Simon smiles faintly against Cassian’s chest. “Itwasbrilliant work.”
Cassian’s phone trills in his pocket, and despite Simon’s muttered plea to ignore it, Cassian answers the call. “Dad? What is it?”
A grim frown spreads across the alpha’s face and he stops his absent rubbing of Simon’s back as he sits up straighter.
I hear an older man’s voice on the other end of the line, but can’t make out the words, though it’s clear from the frown that creases Cassian’s mouth that whatever his father is saying is concerning.
When he finally ends the call, Simon prods him in the ribs. “What is it, Cass? What did Gerard have to say?”
Gerard Leclerc is one of Cassian’s alpha fathers and a member of the Council of Nine, mage society’s highest governing body. If what he had to say was enough to sap the color from Cassian’s face, it must be grim.
“The Prime Minister passed a new edict under executive order.” He takes a deep breath and then lets out a heavy sigh. “He deemed the resistance a terrorist organization. Anyone found to be colluding with the resistance or any of its members can now be charged with treason and imprisoned indefinitely. Or worse.”
“Just like Graeme’s plant,” I murmur.
Cassian nods, and I recognize the expression in his smoke-and-whiskey eyes because I’ve seen it before when he thought he couldn’t protect me. He feels helpless. “I need you both to step back from the resistance. Please, for my sake. Let me handle things going forward.”
Simon scoffs. “Why you? I’m the nobody here. I’m not a councilor’s son or a corporate heiress. If Junie gets imprisoned, the Soldiers will do to her what they did to Graeme’s plant, and Cass, if you’re caught and it reflects back on Gerard, it’ll be politically devastating. He’ll lose his Council seat, and the repercussions could be disastrous. The world needs him, and it’s going to need you. I’m expendable. You’re not.”
“Shut up,” Cassian murmurs. “Ineed you. Both of you. Please, at least while we have a mole in our midst, let me or Ian be the one to pass on information.”
“I don’t like this,” I murmur.
Cassian shakes his head. “Neither do I,” he sighs. “Junes, I hate to do this, but we need your affinity. If you truly have the ability of precognition, it could help keep you safe. We need you to train.”
I nod solemnly, but I know even visions of the future won’t be enough to keep me safe, and judging by the way Cassian’s face falls, he knows it, too.
* * *
I trainwith Marcus and Cassian all afternoon, the two alphas taking turns shooting sparks at me. I lean into my affinity, letting my senses soak in my magic until I’m brimming with it. It takes time and a few sparks landing on my bare arms before I’m able to predict how and when they’ll strike, before I begin to see their attacks before they act.
I twist and spin, defending myself from each barrage of sparks, my shield in place before their spells even leave their scribes.
Every time I block one of their spells, Cassian beams at me, pride shining in his dark eyes. It’s so like the day he helped me practice my shields back in Saint Aldric’s Hall. I remember it all so clearly, how he was kind and patient with me—until he received a text.
When he finally tosses me a bottle of water and we take a break, I finally ask him about it.
“What changed that day? You were so kind and then you turned… you turnedcruel.”
Shame reddens his cheeks, and he ducks his head. “I received word that Andrew Radcliffe, Jaime Brentwood and Kelvin Montrose had received the Mark of Baphomet, and were fully initiated into the Soldiers of Saint Aldous.” He frowns and shakes his head before meeting my eyes, his own tight and stricken. “I hated tearing you down like that, but I still thought you’d be safer with your family at that point, that you’d be safest as far as possible from Fairhaven and Rad. I’m sorry, Juniper. Truly.”
“Ian told me about the initiations,” I say quietly. “But you knew even before he did.”
“Jaime knew I was… protective of you. He texted me before he told the resistance.”
“Even then?”
“Always and forever, Juniper.”
My affinity thrums through me, and I feel the truth in his words, the love and the devotion. It doesn’t erase the things he said or the way he treated me last year, but he mends my heart with every ardent word and promise.
“Since the day I met you,” he vows, “until I draw my final breath.”
CHAPTER15
Our little study group has grown since last year, and we claim a corner of the library as our own as we study for midterms. Simon and Luca join Bitsy, Ellie, Alyssa, Darika and me, and this year, Cassian joins us too. He fits in with our little group in a way that makes my heart beat just a little faster.
He drops into the empty chair beside me, sparing me a quick smile as he opens one of the library books he’d just gone in search of.
