“They’ve got the Soldiers of Saint Aldous behind them. Rad’s one of them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Jaime and Kel are too. Rad wants to hurt me, but kidnapping omegas… that has the Soldiers of Saint Aldous written all over it.”
Marcus takes a sip of his tea and frowns. “Why kidnap a packed-up omega, though?”
I chew on my lower lip and shrug. “I don’t know. Ransom money to fund their attacks?”
“Whatever the reason, if the Soldiers are getting more aggressive—if they’re taking omegas—we’ll need to be more careful. I’ll need to be more vigilant.”
“I need to learn to protect myself,” I say. “I want to work on my shields.”
“Let’s go to Saint Aldric’s Hall then. We’ll have more room to work, and it’ll be good for you to get out of the cottage.”
“You’re probably right,” I muse. I’d much ratherworkthan mope around the cottage, even if my every instinct is telling me to nest and hide.
But there’s no hiding from what’s coming, and I need to be ready.
I need to be strong.
* * *
Mist clingsto the grounds as we make our way across the quad, and I truly am glad to be out of the cottage. I can’t pass a full Saturday trapped in my nest with my thoughts about Luca. Not when Saturday used to beourday. Our day for studying and dates and ill-fated picnics. Not when I cried every last tear I had last night, grieving for what I lost, what I’ll never have.
“Junes? Junie, wait up!”
Cassian.
Another alpha I trusted, who broke my heart just as brutally as waves break on the shores of Rose Beach. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t fall for Cassian Leclerc again, but then he took a hex to save my life. I woke up with him at my side in the infirmary, a vase of my favorite yellow roses on the table beside him. And then he smiled as beautifully as the rising sun when I cast my very first spell.
He jogs up to me, his sea salt and sunshine scent wrapping around me, banishing the misty morning’s biting chill. Saints, it’s the first time I’ve seen him out of a Fairhaven uniform in years. Seeing him in gray joggers and a Fairhaven hoodie that’s worn and fraying at the cuffs, his dark hair damp from the rain makes my stomach flip in a way that’s far too familiar and far too dangerous.
“Where are you headed so early?” His voice is missing the tone of reproach I’ve grown so used to during our Peer Advising sessions. It’s… it’s friendly. And saints could I ever use a friend right now. Especially a friend who doesn’t know how my heart was flayed open, who won’t treat me like I’m fragile.
“Saint Aldric’s.” I smile tightly. ”I have a lot of catching up to do.”
“I was just heading there myself. Mind if I join you?”
The Cassian who’s been driving me to tears every Friday afternoon this term wouldn’t care if I minded; he’d puff up his alpha chest, scowl at me, and join me regardless. But the Cassian standing before me smiles, that bashful curl of his lips I so fell in love with during our summer romance.
“Uh, yeah,” I stammer. “That’s cool.”
Can he hear the way my heart races, pounding out a runaway beat in my chest? Saints, I hope not. Flowers, a few kind words, and a sweet smile won’t erase the horrible things he’s said to me this term. They can’t. Not if I want to be anything more than the stupid, naive omega who trusts all the wrong alphas.
He falls into step beside me, shortening his gait to match my pace. “I got the results of your midterms in my email this morning. You should have gotten the email as well.”
“I-I haven’t checked it today.” I’ve been avoiding my inbox as much as I’ve been avoiding my phone, and I only just caught up on my texts and voicemails last night. “Did I… did I do all right?”
Cassian rolls his eyes, but there’s a familiar twinkle in those smoky quartz depths and a wry smile on his full lips. “You know you did. Top marks in History and Foundations, a B plus in Spell Crafting and Restorative Magic, and a B minus in Casting and Omega Seminar.”
A B minus Ian vowed to drop from his grade book if I do better on my final exam, and my enigmatic professor knows, just as well as I do, that I will.
“You should be incredibly proud of yourself, Junes. After what your father did to you, the fact that you learned half a semester’s worth of magic in less than a week is a feat few others could have accomplished. I have no doubt you’ll end the term with straight A’s.”
My own lips twitch into a smile, and it’s genuine, not the automatic smile of an obedient, agreeable omega. “You know what? Iampretty damn proud of myself. And you’re right. I’m going to finish my first term at Fairhaven with straight A’s.”
“You’ll end up wiping the floor with me. I really struggled during my first semester.”
My breath catches at his admission. Cassian’s a powerful mage—I can’t imagine him getting anything less than exemplary marks. But that term… that term was right after our ill-fated summer romance, right before my designation revealed me to be what we all knew I’d be all along: an omega. Right before he told me he’d found another the moment I rushed into his arms at my debutante ball, and he broke my heart.
“You seem to be doing pretty well now,” I say.
