Chapter 29 Nova
Nova
Two weeks.
Two weeks of waking up in a house that’s starting to feel like mine. Two weeks of meals I don’t have to hide to eat. Two weeks of walking to class with people on all sides of me—not boxing me in, just… there.
I’m wearing the green sweater. The soft one Zoe made me buy. It still feels strange, owning something this nice. But every time I put it on, I feel more comfortable in my own skin than I ever have.
“That color looks good on you.”
Kyron falls into step beside me. His eyes drag down to the sweater, then back up to my face. Slow and deliberate.
My face goes warm. Too warm. I blame the morning air. I blame him.
“Thanks,” I manage.
His mouth curves. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
Trey’s waiting at the end of the path like he has been every morning for the past two weeks. He should just have a room at this point. I don’t say it, but I think it every time I see him standing there, hands in his pockets, scanning the path until he spots us.
Spots me.
His shoulders drop when our eyes meet. Like he was holding his breath until he knew I was there.
I don’t know what to do with that. So I don’t do anything. Just let Rane bump my shoulder as we reach Trey, let Vaelor’s hand brush my back as the group shifts to absorb him.
Always in the middle. I’ve stopped fighting it.
“You okay?” I ask Trey. He looks distracted. More than usual.
“Yeah. Just—” He shakes his head. “Silas has been weird lately.”
“Weird how?”
“Haven’t seen him much. And when I do, he’s…” He trails off, searching for the word. “Quiet. Watching. More than usual.”
“That’s not ominous at all,” Rane mutters.
“He’s always watching,” Locke says. Flat. “That’s not new.”
“This feels different.”
No one argues with that.
We keep walking. The morning air is crisp, the kind of cold that wakes you up without biting. Students drift past alone and in groups, everyone heading the same direction. It’s nice, how normal it is.
“Nova!”
I turn. Zoe’s crossing the quad toward us, two of her guys trailing behind. Eli, and one I don’t recognize—tall, dark hair, moving like he’s aware of every angle around him.
“Hey.” She falls into step beside me, her guys peeling off to join mine. I glance back and they’re already talking—low voices, easy postures, like they’ve known each other for years.
Maybe they have. I’m still learning how all of this works.
“How are you doing?” Zoe asks.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Zoe, she means it.
“Good. Better.” I hesitate. “It’s getting easier.”
She smiles. “Told you.”
We walk in comfortable silence for a minute. The guys are a loose orbit around us—not hovering, thank goodness. I’ve stopped noticing how they rotate, how there’s always someone at my shoulder, my back, my blind spots. It used to make me twitchy. Now it just feels like… how things are.
The sound comes first.
Engines. Low, rumbling, wrong.
I stop walking. So does everyone else.
Three black vehicles are pulling through the main gate. Not cars—bigger, armored, with tinted windows that catch the light like oil. They move slowly, deliberately, like they have every right to be here.
“What the hell?” Rane’s voice is tight.
“That’s… strange, right?” I look at Kyron. “Tell me that’s strange.”
“It’s strange.” His eyes haven’t left the vehicles. “No one has vehicles except Nightmare Order. It’s one of the ways they control movement between territories.”
“And they don’t come here,” Beckett adds. “Academy’s supposed to be neutral ground. High-level oversight only.”
The vehicles roll past us, heading toward the administrative building. Students stop and stare. Conversations die mid-sentence.
“If they’re on campus,” Zoe murmurs, “something’s already broken.”
No one argues.
“Trey.” Locke’s voice is low. “You think this has anything to do with Silas?”
Trey’s jaw tightens. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Wait—Silas?” Zoe glances between us. “What’s going on with Silas?”
“He’s had his eye on Nova,” Locke says.
“Shit.” Zoe’s expression darkens. “Since when?”
“Since she got here,” Rane says. “It’s been… a thing.”
“We’re handling it,” Vaelor adds quietly.
Zoe’s expression hardens. “That guy’s an asshole. Doesn’t help that he hides behind his daddy for everything. It’s like he’s untouchable.”
Murmurs of agreement from the guys. All of them—mine and hers.
“Well.” Eli crosses his arms, watching the vehicles disappear around a corner. “Better be on our best behavior.”
“Right,” Rane says. “Because that’s our specialty.”
A few laughs. Tight, and a little nervous.
The tension doesn’t break, but it eases. Enough to keep moving.
“Come on,” Kyron says. “We’ll be late.”
We head to class.
But I look back once. The vehicles are parked now. Figures in dark uniforms climbing out, moving toward the building with purpose.
Something cold settles in my stomach.
It’s starting.
I don’t know what it is yet. But I can feel it.