Chapter 15 #3
“Stop.” The single word cracked through the passage. Kieran pushed away from the arch and lowered his arm, but he did not move aside.
“You can lie to your instructors,” he said. “You can lie to your roommate. You can tell every person in this place that the Crucible was nothing but unstable light.”
Guilt twisted beneath my ribs at the mention of Vareena. “But do not stand in front of me and pretend I don’t know shadow when I see it.”
The air seemed colder around him. The darkness beneath the arches listened to him. Mine was listening, too. I glanced toward the open grounds. Kieran stepped closer. “Look at me.” I did. I resented how immediately my body obeyed. “You manifested in front of two initiates,” he said.
“They didn’t see.”
“They nearly did.”
“They didn’t.”
“This time.” The words cut cleanly through my defensiveness.
My fingers tightened against my sleeves. “What do you want?”
His demeanor became unreadable again. “Control.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “Then we have something in common.”
“For you.” I blinked. Kieran’s eyes remained on mine. “I want you to learn control.”
Suspicion rose immediately. “Why?”
“Because the next person who catches you may not be inclined to keep your secret.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you are.”
A muscle shifted in his jaw. For one moment, I thought he might answer. Really answer. Then he looked toward the crooked bench. “Dual affinities are not merely rare.”
“I know.”
“No.” His attention snapped back to me. “You know the stories told to children. You know Nirael went mad. You know wielding opposing forces supposedly tears a soul apart.”
My mouth went dry. “What do you know?”
“Enough.”
“That means nothing.”
“It means if the instructors discover what you are before you understand it, they will not hand you a training schedule and wish you luck.”
Ice slid down my spine. “They would help me.” The denial sounded weak.
“They would study you,” he said. “Test the limits of what you can survive. Decide whether you are useful before deciding whether you are safe.”
“The Sanctum isn’t—”
“You have been here for weeks.” His voice remained quiet, but the words gained an edge. “I was raised in this world. Do not confuse polished stone and white robes for mercy.”
“What would they do?” His eyes shifted briefly to my wrist. I imagined shackles there. Wards. A cell.
“You don’t want to find out.”
My anger faltered until fear took its place. The shadows beneath the arches thickened and they weren’t all his. Kieran glanced toward them. Then, slowly, he lifted one hand. The runes along his fingers darkened and every shadow in the passage moved. Not violently.
They simply drew toward him. Until the darkness beneath the bench released its legs. Until the thin lines at my feet pulled back, folding into the ordinary shape of my body. Even the shade cast by the arches seemed to settle.
Kieran lowered his hand. His magic had obeyed without hesitation. Without panic. Without destruction. Only Control.
I hated how badly I wanted what he had. “You can teach me,” I said, despite every sane part of me willing me to stay quiet. It was not a question.
“I could.” His gaze lowered to my mouth for one swift, disorienting moment before returning to my eyes. “But are you willing to listen. Or would you like to keep lying to yourself and everyone around you.”
Heat flashed through me. Anger, mostly. I stepped closer instead of back. His arm brushed mine and the shadows at our feet shivered. Kieran looked down. So did I. A thin strand of darkness had stretched between them.
Mine to his.
Or his to mine.
I could not tell. It curled once around the toe of his boot. Kieran went utterly still.
“What is that?” I whispered.
The strand vanished. He looked at me again, and for the first time, his certainty had cracked. Surprise flashed beneath it. Or concern. I couldn’t tell. He buried the reaction quickly.
“Another reason you need training.” The bell above the academic halls rang, marking the beginning of afternoon lessons. Voices rose in the distance. Candidates would begin crossing the grounds within minutes.
Kieran stepped back and the sudden space between us felt colder than it should have. “Tonight,” he said.
I frowned. “Tonight what?”
“You’ll meet me at the old southern ring after the final bell.”
“I have no idea where that is.”
“There’s a path beyond the Verdant Hallows. Follow it until the lanterns end.” Every sensible instinct I possessed recoiled. An abandoned training ring. After curfew. With Kieran Nyxara.
“What makes you think I’ll come?”
He studied me for a moment. The empty palm that had failed to summon light. The bench my shadow had moved without permission.
Then his gaze held mine. “Because you’re more afraid of them discovering you than you are of me.”
The accuracy struck harder than cruelty would have. He turned toward the central paths. I watched until the crowd swallowed him. Only then did I look down. My shadow lay at my feet, perfectly ordinary. But when I took a step, it hesitated. Just for a heartbeat.
As though some part of it wanted to follow him instead.