22. Asha
Asha
Pretending to sleep is probably one of the hardest things to do—ever. However, I’m not above trying just so I don’t have to keep looking at Hale’s sexy mouth, turned up in that sexy grin because he thinks I want to keep him around.
Ugh.
Huge pass.
I chew my lip and sigh, pushing the blanket off and standing up. “I’m going back to my room. I’ll sleep better there, and I’m feeling a lot better,” I say to the hovering nurse.
She gives me a lingering once-over, but then decides she’d rather get rid of me than fight with me.
I’m not ignoring the fact that Blackridge probably gave her orders to let me go if I insisted. He saw a glimpse of who I am. He knows that if I had my power here, I could level this entire realm.
I ignore Hale, who has moved in silently behind me and leave the infirmary with my head held high. His footsteps follow me at an infuriatingly steady pace.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” I mutter as I pick up speed down the hallway that leads outside.
“Doing what?”
“Breathing behind me like some oversized escort I didn’t ask for.”
“You did ask.”
I glance back at him. “When?”
“When you nearly died and then asked if I’d come with you.”
Heat flares under my skin. “I was delirious.”
“You were honest.”
“I was concussed.”
He grins with arrogant satisfaction. I decide not to answer because I’ll end up starting a fight in the middle of the Admin building, and I’m trying to be strategic for at least ten more minutes.
“Besides, I didn’t ask you to come with me,” I mutter.
“No, you asked if I would try to come with you, but semantics. I know what you meant, sweetheart.”
“Call me that again, and I will pull your spleen out through your mouth.”
He breathes in deeply. “See, now that I know those threats are actually promises your ancient body can follow through with, it just makes it hotter.”
“Everything makes it hotter for you,” I snap, shoving open the outer door hard enough to make the wards hiss.
The courtyard air hits cool against my overheated skin. Silver light still crawls across the stone in fading lines from the lockdown. The academy looks half asleep, but I know better now. SilverGate never sleeps. It watches. It waits. It stores up everyone’s mistakes until it can use them.
Much like me.
The real me.
I stride across the courtyard with Hale at my side and my temper held together by sheer force.
My body still feels wrong. Too light. Too fragile.
Too recently torn apart. Every few steps, a thread of soreness pulls through my ribs and reminds me that Blackridge was telling the truth. This body nearly split open.
Humiliating.
Useful, though.
Now I know that my power wants me back. It has found me, and it’s not going to stop until it has me.
I reach the tower doors, shove through them, and head up the stairs in silence.
When I reach my bedroom door, I don’t turn back. I push it open and step inside, closing it before Hale can invade my space.
“Goodnight, Asha,” he says quietly. “You know where to find me.”
“Unfortunately,” I grumble, but there’s no heat in it. If anything, I’m a bit pissed off to be alone now.
It doesn’t make me call him back, though. I strip off and climb into bed, immediately feeling more comfortable than on that awful infirmary plank of wood.
Sleep eventually drags me under.
Sometime later, I wake with my heart hammering and my hand already curled like it’s about to throttle someone.
Darkness presses against the room. Wards breathe faint light through the cracks around my door and window, enough to turn everything into hard outlines and shifting shadow.
Something is in here with me.
I go still.
The pressure is wrong. Heavy, watchful, and ancient enough to make the air feel occupied in a way that has nothing to do with this pathetic little room.
A quiet scrape comes from the desk.
I sit up.
The book I took from the library is lying in the middle of the desk. Purple and gold light seeps from the edges of the cover, pulsing slowly and deliberately.
“Showing your face again, are we?” I whisper.
The light intensifies.
Every muscle in my body tightens. Then the cover lifts on its own.
Pages turn in a measured rhythm. It’s not frantic like before; it’s intentional. Controlled.
“No,” I whisper, sliding out of bed and stalking towards the desk. “You do not get to be cryptic with me after tonight.”
It stops on the same map. Silver and black lines mark the academy above it, but the hidden route beneath burns in bruised purple again, brighter now, steadier, as if the damned thing has made up its mind.
A gold point flares near the lower crypts.
Then another appears.
My breath catches.
The second point is moving.
The page ripples under the light. Silver dims. Purple surges.
The moving gold point travels along the hidden route and stops at a junction beneath the northern side of the grounds, where the forest starts.
Words crawl into existence beside it, written in a script that punches straight through me with recognition.
I know it.
I can’t say it.
My name.
My throat tightens, and fury flashes through me. “Oh, fuck you.”
The script vanishes. In its place, the map shifts again. A narrow section beneath the crypts pulses once, twice. Then a line extends from it towards the outer ward boundary.
An exit.
A way in.
Or a trap.
Possibly both.
I plant both hands on the desk and stare at the page until my vision starts to ache. “You want me down there.”
The candle on my desk flickers ominously, and it sputters out.
The page flips again and shows three golden dots around a purple and gold one.
