Chapter 23 #2
Despite being nervous. Terrified, even.
I felt it in the way his pulse jumped beneath my hand and the way he kept searching my face afterward like he was waiting for me to become someone else.
But he let me pin him beneath me, let me touch him however I wanted, trusted me enough to fall asleep wrapped around me afterward like his body had already decided I was safe before his mind caught up.
And for some reason, the trust hidden inside that realization feels far more intimate than anything we did with our bodies last night.
My multi-slate vibrates on the nightstand, pulling me away from the sight of Rowan tangled around me, and my stomach tightens when I reach for it and see the missed calls lighting up the screen from Dad.
Call back. Your mother wants to speak to you
That’s odd. Or is it? Dad almost never texts me this early unless something’s wrong, and the message itself is worse.
Most people think Dad runs the Virels because he’s the one handling negotiations, security, bloodshed, all the ugly parts of keeping an empire standing.
But Mom has always been the real head of the family.
Even before she lost her sight, people listened when she spoke.
Dad just made himself her weapon afterward. Her shield.
And he expects the same loyalty from me.
Usually, that responsibility doesn’t bother me. It’s the world we were born into. Protect the family. Protect the house. Survive long enough to keep everyone else alive too.
But lying here with Rowan asleep against my chest, his body still warm and loose beneath the sheets, I resent anything trying to pull me away from him.
I glance down at him again, and something hot twists low in my stomach at the sight of him curled against me, golden hair spilling across my skin while those elegant musician hands remain loosely wrapped around my waist like he was always meant to be here.
Even now, Rowan feels too soft for this world despite everything Caervast and Sero tried to turn him into.
The thought arrives before I can stop it.
Mine.
Rowan shifts in his sleep and presses closer with a quiet sound against my throat, his body instinctively seeking warmth, trust woven so naturally into the movement that it almost unsettles me.
Careful not to wake him, I untangle myself from the sheets, but his fingers tighten against my waist in protest before he settles again.
That really shouldn’t affect me this much.
I pull my clothes on quickly before checking the message again, unease settling low in my stomach as I look back toward the bed one final time.
To where Rowan is still curled into the warmth I left behind, completely unaware that the outside world is already starting to push its way back in.
Dude, get a grip on yourself. He’s one pretty musician, not the end of the fucking world.
I slip out onto the terrace overlooking the lower Caervast courtyards, and the cold morning air hits my skin hard enough to drag me fully awake. Beyond the academy, Tolian still sleeps beneath the gray dawn, distant towers glowing faintly through the fog.
I light a cigarette and lean against the stone railing, the call barely ringing once before Dad answers.
“You realize normal students are unconscious at this hour, right?” I mutter, smoke curling from my mouth as I stare out across the city. “Some of us enjoy sleeping.”
“You stopped being a normal student years ago.”
I snort. “Fair enough.”
Then Mom’s voice cuts in from somewhere in the background. “Good morning, darling.”
“You’re both weirdly awake this early,” I mutter. “Dad said you wanted to talk?”
“I did.” Mom hums. “You sound very pleased with yourself.”
I take another drag from the cigarette before glancing back through the open terrace door at Rowan sleeping beneath my sheets. Fuck, he looks beautiful like that. “Maybe.”
“Darling.”
I roll my eyes toward the sky. “Mom.”
The amusement fades from her voice. “All right, listen to me for a second. Last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the notes that boy played during the Legacy Gala. Remember, before he started his concert?”
I frown at the sleeping city, because no, I don’t remember. My mind was too occupied observing him, not paying attention to his music.
Mom sighs as if she was expecting that. “He played a warm-up sequence before opening his etude. And it…it sounded familiar.”
“Familiar, how?”
“Let’s just say, that sequence is very familiar to me, and I honestly thought I would never hear it again.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that if I’m right, Rowan Ashford is far more connected to this than either of us initially believed.”
“Connected to what? Stop talking in riddles, Mom. He’s not from our world, that much I know for sure.”
“I’m not so sure yet, darling. The only thing I know is that something has people nervous.
The Reach voted against changes, meaning the Orlov family will stay banned from Sero for at least another three years.
Their representative announced that the family was displeased with the result. Of course they were.”
The vote happened the night of the Legacy Gala. Somewhere behind the music and the gold, in rooms I never saw.
“What does Rowan have to do with all of that? Of course they wouldn’t be happy, and if they want trouble, they only have to say it out loud.”
I honestly expect her to call me out on that one, but instead she’s just quiet for a moment. “There were rumors the Orlovs fled to Düren after the initial ban. And Vera… Vera vanished entirely. No one ever confirmed where she went.”
The name snags on something. Halvern in the music wing, talking about Mom’s old rival. “Your academy rival? That Vera?”
“The very same, darling. She never did learn how to lose.”
Düren. The word finally catches up with me, and I shake my head, though she can’t see me. “No way that Rowan has anything to do with those snakes.”
Dad snorts somewhere behind her, but Mom and I both ignore him.
“I’m not saying that, darling. But our guards flagged multiple aristocrat families walking around Sero armed. And now Lucian Marrow has started moving security across half his properties. You know what that means, right?”
“Retaliation,” Dad barks from the background. “They’re waiting for trouble to come knocking on our door.”
My mind is fucking spinning. The violence I can live with. Please, thank you, bring it on. But I still don’t get what Mom wants with Rowan.
“So what now?” I ask her. “Want to create a time bomb? See what happens when it explodes?”
I can practically feel her warm, comforting smile. “No, darling. But if families like the Marrows are walking around armed to the teeth, people are expecting something. And that means for us, that security will continue to flag anything unusual. I want to hear him play again.”
“You—what?”
“Yes. I’ll be organizing a Virel event, and he’ll perform. There’s something about that boy. I need to know if what I heard was coincidence.” A pause. “And if it wasn’t, then you need to understand something, darling.”
“What?”
“That boy may not be as innocent as you want him to be.”
Ice knifes down my spine as I stare out across the sleeping city while her words echo inside my skull.
Fuck me. One minute he’s sleeping in my bed, and the next Mom is talking about him like he’s the key to something.
Rowan flashes through my mind. Sleepy green eyes. Bruised lips grazing my throat barely half an hour ago. His body curling toward mine beneath the sheets like he already trusts me more than he should. He certainly looked innocent while taking my cock.
“I’ll keep an eye out for any interesting things,” I mutter.
Mom laughs on the other end of the line, which pisses me the fuck off. “Be careful with interesting things, darling. They have a habit of changing the shape of a house once they’re brought inside it.”
I promise Mom I’ll come home for dinner soon with the others before we finally hang up.
Even afterward, I stay there staring out across Tolian, the cold air biting against my skin as unease keeps twisting lower in my stomach.
Then my eyes drift back toward the open terrace door. Toward Rowan still asleep in my bed.
And all I can think about is the hidden Noctis above Caervast. The Black Chapel. The footsteps. The proof Rowan keeps chasing. Mom recognizing that sequence.
Something is connecting all of it.
I need to see that Noctis again.
And this time, princess, I’ll get answers.