Hadley called a Healer, and it was confirmed that Alice was infected.

The Healers had started doing random checks on the faculty and administration, just to make sure the virus hadn't spread beyond the students, and the Healer took the opportunity to check Hadley, even when he assured her that he hadn’t been exposed. Only, as it turned out, Hadley tested positive as well.

A spell had been constructed to confirm the virus, so no one would get infected during checks. It didn't have to be Healers doing it, but it was the most natural choice. If uniformed Agents started doing it, they would risk people being intimidated. The Healer slapped a red plastic bracelet around either of their wrists, along with a suppressor, which Hadley waved off. Apparently they had started worrying about capacity, if they started admitting everyone, so they just made sure they couldn't infect anyone else.

Hadley told her to test him again, that it didn't make sense for him to be infected. Alice had used her magic on Luka, she had touched him. Hadley hadn't. He hadn't used his magic around anyone, and no one had used their magic on him, unless…

Luka had picked that fight with him. It had been deliberate, because he needed to get a rise out of him. Because he needed to get close to him, so he could…

"No," Alice insisted. "He wouldn't do that."

"Are you absolutely sure about that?"

She shook he head. "He's not a traitor."

"Do you know where he was yesterday?"

"Of course I do," Alice said. "He was…" There was a look on his face that made her pause. "What?"

Hadley turned his laptop around, and pushed it towards her. It was open on a map, and she recognized the tracking app he had installed on her phone. "Look," he said.

It displayed the date as the day before, and she took a moment to wrap her head around the red line that marked his path. It was obvious he hadn't checked any of the buildings he was supposed to, but she didn't know what that meant. She spotted the place they had separated, and followed his movements from there. He had walked parallel to the river for a while, where he had passed several buildings of interest, without a single deviation. When he broke off, and headed south, he walked in a straight line to one single building.

When he left again, he had headed home, but at no point had he jumped, which was also odd, but not if he didn’t trust his magic. Was he further along, than he had led on?

“What is that?” Alice asked.

“It’s an old, derelict hospital. Does that mean anything to you?”

“No.” It wouldn’t; he hadn’t shared the clue with her. The clue he had clearly lied about. She didn’t know how one abandoned building would be more significant than an other, or why he had sent them around the city pointlessly searching them, when he had known where to go all along.

Keeping her occupied, of course, but he could have used any kind of misdirection to do that. He certainly hadn’t needed to drag Field into it.

"He found something," Alice said.

Hadley pulled the computer back. "Or someone."

"You think…" Alice started, but she couldn't make herself finish.

"Yes," Hadley said. "I think he found the guy. I think he didn't say anything, because he's working with him."

She wanted to argue. She wanted to defend Luka, but she just couldn't explain what he had been doing yesterday. She needed to talk to him, to get an explanation, but looking at Hadley now, she didn't think she would get the chance.

“They tried to kill him,” she said, nearly a whisper, as she knew the argument wouldn’t land. She was surprised he needed the reminder, but even more surprised to find that she needed it herself. Luka had gone back to them anyway. There was no denying that, but this time he had made it out alive.

“Did they?” Hadley asked. "Maybe it was a test, maybe it was simply misdirection.“

Alice closed her eyes, forcing herself to view the images that had been haunting her. No. It didn’t add up, not from either perspective.

"What are you going to do?"

Hadley shrugged. "I have people on him. They'll find him."

"And then what?" Alice asked, horrified. He'd already sent people after him. He'd put the tracker in him. Had he ever trusted him?

"That depends on what they find."

"Hadley, please," she begged him, even though he wasn't listening to her anymore. "Even if you're right, there has to be a reason. He's trying to get the cure."

"He infected you, too," Hadley said. "You should be more upset."

"I infected myself."

"Which wouldn't have happened, if he hadn't deliberately infected himself."

Alice tugged her sunglasses out of her hair, and put them back on. She felt sick, but it was no longer just because of the hangover. She couldn't listen to any more of this, and got up from the chair, slower than she would like. "I can't be part of this, Hadley. Call me if you decide he deserves better."

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Outside, the sun remained relentless, and she tugged herself into a shaded corner and called Luka. He didn't pick up. She called him again, and again, hoping urgency would make him pay attention, but he never picked up.

"Come on, Luka," she muttered. She still had the tracking app on her phone, and she opened it. He was somewhere at the edge of town, and she couldn't even begin to guess what he was doing there.

Except maybe she could.

A few scattered buildings were surrounded by cemeteries, and somehow she didn't think he was there to visit old friends. Buildings, surrounded by nature. Urban mages, working with nature mages.

She called him one more time, before giving up. There was no way she could get there before Hadley's Agents. Especially not when everything was still making her queasy, and she couldn't even think about making a jump. Let alone all the jumps she would have to make to get to Luka.

She texted him a warning instead, the best she could do, and considered her next move.

Alice had believed Luka, when he said that he had been wrong, that the clues were a trap to get him out of the way. She had been relieved, honestly, because he had triggered it and he had survived, which had to mean it was over. Now she knew it had been a lie. She didn't want to believe that he had deliberately infected Hadley, but now that she thought about it, he would have done it.

When she connected the dots, she could see the plan he had made.

