Chapter 15
Secret Trail
ANNA
He was fucking blackmailing me.
With lies.
I could tell Blake.
But I wouldn’t.
And he knew that.
I slammed my fist into the stone wall of my dorm room, dust crumbling beneath my hand and a terrible ache shooting through my forearm.
I nursed my fist, my eyes falling on the vial of amber liquid.
My anger ebbed, and I turned away from it.
He knew I’d go. And not because he’d threatened me. He knew how badly I wanted answers, but more than that, he seemed to know that even more than wanting answers, I wanted to avoid my past. He was using it to string me along like a popcorn garland.
I groaned.
The Raven Room wasn’t in the Catacombs—it was in a relatively well-traversed part of the castle. I could go and leave as I wished.
Right?
The Raven Room was nothing like the last time I’d met Malakai there.
I slipped past other guests, none of whom I’d ever seen before. They were dressed in elegant attire, holding their wine glasses as they whispered sultry words and laughed unabashedly. A brush at my hip made me turn—Malakai. I scowled and brushed his hand away, moving away from him.
“I knew you would come,” he said, flashing a perfect smile.
An odd sensation crept up my shoulders. He was so smug—I hated that. But he was right. There was something deep within me that felt at ease and oddly out of sync with my mind.
“Why did you force me to come here?” I sneered.
He moved closer to me, shattering my pretense of irritability.
“Because you intrigue me,” he murmured, pulling me closer to him.
“Give me a reason to stay, or I’m gone,” I seethed through grinding teeth, but I didn’t move away.
“Right, I have to feed you intel—all of the Aurkai are interested in you,” he said, slipping his arm around my waist.
He pulled at my hip, and pressed his chest against my back, his hips locking against mine, forcing me to move to the hypnotic beat.
“Why?” I asked, my brain getting foggier by the second.
“You are special.”
His voice was rich and sweet like honey; thick enough to hide the poison laced in his words.
“What do you mean by that?” I hissed.
He was pressed against me intimately. How did we get like this? I didn’t want to move, but at the same time, I wanted him to stop.
Damn him.
He was far too practiced at whatever it was, and I bit my lip as his breath hit my neck.
No amount of hatred and distrust would change the fact that he was attractive, and I was human.
I took a breath, pulling away from him, but he spun me around, my back hitting the wall instead.
The music was gone, as were all the people.
It was Malakai and me, and he was right in front of me, both hands with palms flat against the wall on either side of my head. Alarmed, I couldn’t move, staring into his narrowed pale green eyes.
“I knew it,” he murmured, eyeing me curiously.
Electricity snapped through my nerves as I tried to figure out what had happened.
“Knew what?” I asked.
“Caelan and Roslyn never had a chance at chaining you down,” he said.
My brows furrowed.
“You are tense,” Malakai murmured, his breath hot against my cheek.
I was tense. What was he doing to me? I burned at his proximity, my mind foggy. He was nearing me, and panic gripped me like a vice—but he stopped.
He pulled away from me, his expression one I’d never seen on him before—fear.
“That's enough.”
I knew that voice, but not like this—this voice was cold, commanding and threatening.
Malakai removed his hands from the wall and turned around.
My heart pounded wildly against my chest as I saw Blake’s iron gaze.
The air shifted—charged and heavy with something far more potent than fear.
His black, tailored coat clung to his broad shoulders, embroidered silver threads glinting faintly along the edges.
His eyes—tight and unreadable—locked onto Malakai with a weight that could crush stone. Malakai swallowed hard, all his earlier bravado shriveling into nothing. “I was just—”
“Stay away from her,” Blake growled, his voice carrying the finality of a blade's edge.
Malakai’s expression darkened, but he didn’t argue. He slunk past Blake without another word, leaving the room.
Silence blanketed the room, broken only by the crackle of the fire and my own struggling breaths. I pressed my trembling hands against the wall, trying to ground myself, but all I could focus on was him.
Blake’s expression softened, but still intense enough to make my breath catch. His face was a masterpiece carved with shadows and light—sharp cheekbones, a strong jawline, and lips that looked both cruel and kind depending on how they curved.
“What are you doing here?” he asked quietly.
His presence filled the room, commanding and comforting all at once. The tension in my body began to ease, though my heart still raced.
“I wanted answers,” I said, defending myself as I shifted away from the wall.