I scowl at it. “The guys.”
The book flashes once.
“I know what the dots are,” I mutter. “I just don’t enjoy being managed.”
The three gold points hold steady around mine as if that settles the matter. Then one of them shifts half an inch closer.
Hale.
Of course it would be him first. Loud, territorial, impossible to ignore even when reduced to a mark on a page.
Another point moves. Slower. Precise.
Tobin.
The third lingers, then slides into place with cold intent that feels almost reluctant.
Leith.
I stare at the page. “I don’t need an escort.”
The map doesn’t care.
The purple route brightens beneath the crypts. The outer boundary pulses once in warning. A thin line of gold circles the section under the northern grounds, not blocking it exactly, but marking it.
I should go alone.
That is the obvious answer. The sensible answer that doesn’t involve three males getting in my way, asking questions, and trying to protect me from things they can’t comprehend.
But the memory of the floor breaking open under my hands is still too fresh. So is the feeling of my power flooding into a body that couldn’t bear it.
The book slams shut and disappears again.
“No!” I snap and slam my fist on the desk. “I hate you!”
It doesn’t bring it back. Not that I expected it would. Sighing, I turn to the window and see the subtle shift from black into dark grey. Another day at SilverGate. It feels like I’ve been here a year already, and it’s only been just over a day.
I turn my back on the window and shove open the door to the bathroom, needing a shower after last night.
The water runs cold for the first few seconds, then turns warm enough to take the sting out of my skin.
I stand under it longer than necessary, letting it beat over my shoulders and down my spine while I replay the map in my head.
I scrub quickly, dry off, and pull on fresh clothes. Dark jeans, a dark oversized top and boots. Much better than yesterday’s combat clothes.
I check my timetable as my stomach growls, signalling it wants feeding.
“You’re so annoying,” I groan but move out, bookbag over my shoulder and timetable in hand.
This isn’t going to be a simple thing. I’m not just going to find an exit with a flashing sign saying ‘StormGate’ over it, pull it open, and hey, presto, I’m back home.
It’s going to need planning, just like Tobin and Leith keep saying.
Careful and strategic planning.
It’s fine. I can be patient as long as I feel we are getting somewhere.
Slipping as quietly as I can to the stairs, I take them quickly and remember my way to the dining hall.
Noting my first lesson—Advanced Elemental Magic—I shove the timetable back in my bag and head for the food. I don’t care what it is as I shovel it onto my plate. I’m going off scent alone, and that will suffice.
I choose a table near the side wall with a clear view of the doors and the rest of the hall. If I’m going to pretend to be a normal student for another day, I’m at least going to do it from a position of advantage.
My fork barely makes it halfway to my mouth before Tobin drops into the seat opposite me. “You’re going to have to be quicker if you intend to get past us without us noticing.”
“I wasn’t skulking around,” I lie. “I was hungry.”
He stares at the overfilled plate. “I can see that. So, about that kiss…”
“What about it?” I ask slowly and cram food into my mouth as a stalling tactic.
“What was the point of it?”
“To kiss you. What is the point of any kiss?”
“No ulterior motive?”
“None whatsoever.”
“In that case, later I’m going to show you what happens after the kiss.”
My clit twitches as my blood warms up. “Oh? That’s bold.”
He reaches across the table and taps one finger against my tray. “Did you sleep?”
“Badly.”
“Any dreams?”
I pause for half a beat too long.
That is enough for him.
“What happened?” he asks quietly.
I lower my voice. “The book came back.”
“And?”
“It showed me where it wants me to go and with whom.”
“Us,” he says, sitting back.
“Obviously.”
“We plan—”
I hold up my hand. “I know. No rushing in, blah-blah-blah. I want to do this right because chances are I’m going to get one shot.”
He nods slowly, accepting that I’m serious about this. And I am. I will not fuck up the opportunity to get home just because I was impatient.
“Good,” Tobin says. “Then after lectures, we do it properly.”
“Shade Garden?” I ask.
His silver eyes sharpen. “You remembered.”
“I’m capable of retaining useful information despite your voice.”
“That’s a relief.” He glances at my timetable where it sticks out of my bag. “Advanced Elemental Magic first?”
“Apparently.”
“That should be entertaining.”
“For whom?”
“For me.”
“Of course. Because you are a witch prodigy and I’m apparently a low-level witch.”
“Ready?” he asks.
I stare down at my half-full plate. “Do I look like I’m finished?”
He blinks. “I wasn’t expecting you to eat all of that.”
“Well, I am, so fuck off.” I shovel more food into my mouth to prove my point. But the fact is, I’m done. I push it away. “Fine, you win.”
He grabs my bag with a grin and stands up. “Let’s go and show Professor Straz that you are not in the right class.”
“Wonderful,” I mutter, but follow him anyway, and I don’t push him off when he places his hand on my lower back.