Chapter 27
Elira
Someone was watching me.
The sun was dipping low, bleeding orange across the stone walls of the training yard. I moved through the familiar motions—jab, pivot, duck, throw—but my mind wasn’t on the drills.
I could feel it again.
That crawling sensation. Like someone’s eyes were crawling up the back of my neck. I stopped mid-movement, my dagger lowered, breath stilled.
The far end of the yard was still empty. Nothing but shadows and silence.
Still, the feeling didn’t fade.
It had been happening for days now—this prickling awareness. Always just out of reach. In the corridor outside the library. In the courtyard at dawn. Once, even in the mirror hall, when I thought I saw a flicker of movement behind me—but when I turned, there was nothing but my own reflection.
It was making me paranoid.
Slade watched me twitching as I looked around the arena.
“You ok?” he said, stepping up beside me. His massive presence was like a balm for my soul.
He kept his voice low, but I sensed the concern.
“I’m okay, Grumpy Bear,” I said, forcing a small smile. “Just... thought I saw something.”
He narrowed his eyes, following my line of sight across the yard. “You’ve been saying that a lot lately.”
“Yeah, well. Call it a sixth sense.”
“Or maybe it’s just the sleep deprivation.”
I snorted. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“I’ve seen you wandering the halls at all hours.” He spoke quietly.
I bumped him slightly. “I’m ok. I promise. I am sleeping.”
Slade didn’t laugh. He watched me a second longer, then reached out and gently nudged the dagger in my hand back into a neutral grip. “Don’t let your form slip, even when you’re distracted. You’re better than that.”
“I was better than that,” I muttered. “Before someone started ghost-stalking me across the Tower.”
“You want me to follow them next time?” His tone was dry, but I knew he meant it.
I shook my head. “No. If someone’s watching, I’ll flush them out myself.”
Slade raised an eyebrow but didn’t push it. “Alright. But if you change your mind…”
“I know where to find you,” I said, flashing a grin. “Lurking in doorways and brooding dramatically.”
That got a small chuckle from him.
I returned to the dummy and started again—jab, pivot, duck, throw—but the feeling clung to me like a second skin. After a while Maddie joined me. But even she couldn’t keep up with me at this point.
I stayed longer than anyone else. Long after the last group finished drills. Long after even Maddie had waved goodbye.
Kyra had made an appearance—brief, sharp, unwelcome. She didn’t speak to me, but I felt her gaze. Leo saw her too. The second he spotted her across the hall, he stalked over and planted himself between us like a wall of muscle and disapproval.
Kyra didn’t linger after that.
Typical Leo.
I didn’t thank him. Didn’t need to. But it helped, knowing someone was still watching my back… even if someone else was watching it for all the wrong reasons.
Since our kiss, Leo had barely spent any time away from me. If he was training the sentinels, his eyes were on me. At lunch he always sat at my left. I couldn’t go far without him tracking me down. If he wasn’t so charming, it might be smothering. But I liked the attention.
Tonight, after everyone had finished for the day. I had kept working until my clothes reeked with sweat.
Leo and Slade were waiting for me at the entrance to the arena.
“Come on. Food time.” Slade grunted out.
I took a whiff of myself. “Let me shower first. I’m pretty rank.”
Leo grabbed me by the waist and spun me around. “You smell delightful,” he grinned.
Even Slade wrinkled his nose. “You are such a liar,” I said flatly.
Leo’s answer was to kiss me—firm and unapologetic.
I froze for half a second, surprised. We hadn’t done that in front of the others before. But Slade didn’t seem fazed. In fact, he smirked.
“Are we all just kissing her now?” he asked, arching a brow as Leo pulled away.
Leo just wrapped his arms around me and shrugged. “I highly recommend it.”
“Is that a challenge?” Slade asked, quirking his eyebrow.
“Maybe,” Leo grinned back. “Maybe I dare you.”
Before I could laugh, Slade stepped forward, took my arms, and kissed me.
Square on the mouth.
I was too stunned to react at first—but then I did.
Slade’s mouth was warm against mine, steady and searching. For one breathless moment, the world narrowed to the pressure of his lips, the rough brush of his fingers curling around my arms, the way he held me like he meant it.
And I kissed him back.
Not out of panic. Not out of politeness.
I wanted to.
Heat surged through me like a wave. My body moved before my mind caught up—and then it did.
We weren’t alone.
I jerked back, breath ragged, my fingers flying to my lips. I was shaking. My heart thundered in my chest like I’d just sprinted the length of the tower.
Slade stood there, wide-eyed, his hands slowly lowering like he wasn’t sure what to do with them. He looked every bit as stunned as I felt.
I didn’t dare look at Leo.
But when I finally did, he wasn’t angry. He was staring at us both with open-mouthed awe, like we’d just handed him a scene straight out of his wildest fantasy.
“That was so hot,” he breathed, utterly dazed.
My face flushed bright red. “Oh my gods,” I whispered.
“Right. Um. Dinner,” Slade mumbled, suddenly scratching at his face like he could erase the moment. “I’m gonna—yeah.” Without another word, he turned and walked off like his boots were on fire.
I turned to Leo, heart pounding. “Leo…”
He reached out and cupped my face with both hands, his thumbs brushing lightly over my cheeks.
“Don’t be upset,” he said, voice low and steady. “My brothers and I... we’ve always shared everything.”
He smiled—soft, understanding, not a trace of jealousy in sight.
“And I know you like them too.”
