Chapter 50
Anastasia Lang's POV
My eyes darted between the maps belonging to the other recruits and the crude sketch I'd recreated from memory on a spare sheet of paper.
The difference between them was staggering.
The maps belonging to those of us who had crossed paths with the demons contained far more empty checkpoints—as if someone had deliberately tried to delay our arrival at Point Z.
The fatal Point Z.
During the badge ceremony, I'd learned something else.
Only our two small groups had encountered demons.
None of the other top-ranked recruits had.
How had they managed to bring together exactly us?
The people who spent the most time together.
The mages whose abilities complemented one another almost perfectly.
The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that it had all been part of a conspiracy.
But whose?
Was it Harold Moss?
Or was this the work of the Novers—those we were forbidden to accuse, though nothing could stop me from doing exactly that in my own mind?
And why had Rosalie been placed on our team when she hadn't even been selected for the top class?
Then, quietly but with alarming certainty, a thought slipped into my mind.
Either the administration of Istmond was working with the enemy...
Or one of our strongest mages was Harold's agent.
And there was a very real chance it was someone I spoke to every single day.
Illariana Arden's POV
The next morning, the notice board in the dormitory was covered with group assignments and the day's schedule.
As it turned out, the academy had formed two classes of top-ranked students, and I felt an immediate wave of relief when I saw that Stasia and I had been placed in the same group.
"So," Aars said, making me jump, "they searched the entire labyrinth and found Harold Moss's seal near Morod's Temple."
I flinched at the sudden sound of his voice, earning an irritated look in return.
I'd almost forgotten how his slit-pupiled eyes narrowed whenever he looked at me with unmistakable disapproval.
"Aars," I said quietly, "would it kill you to warn me before you appear?"
"With your abilities, you should always be on guard." He snorted. "Now listen carefully."
He pointed a clawed finger inches from my nose before drifting back to give us a little space.
"After the Selection ended, Istmond's administration began investigating the area. Unofficially, by the way. No idea why."
To be honest, I had no idea why Aars was telling me any of this in the first place.
The Selection had left me with so much pain and disappointment that I wanted to erase every last second of it from my memory.
I wanted to forget Seris's final words.
Forget that he'd traded his life...
...for mine.
Even now, I couldn't come to terms with it.
"Hey, Fireling. Pay attention."
Aars darted toward me so quickly that I instinctively stiffened.
With a heavy sigh, I folded my arms across my chest, making a point of showing him he finally had my full attention.
"I'm listening."
"So," he continued, "Istmond's search team discovered that the demons' shackles had been destroyed by a different kind of magic—not by the demons themselves."
That my mind had conjured something impossible.
Kai stood in the middle of the room.
Kai.
Kai.
Goddamn Kai.
The boy who had, for one brief moment, given me wings...
...only to tear them away without mercy.
The one who had made me believe I was completely accepted.
The one I could be vulnerable with.
The one I'd been ready to trust with the truth about my abilities.
And now he was standing in the middle of a magical academy...
Talking to some guy as if he belonged there.
"Hey." Aars frowned. "Did you break or something?"
Under different circumstances, I might have argued with him.
But this time...
He wasn't wrong.
No.
This was the moment I truly broke.
Airis Kairos's POV
"I've never believed in this nonsense."
The toe of my boot sent a small stone skidding across the ground. It struck the base supporting the statue, leaving a thin crack in the stone.
I stared at it in silence.
That's what I do.
With everything.
I break it...
...and walk away.
"The fact that you're here says otherwise."
The voice was warm and familiar.
I knew it well.
Just as I knew its owner.
Soft footsteps echoed behind me before coming to a stop at my side.
"You're a complete idiot." Dilraba folded her arms across her chest. "And yesterday, you proved it twice."
Then she turned her attention to the temple's interior, despite having explored every corner of it countless times over the years.
I said nothing.
There was nothing left to say.
"I still can't believe what you did to Cosmei.
You've told me more than once that you disapproved of our relationship, but choking him?
" Her voice faltered, and she puffed out her cheeks in irritation—a habit that always made her emotions painfully easy to read.
"Fine. Forget Cosmei. He's not angry with you. "
I couldn't have cared less.
"But why would you do that to your own protégée?"
Her light brown eyes—so pale they were almost amber—settled on me.
"I can see how much she means to you. And I know you, Airis. You always protect the things that matter to you."
A faint smile tugged at her lips.
"And she matters."
Dilraba did love to talk.
Especially when it came to dragging my conscience into conversations I'd rather avoid...
Conversations that always left a bitter aftertaste.
"So what's really going on?"
I remained silent.
"I swear, Airis, if you don't tell me right now, I'll personally drop you into the crater of an active volcano."
"Go ahead."
The thought drew the faintest hint of a smile from me.
Dilraba launched into another round of indignant complaints, but I barely heard a word.
My gaze remained fixed on the statue of Nereida.
The goddess's stone eyes seemed almost alive, as though they were searching for my heart...
...and trying to burn straight through it.
But all I could think about was Ria.
One day...
She would understand why I did it.
And maybe...
She would forgive me.
Because the worst was still waiting for her.