Chapter 19
Rynlee’s POV
I returned to my dorm to find Gia gone, thankfully. The room was quiet; the late afternoon light streaming through the window just enough to paint soft gold across the floor. Perfect. I took a seat on my bed and pulled the journal from my bag.
It was as black as midnight, no embellishments, no markings, except for a faint title that revealed itself only in the right light: The Shadow Kingdom.
The letters shimmered like oil on water, barely visible unless you tilted the cover just right.
“Shadow Kingdom,” I murmured, brushing my fingers over the smooth leather.
Curiosity prickled at the nape of my neck. I opened it. Every page was blank. “What the fuck?” I whispered, flipping through again. Nothing. Page after page of pristine, untouched paper. Then, tucked into the back cover, I found a black pen attached with a black ribbon.
Weird.
Gripping the pen, I flipped back to the first page, heart thudding with anticipation. Maybe it was like a spell book, you had to write in it first to unlock it. I hovered the tip of the pen over the page, just about to test the theory when the door creaked open.
Shit.
I shoved the book under my pillow right as Gia strolled in, her eyes bright with a dreamy glow. “Hey, you!” I blurted far too quickly, the words sounding awkward even to my own ears.
She blinked at me, amused. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Totally fine!” I replied, forcing a smile. “How’s it going with Jackson?”
Her expression softened instantly. “Good. Really good,” she responded, the faintest blush rising to her cheeks.
I grinned, nudging her arm. “That’s awesome.
I’m happy for you.” Technically, we weren’t supposed to date.
Relationships between trainees were strongly discouraged but not exactly forbidden.
Not that the professors understood what happened when you threw a bunch of magically charged, hormonal young adults into the same confined space.
Of course, people were going to pair off.
Gia sat on the edge of her bed, twisting a strand of hair around her finger.
“So… how are you and Alaric doing?”
My cheeks heated. “Good. I mean, it still sucks I don’t feel the connection, not like I should…
but my heart flutters, and I get butterflies when I’m near him.
That has to count for something, right?” I sat beside her, exhaling through my nose.
“Though apparently we didn’t hide it well if everyone knows now. ”
She gave me a sideways glance. “Please. Alaric’s been acting differently for weeks. And so have you. It wasn’t difficult for your best friend to put two and two together.”
“Sorry I didn’t tell you,” I commented, leaning against her. “We were trying to keep it a secret. You know, because of… him.” Gia didn’t need me to say Aiden’s name. She already knew.
“I get it. No hard feelings.” She draped her arm around my shoulders, and I melted into the comfort of her familiar warmth. “So, how are you doing?” she asked gently. “How is training with Aiden?”
I groaned and stood, moving to change into my pajamas. “Ugh, don’t even get me started on him or our training,” I replied, pulling on my shorts and slipping into my tank top.
“That bad, huh?”
“Well, let’s see. It started off with him leaving me behind on the obstacle course.
I got tired of it, so I retaliated. He fought me…
then carved this thing into my side.” I lifted my shirt to show Gia the frozen rose etched into my skin.
“He basically told me to drop my suspicions about what’s going on here, and he fights me on everything.
It’s annoying. One minute he acts like he’s jealous, and the next he’s telling me he doesn’t care. ” I let out a heavy sigh.
“So what does that rose mean, anyway?” Gia asked.
“I’m not sure, to be honest,” I replied, lying back and staring up at the ceiling. Hemera had told me he marked me, but I wasn’t ready to explain to Gia that I could see and speak to the Sun Goddess. Besides Hemera wasn’t that much help anyway.
“Well, have you tried asking Aiden?”
I propped myself up on my elbows to look at her. “Yeah, because he’s been so helpful recently. Besides, he won’t even tell me why he hates me so much. I can’t remember a time when I was the one being mean to him growing up.” I flopped back onto the bed with another sigh.
“Maybe it wasn’t you,” Gia said as she climbed into her bed.
Her words lingered longer than I expected.
But if it wasn’t me… then why did he hate me so much?
“And did you ever think,” Gia continued, “maybe the reason he’s so hot and cold is because he’s trying to figure out whether or not he likes you?
Because maybe deep down you both actually do like each other.
” I stared at her as if she’d completely lost her mind.
“Okay. What was in your pumpkin juice that helped form that idea?” She just shrugged, a knowing smile tugging at her lips before she rolled over.
