One day toward the end of September, someone else joined Callum on the path outside school. He thought for a second when he saw a boy loping toward him in jeans and a sweater — the hot weather had cooled off and there was a definite chill in the air — that it was Gadon, but as he got closer, Callum realized it was Giroud Strike.
He looked disheveled and a little pale, though it could just have been his summer tan fading. Callum stood on the path waiting as Giroud approached, holding Chaos’s leash. Callum was definitely puzzled. Since school started, Giroud hadn’t so much as smiled across the Refectory at him, and if Giroud had been doing errands for Master Rudeos, Callum hadn’t seen him. He’d assumed Giroud was avoiding them all because of Kimiya, and also because, well, Giroud was one of