“At what cost?” Blake asked, an edge in his tone.
I spun toward him, my anger boiling over.
“At whatever cost,” I spat, storming past him.
I sensed him following me to the door. I stopped.
“What do you want?” I asked, glaring at him over my shoulder.
Blake hesitated, indecision written all over him.
“You say you want to keep me safe,” I whispered, “but I didn’t ask you to. I don’t want to be safe. I want the truth; however I have to get it.”
His muscles tightened in his forearms like he wanted to reach out, but he refrained. His silence made me want to scream.
“Maybe none of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t told him about the other night. Now he’s blackmailing me with nonsense rumors.”
Blake’s demeanor was downright predatory. “Blackmailing you?”
“What do you care?” I snapped. “At least he showed some interest in being forthcoming with information.”
“And you think I’m not?” he shot back.
“No!” I yelled. “You tease the hell out of me the first week of classes, then I accidentally find out that you and Melanie have something going on, and I don’t see you again for weeks except to scold me.”
Blake’s demeanor darkened, and he approached me so suddenly I took a step back, hitting the wall.
He neared me, staring at me, like he was breaking down all of my walls, one at a time.
He leaned in, his chest touching mine every time I took a breath.
His lips hovered by my ear, and I didn’t think I could move if I tried.
“I don’t want you anywhere near Malakai again,” he said, his voice low and commanding.
I closed my eyes, a surreal feeling seeping into my thoughts and nodded. Before he moved, an odd feeling struck my nervous system, shifting everything sideways for a moment.
Blake was gone, but someone else was there—my mom. Crystal clear, as if she were standing there before me, I saw her. She was younger, not much older than me, and she looked upset. She was wearing a Nightfall uniform.
As fast as she came, she was gone.
I blinked, seeing Blake before me again, as I tried to catch my breath. He reached for me, steadying me as I looked for her.
A sharp ache tore through my head as I held back the pain rushing to my eyes.
“Anna, what is it?” Blake asked.
I shook my head.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “It’s been a weird night.”
Blake shifted toward the door. “Let me get you to your dorm. I will walk you.”
I didn’t argue as we headed in the direction of my dorm. The shock of seeing my mom had left an eerie feeling lingering in my bones. I wanted to say something, but what? Had I seen a ghost? Was I hallucinating? Until I knew what was happening, it felt like I should keep this to myself.
As we walked, Blake had his hand on my back, guiding me through the maze of corridors.
“Do you like poetry, or is The Raven just fun to quote to Initiates?” I asked, recalling the first night he walked me to my dorm like this.
The pressure of Blake’s hand on my back increased.
“I only began reading it when I arrived here—it was in my room, clearly because of my lineage and the poem’s title. That was the night I found you adrift in the castle. At first, I found it amusing, but I have since finished reading it,” he said. “It resonated far more than I cared for.”
Surprised, I glanced at him. “What do you mean?”
It had been a few years since I’d read it in school, but from what I recalled, it was a gothic piece that symbolized death.
We slowed as we reached my dorm.
“It is a story for another time,” he said. “I will try not to be a tease anymore. And whatever you heard, cast it from your mind—Melanie and I are over.”
I looked away, my cheeks flushing with heat.
“Goodnight, Anna,” he murmured, and he was gone.
I pulled the edges of my cloak tightly around my shoulders.
The weather had turned impossibly cold since the many weeks that had passed since I’d first jumped into the falls.
The snow crunched beneath my boots as I trekked across the grounds while the wind slicked across my face in brutal bursts of cold air.
My Sanctum Naturae course was a pleasant departure from the grueling study of the ancient language of Valyrian and charting the night skies by hand.
If I’d known I wouldn’t have a laptop when I came here, I may have reconsidered coming at all.
I massaged my right palm, the ache coming back like a bad dream.
Unfortunately, Commander Everson was on the grounds with a group of guards doing a training exercise.
Had Malakai gotten to him? Had him doing his bidding?
Or was he callous enough that he’d perpetuate a ridiculous rumor about me?
I always knew he didn’t like me, but if he were spreading rumors, that was taking it too far.
His eyes struck mine and narrowed. Feeling oxygen ignite in my lungs like I could breathe fire, I looked away.
When I finally got inside the conservatory, I shuddered and forced myself to shake the tension from my nerves.
I stood there for a moment, basking in the warmth of the humid air, my skin tingling as nerves awakened.