Chapter 12 #2
My heart squeezes. I nod before remembering he can't see my face. "Yes."
For a while, that is all. His warmth behind me. My breathing slowly matching his. The bond settling. Then, sometime between fear and sleep, my body betrays every wall I have left. I drift backward. My shoulder touches his chest.
I freeze. So does he.
The whole room seems to wait for us to react.
I should move away. He should move away.
Neither of us does. Then his arm slides carefully around my waist.
I place my hand over his. The bond glows beneath both our sleeves.
I fall asleep with Valerius Draven behind me, his hand warm beneath mine, his body a wall between me and the dark.
Morning arrives in a gasp. Not mine. Seren's. A sharp, strangled sound that tears me out of sleep.
My eyes fly open.
For one warm, disoriented second, I don't understand why I feel so safe. Why there's heat behind me. Why something heavy rests over my waist. Why my hand is tangled with another hand, larger and warmer than mine.
Then the entire night comes back. The shadow. The whisper. Valerius. My bed. His arm. Oh no. I lift my head.
Seren stands in the doorway holding a breakfast tray, eyes wide, mouth open, curls half-pinned like she abandoned getting ready halfway through.
Behind her, the door swings slowly inward, the Shadowflame ward apparently having recognized her as safe enough to enter.
Her gaze locks on me. Then on the arm around my waist.
Then on Valerius, who is very much in my bed, very much behind me, and very much awake now.
His body goes rigid. Mine does too. No one speaks.
The tray tilts dangerously in Seren's hands.
I scramble to sit up, which would work better if Valerius's arm wasn't still around me.
He releases me instantly and sits up too, hair disheveled, black shirt wrinkled, expression murderous in a way that would terrify most people.
Seren only blinks. Once. Twice. Then she says, "I have several questions."
"Seren—"
"Actually, no." She lifts one hand, tray still balanced in the other. "I have many questions. A horrifying number. An entire academic thesis of questions."
"It's not what it looks like," I say.
Valerius mutters, "That sentence has never helped anyone."
I whip my head toward him. "Do not make this worse."
Seren points at him. "Why is he in your bed?"
"Because something came into my room last night." I say. Her expression changes instantly.
All humor vanishes. The tray lowers. "What?"
Valerius is already out of bed, moving barefoot across the room to check the window ward. Like instinct. Like even waking in a girl's bed with her best friend gaping at him doesn't distract him from the fact that danger might still be near. The sight does something strange to my chest.
I pull the blanket tighter around myself. "A shadow. It stood at the foot of the bed. It said my name."
Seren's face drains of color. "Again?"
I nod.
She sets the tray on my desk with shaking hands. "Did it touch you?"
"No."
Her eyes fly to Valerius. He does not turn from the window. "It didn't get close enough." The quiet violence in his voice makes the room colder.
Seren looks back at me, and I see the exact moment she realizes the bed is not the problem. The thing that came into my room is. She hurries to me, sitting on the edge of the mattress and grabbing both my hands. "Why didn't you call me?"
"I was asleep."
"After?" I glance at Valerius.
He still has his back to us, one hand pressed against the window frame, black flame curling around his fingers as he tests the ward.
"I was scared," I admit. Seren's face softens. "And I asked him to stay close."
Her eyes flick to him again. This time, there is no teasing in her expression. Only reluctant understanding.
Valerius turns from the window. "The wards were intact."
"That's impossible," Seren says.
"Yes." His agreement is flat. Terrifying.
I push the blankets off and stand, suddenly too aware that I am still in my nightdress. Valerius looks away instantly, turning toward the door with a stiffness that makes my cheeks burn.
Seren notices. Her eyebrows rise. I point at her. "No."
"I said nothing." She defends herself.
"You thought it loudly." I inform her.
"I am only human." She says in defeat.
"You are a Veil mage." I remind her that is nothing of the human sort.
"Still nosy." She points out.
Valerius says, "Get dressed. We're late for Thorne."
The almost-normal insult waiting on my tongue dies. Thorne. Training. After last night, after the shadow, after waking in Valerius's arms, I have to go stand in a ward circle and let Professor Thorne test the bond again.
My stomach drops. Valerius sees. His voice shifts. "We tell him about the shadow."
Seren nods quickly. "Yes. Absolutely. We tell someone immediately."
I look at both of them. "I thought we weren't telling anyone."
Valerius's jaw tightens. "That was before something entered your room."
"Thorne can be trusted?" Seren asks.
