Which only made things worse.
The pressure in my chest spiked—fear and magic clawing up my throat, itching to tear loose, pulsing just beneath the surface.
And just when I thought I couldn’t hold my Threads down a second longer, Merrin moved. A quiet hand to Talen’s arm, a murmur I couldn’t catch. Talen went still, jaw tight. Then, without a word or a backward glance, he turned and vanished into the side room.
My shoulders eased on a long exhale, tension bleeding out—just for a second, I thought it was over. But Merrin didn’t follow.
Instead, he turned and walked directly toward me. One step. Two. The red of his robes whispered around his boots, gold trim flickering like firelight with each movement. Then, he stopped just short of touching me—close enough that the magic in my chest flared like a warning.
“I hope you’re keeping out of trouble, Cadet Bloom?” He asked, voice deceptively mild. “Keeping up our deal? If you want to walk out of here next month,alive, journals in your hand, you’d be wise to follow the Codex...”
My throat dried.Shit. Did he know? That I tried to escape?
I thought about saying that I got lost. That I was exploring, being curious, stupid even. Not breaking rules, just bumping up against them. Something safe, soft, believable.
But if Talen already told him everything then a lie might just confirm guilt. One wrong word and he could have Reassigned me right then. One wrong look and maybe I would have vanished like whoever Talen was raging about.
So I decided to stay still. Say nothing, let him think I was scared. Which, fuck, I was, but I forced a slow nod anyway.
At first, he didn’t move. Just stood there, face unreadable until his mouth twitched. Not quite a smile, more like... confirmation.
“Good,” he said, “because I’d avoid drawing any unnecessary attention to yourself. We don’t want history to repeat itself...” Then he turned, walked back to the room Talen had vanished into, and shut the door.
I didn’t know what he meant.
Didn’t want to go after him to find out, my magic was about to explode, so before anything else could set me off I bolted back to the dorm. Found the bloody duck and gripped it like it could stop a storm. Told myself to stop being such a cocky idiot and keep it on me from now on.
And thank fuck I did—because not ten minutes later, I crossed paths with Talen’s friends coming down the main stairwell. The dark skinned officer built like a wall, and the flawless pale brunette Talen couldn’t stop staring at.
They didn’t say a word, but the way they watched me as I passed made my skin crawl, like they were just waiting on a signal to be let loose.
My skin prickled, but I met their gaze and kept my face flat, even though every muscle beneath it was coiled to snap. Because here, fear isn’t just weakness, it’s an invitation. And I’m not about to send one out on scented parchment with my name embossed at the top.
By the time I sat down to eat, my hands were still shaking but just not as bad, thanks to the duck clutched tightly under the table.
Finn, Rowan, and Ezzy were already there eating—Ezzy slid me a plate before I even asked. After this morning, I just wanted ten damn minutes where no one talked about Talen. Or death. Or both. But then Finn opened his mouth.
“A dark, stabby form of courtship,” Finn said, while chowing down his lunch, like we were talking about flowers and not murder. “Some people give chocolates. Maybe Talen gives assassination attempts?”
I replied that if that’s his idea of flirting, God help whoever he actually falls for, and that I hope she’s got good life insurance. Even Rowan, half-buried in a book, laughed a little at that one.
But then Finn tipped back in his chair, cracked his knuckles in a way that earned a disapproving look from Ezzy and added: “Rumour is, he killed his first girlfriend.” My fork froze halfway to my mouth. “Her family was doing something sketchy. Anti-treaty stuff. She didn’t stop them. Didn’t report them.” He paused. “So he took care of it...”
Under the table, my grip around the duck tightened and we finished the rest of lunch in silence.
But later that afternoon, Offensive Magic with Quinn was thankfullyuneventful—no Talen, no blood, no screaming. Just one poor Earth Realm kid who ended up in the healing wing looking like he'd swallowed a volcano.
Unfortunately, I saw Ryven. He was staring at me from across the room, toothpick and his twisted smirk back like he’s gearing up to make me his favourite problem again.
My Threads flared bright, under my skin, but the duck was in my pack and my fingers found it fast, the edge dulled just enough to let me breathe.
I just want to survive long enough for him to get bored and for me to get the hell out of here. Just over three weeks left, that’s all, head down, stay alive, get the journals get out. But if Ryven comes for me again... I don’t know if my magic will stop this time.
“Working meditation?”I whisper to Finn, one brow raised.
He shrugs mid-scrub, like it’s the most reasonable thing to be doing on a Saturday morning. “Yeah. You know, clean the floor, clean your mind.”
I’d hoped the weekend might mean rest, a break, it didn’t. Apparently, we spend it silently scrubbing down the Citadel like that’s supposed to bring enlightenment.
