At the invitation, Gansey launched into an explanation about the ley line. He did his best to keep it simple and straightforward, with a minimum of passionate tangents, but it was difficult for him to condense his massive expertise and enthusiasm on the topic into a brief overview.

Then he went into a much more abbreviated explanation of Aglionby. The sons of the rich and powerful, mostly American but plenty of international students, and Adam. "He's a genius," Gansey said, earnest. "He deserves to be there more than anyone else. Everyone else is there because of privilege and money. Adam earned it."

Adam ducked his head shyly at that, cheeks red, but he didn't argue the point.