He would follow the clues, allow himself to get infected. He trusted that he would be led to them eventually, and he knew they needed him for some purpose. So, despite evidence to the contrary, they wouldn't kill him. They probably wouldn't even let the infection kill him. Yesterday, he was finally led to them, and they asked him to infect Hadley. He had no choice, because he needed to play their game to get the cure, so he did it.

She didn't know what happened next.

She didn't know what she should do.

Luka hadn't included her, hadn't even told her what he was going to do. It felt like a breach of trust, more than the infection bleeding away her life, one heartbeat at a time. More importantly, Hadley had been right. Luka had been employed by the Council, and no matter his intentions, he had defected. Infecting Hadley was a direct attack against the Academy and the Council. Luka Lavrin was a traitor.

Alice had to decide which side she wanted to be on, in the end.

She wanted to sleep.

She wanted to sleep so badly.

Instead, she went back to Hadley.

She hadn't closed the door behind her when she left, and it was still open. She knocked softly on the door frame. Hadley looked up and watched her expectantly.

"I'm sorry," she said. "You're right. I think he did it."

Hadley nodded at her, and she took it as an invitation to come in. "I also think you're making a mistake."

"In what way?"

"I checked the tracker. He's with them right now, isn't he? If you send people after Luka, they're going to be caught by a group of terrorists. They won't be bringing Luka back. Chances are they won't be back at all."

"They're smart," Hadley said. "They won't engage, if he's with them. They'll take him alone."

"And then what?" Alice said. "You can track Luka. You know he can lead us to them, but if you bring him in…"

Hadley was silent for a long time. Alice settled back into the chair, and tugged her knees up to her chest. When he sighed, she knew that he was starting to think more rationally again.

"You have a point," he said. "I had people go to the building, the abandoned hospital he went to yesterday, and it was clean. They travel light, and they move around. We have no idea if they'll be back, and no idea where they'll go next."

"Right," she said.

He looked at her with suspicion. "We'll wait," he said. "Gather more data, before we do anything."

She had earned his distrust. It was fine. She would get his trust back.

"Hadley," she said, fiddling with the warm metal around her wrist. She could never get used to the feeling of suppressors, like static under her skin. "What's going to happen to him? When this is over?"

She knew it wasn't the right question to ask now, but she needed to know.

Hadley rubbed his eyes, and left his head resting in his hands. He looked beyond tired, and it only got worse every time she saw him. It was like Luka was draining away his energy, which probably wasn’t too far from the truth.

"I don't know," he said. "He's a traitor, so by all rights he should be executed."

She knew, but hearing it still turned her stomach. "I know," she said, "but despite everything… I don't want to see him die."

"It won't be up to me," he said. "But I don't think the Council will kill him. Even with the betrayal, his name is too powerful. There might be a riot. They wouldn't risk it."

"Okay," she whispered. Any other fate for him she could live with. As long as he wasn't going to be sentenced to death.

She tugged nervously at the suppressor. The bracelet was tight around her arm, and like the collars, it bit into her skin. It was hard to ignore the constant displeasure at the back of her mind, and she didn't know how she was ever going to sleep with this thing on.

"I'm sorry," Hadley suddenly said. "When I brought Luka in on this job, I really thought…" He shook his head. "Luka always said mages are corruptible. I never thought he might be talking about himself."

"I'm sorry, too," Alice said. "I should have believed you. I think I'm just so used to the image of Luka as a hero, that I just didn't want to believe it."

"I know. I think it's safe to say we're all disappointed."

"Hadley, I…" She hesitated. "I feel like this is my fault. If I had…"

"Don't do that," Hadley said gently. "This was his choice. He was going to find a way to do it no matter what."

Alice nodded. She knew she couldn't hover over Hadley all day, and pushed herself out of the chair. "Will you keep me updated?"

"Sure," Hadley said. "Of course."

Alice nodded once, and turned to leave.

"Alice?"

She turned back.

"We'll talk about your future," Hadley said. "I just…"

"Of course," she said. "It's okay. I think I need some time to think about it, anyway."

Which was assuming either of them had a future at the Academy. They could pretend everything was going to be fine, but it was becoming harder to stay optimistic. She wasn’t worried about the cure, at least not yet, but everything was changing. No matter how this all ended, Luka was most likely going to be arrested, and the repercussions of that were unimaginable.

He could fall from grace, and most likely would. People would be furious, and might even call for his execution, and then what? Would the Council listen?

On the other hand, maybe people would defend him. They might not believe the Council, not without proof. Then it might be life in prison, or perhaps banishment.

Either way, Luka Lavrin the Legend was dying, and she didn't know what this world would look like without him. Once again, she had to reevaluate her own place in it.

As she walked back to her room, to finally get some sleep, she kept checking her phone, hoping Luka would answer her text. It wasn't even marked as read yet, and all she wanted was proof of life. Although, she really wanted to hear him say that he was okay. She checked the tracking data, but he was still around the same cluster of buildings, surrounded by too much nature. He was moving, which was good, but she hated not knowing what was going on. She hated that Luka hadn't trusted her with any of this, hadn't brought her in. She didn't know what she would have done, how she would have reacted, but she would have liked the choice.

She sighed and clicked off the phone. It didn't matter now. Luka had left her with few options, and she had made the only choice she could.