I stared at him, and for a moment, it felt like my heart cracked wide open.
I could lie. I could tell him he was wrong. But the truth pressed against my ribs like something alive.
Slade. Phoenix. Even Thorne. They had all slipped past my walls, one by one—quiet and insistent like vines pushing through stone. And now they were rooted there. I didn’t want to let them go.
He didn’t wait for my answer.
He just kissed me again—slow and deliberate, like a promise I wasn’t ready to make but desperately needed to feel.
Then he pulled back, his forehead resting briefly against mine.
“Go shower,” he murmured. “I’ll meet you at the mess hall. I’ll grab you a plate.”
And just like that, he was gone.
The door shut behind him, and I stood there for a long moment, unmoving.
The silence pressed in around me, thick as fog. My skin still buzzed where his hands had touched me—where his lips had landed not once, but twice.
I should’ve gone straight to the mess hall.
Instead, I turned and walked numbly to the showers, my boots echoing faintly in the hall. The moment the water hit my skin, I let my head fall forward, palms braced against the tiled wall.
What the hell just happened?
I closed my eyes, trying to breathe past the tangle in my chest. I had kissed Leo. Slade had kissed me. And I liked them both.
A lot.
I thought of Phoenix the other night. How he had lay down next to me just to comfort me.
I liked him too.
I pressed my forehead to the cool tile, breathing hard. I didn’t know how to do this. I didn’t know how to want people and trust them at the same time. I closed my eyes, trying to breathe past the tangle in my chest.
I had kissed Leo.
Slade had kissed me.
And I liked them both.
A lot.
Then came the image of Phoenix—quiet, steady—lying beside me on the cold training floor, just to make sure I wasn’t alone.
I liked him too.
Too much.
And Thorne…
The thought of him hit like a crack of thunder—distant, but impossible to ignore.
I pressed my forehead harder to the cool tile, struggling to slow my spiralling thoughts. My breath came fast, shallow, catching hard in my chest.
I didn’t know how to do this.
I didn’t know how to want people and trust them at the same time.
A sharp inhale rattled through me—I was starting to hyperventilate.
There’s no way they all want me. That’s impossible. It’s too much.
And if they did… what about Finn?
My throat closed up. Guilt wrapped around me like iron.
Did I forget about him? Just left him out there in the streets while I got warm and comfortable and kissed other people? What if he needs me?
The water was still running. I shut it off and stood frozen, letting the last of it drip down my frame.
I looked down at myself.
The constant food. The training. The sleep I’d finally started to get. The scrawny girl who once cowered in alleyways was gone.
In her place was something leaner. Stronger.
I wasn’t the same girl from the streets now. The world was no longer black and white. It was more shades of grey.
I hated the king. I despised him.
But could I ever choose to become a Shade?
I dressed quickly in a set of sweats I had kept in the bathroom. When I finished pulling on my shirt. I heard a noise.
Like a footstep.
“Leo?” I called. I stepped out of the bathroom and looked around the darkened room.
But there was no one in sight.
Then I heard it.
A breath.
Not mine.
Not imagined. A shadow ducked around the corner from me.
“Oh no you don’t,” I muttered, and sprinted after them.
Barefoot, I chased the figure through the narrow corridor, shadows gathering around me like smoke. Whoever it was moved fast, but I was faster. I cornered them just outside the training wing, back against the stone. I grabbed his arm as he tried to duck back in through the doorway.
“Alright,” I snapped. “You’ve been following me for days. Time to talk.”
He lifted his hands slowly in surrender. Slim build. Dark hair. Familiar eyes.
My stomach dropped.
“You.”
It was the boy from the infirmary. The one who had been watching me.
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said quickly.
“Then why are you following me?”
“I’ve been hoping to get you alone. I have a message for you.”
I stared at him a moment. “Wait a minute, I know you don’t I?”
“Ahh”
“You work for Mother Ashford. You’re one of her runners.” I said.
The kid sighed raggedly. “Yes. She has your friend. Finn. The one who was here.”
My heart stopped. “What?”
“He came to us for help,” the boy said quietly, “and she turned him away. Said he was useless. So he broke in—and tried to steal weapons.”
I stared at him, not breathing.
“He got caught,” he finished. “She has him caged. In The Pit.”
No. No no no no no.
The world tilted.
I tried to speak, but the words stuck in my throat, tangled with panic. “Is she... is she making him fight?”
The boy hesitated.
“Just a couple, so far.”
My knees gave out. The ground rushed up to meet me, and for a second, everything went black around the edges.
He caught my shoulder, alarmed. I shoved him off with a force that surprised us both.
“Why?” My voice cracked. “Why the hell would he go to her?”
“Because of you,” he said. “He thought she could help him save you.”
“Save me?” My laugh was sharp and hollow. “For fuck’s sake, Finn!”
I turned and slammed my fist into the stone wall. The pain was immediate, clean, grounding—but it didn’t help. Nothing would.
Blood trickled down my knuckles. I didn’t care.
“So,” I rasped, “what does she want?”
The boy looked away.
“She wouldn’t have sent you unless there was a price,” I pressed. “She never gives anything for free.”
He swallowed hard. “She wants you. She’s asked you to come see her. To talk.”
I stared at him, my heart beating too loud in my ears.
Of course she does.
Ashford never lost a coin. And now, she wanted me to pay the cost of Finn’s mistake—with my freedom.
My voice dropped to a whisper.
“Tell her I’m coming.”