The question hangs. Valerius doesn't answer right away. Then he says, "More than most." Not exactly comforting but from him, it may as well be a glowing recommendation.
Seren squeezes my hand. "I agree. He's terrifying, but he hasn't handed you to the council." That much is true.
I dress behind the privacy screen while Seren pretends not to interrogate Valerius and Valerius pretends not to hate every second of existing in a room with witnesses.
When I emerge in my uniform, hair brushed but loose, Valerius is standing by the door, fully controlled again.
Almost, his hair still remembers my pillow.
We leave for the south wing together.
The academy is already awake, corridors full of students heading toward breakfast and first lessons. Whispers rise the moment people see us: me, Seren, and Valerius walking out of the east tower at morning hour.
I feel every stare. Every question. Every assumption. My face burns hotter with each step. Valerius walks close at my side, his shoulder almost brushing mine. Not touching, but near enough that the bond stays calm. Near enough that no one comes close.
Mira Ardent sees us near the staircase. Her eyes widen. Then narrow. I brace for a comment. Valerius turns his head before she speaks. Just a fraction. That's all. Mira's mouth closes.
Seren whispers, "That never gets old." Despite everything, I smile.
The south wing smells like smoke and cold stone when we arrive. Professor Thorne is waiting in the ward chamber, slate in hand, expression already displeased. "You are late."
Valerius says, "Something came into her room last night."
Professor Thorne stills. Not dramatically. Not enough for someone who doesn't know him to notice but I see the shift. The way his fingers stop on the slate. The way his eyes move immediately to me. Not annoyed now. "What kind of something?"
"A shadow," I say. My voice sounds smaller in this room.
Thorne's gaze sharpens. "Describe it."
I swallow. "Tall. Thin. Wrong. No face. A mouth made of pale fire."
His face hardens. Valerius sees. "What is it?" he asks.
Thorne ignores him. "Did it speak?"
My wrist warms. "Yes."
"What did it say?" Thorne asks.
"My name." Thorne's jaw tightens. "And Starling," I add.
The slate in his hand cracks, a sharp split across the corner. Seren inhales behind me. Valerius's Shadowflame flickers at his fingertips. Professor Thorne looks down at the cracked slate as if it has personally betrayed him, then sets it aside with very careful control.
"No one else hears of this," he says.
Valerius's eyes narrow. "You know what it was."
"I know enough to understand that speaking too soon may put her in greater danger." Professor Thorne turns to Seren. "Miss Ashwick, you should not be here."
Seren lifts her chin. "I'm staying."
"No." Thorne commands.
"Yes." She stands her ground.
Valerius mutters, "She does this."
Seren points at him without looking. "You aren't helping."
Thorne's mouth tightens. "Miss Ashwick, what we discuss in this room can't leave this room. Not to your friends. Not to your family. Not to your bonded partner."
Seren's expression changes at Eli's indirect mention. Then she looks at me. "I won't say anything, I promise."
Thorne studies her for several uncomfortable seconds. Then he nods once. "Stand outside the circle." Seren moves to the wall, pale but determined. Professor Thorne gestures to the ward circle. "Inside. Both of you."
The circle has been repaired since yesterday, but not completely. I see new lines carved over old ones, silver dust mixed with black ash. The wards feel heavier when I step into them, like the room remembers what happened and isn't eager to repeat it.
Valerius steps in beside me. Not opposite like the other times. Beside. Professor Thorne notices. He says nothing. The ward rises around us. My mark warms. Valerius's sigils shift faintly beneath his sleeve.
Professor Thorne takes a slow breath. "Show me your wrist, Miss Starling."
I pull my sleeve back. The golden circle glows. Around it, the shadow ring waits, faint but visible. Thorne's face gives nothing away, but I feel Valerius go tense beside me.
"What does it feel like?" Thorne asks.
"Calmer than last night." I admit.
"Because?" Thorne asks. I glance at Valerius. Thorne sees. "So proximity stabilizes it."
Valerius's jaw flexes. "It seems to."
"And touch?" Neither of us answers quickly enough. Seren makes a very small sound from the wall. Thorne looks between us with the exhausted expression of a man who wishes he taught herbology. "Touch her wrist," he says to Valerius.
Valerius doesn't move.
Thorne's gaze sharpens. "With permission."
The words surprise me. Maybe they surprise Valerius too, because his eyes flick to the professor before settling on me. He doesn't reach for me. He waits. My heart thuds.
I lift my wrist. "Yes."