Fuck, Shay…She was going to kill me for disappearing after I’d sent her in here to copy the maps, then went out to meet a threat head-on without her. I could only hope that the Second Line’s mind magic had confused her enough that she might not remember she was angry at me.
“We both know that I don’t agree with my Line, so don’t put those grievances on my shoulders. I was five when you lost your arm,” I told the administrator of Boellium. Other than Proxius, she held the most amount of influence in this institution, even if it wasn’t one of respect. After all, those who controlled the books, controlled the records. They controlled history.
Svenna breathed in slowly, and I saw some of the anger leave her shoulders. “I’m Eleventh Line. Did you know that?”
It all fell into place then; sheknewthey existed. “I didn’t.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “Because why would you worry about the dirt scrabblers as anything other than army fodder, right? That superiority will come around and bite the Upper Lines in the ass now. We are magicless, but we aren’t powerless.”
I couldn’t believe this. A fucking rebellion, right here under my father’s nose. “Proxius?”
She stonewalled me. “That’s a question to ask him yourself, when he returns.” Her responses sounded bitter.
“So you knew they existed, but did you know they’d attack today?”
Svenna shook her head. “No. I had no idea they were moving. For as long as I can remember, they’ve been waiting for the right time. I assumed they’d wait forever.” She held my eyes. “I honestly thought we were under attack by one of the other nations. That they’d managed to cross the seas.” She paused, shaking her head. “Believe what you want. I don’t give a damn, Vylan. Your whole Line could perish tomorrow, and I wouldn’t care.”
Avalon hissed behind me, “I’d care, and you don’t want to pissmeoff, Svenna.” Braxus growled low, backing up her threat.
Svenna frowned between us, then raised a brow. “Well,thatis interesting. Maybe you’re different from your parents after all, Vox Vylan. Your father would never have contemplated openly fucking someone weaker than him.”
I opened my hand and wrapped a band of air around her throat. Svenna wasn’t rich enough for atalthat would protect her from my elemental magic, but I didn’t hold too tightly to her throat. Just enough so she knew that I was serious. “You don’t speak about Avalon in such a manner. Do you understand?”
“Loud and clear, Heir Vylan,” Svenna croaked out with a grin.
Crazy bitch.I let her go, and Braxus grumbled his disagreement. “I trust that my involvement with Avalon won’t get back to my father. Not because I’m ashamed,” I said quickly, my eyes taking in Avalon’s face. “But because it would be a danger to her safety.” It had already been a danger, but the fewer people who knew about Avalon’s powers, the better.
Laughing, Svenna rubbed her throat. “Avalon Halhed is the safest conscript in all of Boellium War College right now. I have my orders too, and they don’t come from Lierick Hanovan or from you.”
“From who then?” Avalon demanded, and Svenna gave her a tight smile.
“That’s none of your fucking business. Now, get the hell out of my office.”
I gritted my teeth, but when Avalon laid a soft hand on my back, I stilled my tongue. “I don’t like unknowns, Svenna. This isn’t over.”
Shaking her head, she turned and went back to her files. I was stepping over the threshold when she murmured, “It never is.”
Isn’t that the truth.
Back in the hallway, I brushed the tips of my fingers against Avalon’s. “I have to find Shay. I ordered her not to follow me outside, and I’m fairly sure she’s plotting my demise herself somewhere. I’ll walk you to your dorm first.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Go, I can walk down a set of stairs by myself.” The hound huffed. “By myself with Braxus,” she corrected. Everything in me rebelled at leaving her unprotected, but she shoved me toward the door to the atrium. “Go. I’ll be fine. You guys can’t shadow me every minute of the day, andthey’re here to stay. Hurry, Shay will be pissed, but I bet it’s because she’s worried.”
I looked around the empty hallway and gave into the urge that had been riding me. I leaned forward and kissed her. Just a brief brush of our lips, but it had to be enough.
For now.
Six
Avalon
Islipped into my dorm unseen. The silence was deafening; even the stairwell outside was quiet, with everyone attending the afternoon classes like the world as we knew it hadn’t just changed irrevocably. I guess to them, it hadn’t.
To me? I would never be the same. Icouldn’tbe the same.
I could turn back time. I could rewrite the past to suit myself. But something of each life lingered inside me, in dreams or in feelings.
That instant connection to Hayle made sense now. The way that Vox had tugged at me until I couldn’t ignore it. All those things had a greater meaning. They were men I’d loved and lost.