Maybe deep down you both actually like each other.
No. Absolutely not. Aiden was infuriating.
Condescending. Arrogant. He called me Ruin, as if it were my name, as if it defined me.
He was everything I wasn’t supposed to want.
Still…my heart beat a little faster remembering the way he was shirtless and looking at me with those jade eyes.
Gods. No. It was just the bond. Just the bond. My gaze drifted to the pillow beside me, where the black journal waited like a secret I wasn’t ready to share. And somehow, I knew—This was only the beginning.
Over the next couple of weeks, my sleep became unbearable.
The nightmares grew more vivid: twisted shadows, screams I couldn’t escape, and red eyes watching me from the corners of my mind.
I barely rested anymore. My magic seemed unstable, my body weak, like something inside me was slowly unraveling.
November had settled over Arcanna like a shroud, the air colder, sharper, as if the season itself was turning against us.
Dragging my feet into the sparring room that morning, I felt half-dead.
Dark circles painted under my eyes, and my limbs were heavy, as though my soul was carrying something it couldn’t quite name.
The voices around me were muffled, as if I were underwater, until one cut through the haze.
“Alright, listen up. We’re pairing with the Athena group again,” Aiden called, his voice sharp and commanding.
It jolted me upright, spine straightening instinctively.
“Dude, you okay?” Luna asked, leaning in close enough that her breath brushed my shoulder.
“Y–yeah. I’m fine,” I lied, digging my nails into my palms to keep from shaking.
Aiden moved through the crowd, pairing us up.
I ended up across from a boy I didn’t recognize.
Pale skin, blonde hair, brown eyes. He looked younger than me, nervous.
He raised his daggers in a standard defensive stance, and I mirrored him as best I could, trying to force the fog from my brain.
Just one match. Just get through this. He lunged, and I barely managed to dodge, my footing slipping. We clashed blades, and I kicked him in the shin to create distance, but my vision blurred. The room twisted. The mats warped beneath my feet.
Blinking rapidly, I tried to shake it off, okay focus, just breathe but a stabbing pain shot through my neck, the same sensation I felt in the showers that night.
I gasped. When I opened my eyes again, the world had changed.
The training area was crumbling, walls cracked, falling apart. Screams filled the air, real screams.
Students around me fought grotesque creatures with glowing red eyes.
Smoke and blood coated the floor. Panic strangled my lungs as I whipped my head around.
The blonde-haired boy was gone. In his place stood a demon.
Its skin was deep red, eyes blazing gold.
Twisted horns curled from its skull, and black sludge dripped from its mouth.
It charged. I reacted on instinct. We fought, daggers flashing, breath ragged. My body moved on its own. Every strike was pure survival, fueled by terror. I maneuvered behind it and slit its throat clean. The scream that followed wasn’t the roar of a dying beast.
It was human.
The haze shattered. The room snapped back into focus, and so did the blood.
The blonde-haired boy lay crumpled on the mat, a deep gash marking his neck.
Blood pooled beneath him, vivid and merciless.
My dagger fell from my hand with a clink.
My knees buckled. I’d killed him. A Fourfold Rite.
The one thing we weren’t supposed to do.
“I… I killed him,” I whispered.
Aiden stormed onto the mat, fury in every step. “Ruin, what the fuck—” he cut off when he saw my face. My breathing was erratic, shallow. I couldn’t stop staring at the blood on him.
His tone softened instantly. “Hey. Look at me,” Aiden said, stepping closer.
I couldn’t. My eyes were locked on the stillness of the boy’s body.
This wasn’t like the Rite. This wasn’t war.
This was murder. “Ruin,” Aiden repeated, quieter now.
His fingers found my cheek, thumb brushing along my skin.
“Look at me.” Reluctantly, I met his eyes.
“I… I’m sorry,” I whispered, voice cracking, guilt swallowing me whole.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, arms wrapping around me.
“It happens.” He held me tight, one arm encircling my waist, the other hand cradling the back of my head as I buried my face into his chest and let the tears fall.
He smelled like leather and cold air, and for a moment, I could almost pretend I was safe again.
But reality came crashing down with Jasmine’s voice.
“She needs to face the punishment,” she commanded, arms crossed, tone icy.
“Give her a minute,” Aiden growled over his shoulder, and I felt the way his body tensed, how the air around him shifted with restrained fury. But she was right.