they could all give up on me. Even Mathias.

I recall a sunny day on the Strider with my family, seeing bubbles in the water twice, and both times not saying anything. My silence gave the Maw time to attack my brother. Then I flash to the flickering I’d been seeing before the Lunar Quadract. I didn’t trust myself enough to speak up, and Thebe exploded without warning.

What a strange moment to understand Leyla’s advice.

Rho?

Mathias’s voice calls out to me faintly, as if from a long way off. Instinctively, I touch my Ring, and the sound grows clearer. Everything okay? he asks. Is there a delay?

All good. I’ll meet you there, I say, moving my lips soundlessly.

“You have a Ring!” squeals Nishi, yanking my hand closer for inspection. “We haven’t gotten ours yet, but I’m dying to try it out, though I hear it’s super hard—”

“Nishi, you’re stellar. No one but you could have dug up so much that fast. You’re right about consulting my Advisors. I’ll see what I can find out, and I’ll Wave you after the ceremony.”

“Something else,” she says, whispering again. “The Dark Matter you’ve seen by the Thirteenth House and on Leo and Taurus—it’s not the stars showing you a pattern. I read that once Dark Matter consumes any part of a planet, it remains in that area of Space forever. So you’re seeing everywhere it’s been.”

I frown. “Then how come it doesn’t always show up?”

“Dark Matter is supremely hard to tell apart from normal Space. If there’s even the slightest interference, it can become obscured . . . but it’s still there. You’re just not seeing it.”

“Thank you.” I hug her tightly. I wish Nishi could come with me tonight, but Admiral Crius said only government officials are allowed. It seems wrong to go through the most significant ceremony in my life supported by a roomful of strangers. I should at least get to have a friend.

Nishi gives me the Sagittarian salute for good fortune, steepling her fingers together and touching her forehead. Then she opens the door to leave, and a sea of excitable voices floods the room. For a moment the halls of Oceon 6 sound like the ones of the Academy on the night of the Lunar Quadract . . . then the door shuts out the noise.

Alone, I face the mirror one last time. I still don’t recognize the girl’s face or the woman’s body or the fancy clothes. I’d much rather stay in here and research Ophiuchus the rest of the night. I wish I’d at least asked Mathias to wait—now I have to go to my own ceremony alone.

“Rho?”

This time, the musical voice is calling from outside the door. “C-come in,” I say, my mouth like sandpaper, one singular thought cycling through my head: He waited.

When the door swings open, the swarm of voices rushes in again—then it goes away when Mathias’s eyes meet mine.

It’s like I’ve drawn a deep breath and plunged my head underwater. The hallway clamor grows muffled, and the edges of the room blur, until all I’m aware of is him. The black hair, the pale face, the midnight-blue gaze.

Eons later, when my Wave starts humming with calls, I realize I don’t know how long we’ve been staring at each other. I only know that any second he’s going to tell me we need to go, we’re running late, my Advisors are waiting. Instead, he steps inside the room.

The little hairs on my arms tingle, reminding me of the cilia-like legs of the Strider. Then I wonder why I’m thinking of cilia now, when a five-year-long fantasy is coming to life: The beautiful boy I watched in the solarium is finally looking back.

When Mathias is in front of me, I grow leaden, like the centrifugal force anchoring my feet to the ground has doubled. I read his profile among the files Crius sent me: He’s twenty-two, and his family has served in the Royal Guard for seven generations. From the age of eight, he attended the Lykeion on House Aquarius, the Zodiac’s most famous prep school for future Zodai, and at the university on Elara, he graduated first in his class.