I rocked back on my heels and clutched the banister so hard my hand went numb. “What is she doing here?”
“She’s here to take you home,” said Meuric. The other two people, Corin and a woman I didn’t know, stepped toward Sam. “Your guardianship has been transferred.”
“No.” I pried my hand off the banister and hurtled down the rest of the stairs. I couldn’t go with Li. Not again. I was supposed to be free. “Sam, don’t let them.”
Li swore. “Ana, he’s been tricking you. Haven’t you noticed him sneaking to the library every night?”
“Liar!” I couldn’t breathe from all my anger and fear inside. She wasn’t completely a liar.
Sam stretched his hurt arm toward me, but Corin yanked him back, heedless of the bandage. “Don’t touch her,” shouted Corin. “Not after what you’ve done.”
“What did I do?” Sam drew himself away from Corin but didn’t reach for me again. And I’d stopped because Li blocked my path. “I’d never harm Ana. We were attacked tonight. It was Li.”
“It’s true!” My support went ignored, of course.
“Get him out!” Li roared, pointing at the guards. “Corin, Aleta, get him away from my daughter.”
I wanted desperately to move, to run, but I couldn’t abandon Sam.
“Do it.” Meuric opened the door wider while Corin and Aleta jostled Sam.
“Don’t!” Freed from paralysis, I pushed past Li and lunged for Sam. Hands dug into my sides; Li ripped me away with a grunt, inserting herself between us again. “Sam!” I strained, and he struggled against the guards, but they were stronger, and soon he was outside.
“It’s for the best.” Meuric shut the door. Though muffled, the grumble of an engine starting came, and quieted as the batteries kicked in. They took him away.
I stood in the middle of the parlor, Meuric between the door and me, and Li blocking the stairs. I was trapped, a butterfly under glass. Muscles and bones ached, and my head was heavy with shock and fear and exhaustion. If I didn’t speak now, I’d never be heard. “I don’t want to go with Li.”
“You have the right to refuse that, but remember, you’re only permitted to stay in Heart if someone agrees to watch over you.”
“Li was a bad guardian. She didn’t do anything right. Call Stef. Or Sarit, Orrin, or Whit.” I edged toward the piano, the opposite direction from Li. “Just not her.”
“We have evidence that suggests they were working together. Stef and Orrin are already in custody for attacking you tonight.”
“They wouldn’t—”
“Both Sam and Stef came to my house today,” Li interrupted. “Sam accused me of trying to murder you, and then he hit me when I suggested his intentions toward you weren’t pure.” True to her word, a bruise darkened her cheek.
“Sam wouldn’t have done that. Stef and Orrin wouldn’t have attacked us.” My legs hit the piano bench. I sat down, hard. “I don’t believe either of you.”
“Sam and Stef confronted me while their friends went sneaking around my house and the guard station.” Li sneered. “I don’t know what they were looking for.”
“We need to search upstairs,” Meuric said. “All of Li and Menehem’s most recent diaries are missing from the library. Evidence—which Whit and Orrin tried to hide, by the way—suggests Sam had taken the books. Personal diaries, professional—everything.”
If I hadn’t been sitting already, I would have now. “They’re free to anyone who wants to read them.” Wasn’t that the line I’d been given? “That doesn’t mean anything.” But it did. I’d asked Sam about the books in his room, and he’d said they were about dragons.
“Someone obsessed with you might search for anything related to you, including your parents’ diaries.” He motioned toward the stairs. “I expect you’ll want to see.”
He didn’t want to leave me by myself; we both knew I would run. But if I refused to go up, he’d tell Li to watch me. I didn’t want to be alone with her. One glance at the front door, and I made my way upstairs again, shaking with a new thunderstorm inside me. “Sam wouldn’t hurt me.”
The words came out strong, but he had left this morning, and had been talking to Stef about something Li said. I hadn’t noticed swelling on his hand from hitting Li, but even if he had, there was nothing wrong with that. I wanted to hit Li. Not that I would ever have the courage.
Every step up brought a new layer of dread. I couldn’t live with Li. Couldn’t. She marched up behind me. Any minute now she’d do something terrible.
And if I didn’t go with her, I’d be exiled from Heart. From Range. Even if I didn’t die within the first week—early death being most likely—I’d never see Sam or my friends again. I’d never have music again, not like I did now, and I’d never have a chance to learn the truth of my existence.