“I took notes for you,” he says without looking up. Then he drags his book bag closer and pulls out a spiral-bound notebook. “Are you okay? I heard your magic…went out of control.”
I wince. “Is that what they’re saying?”
He rubs the back of his neck and nods. “Yeah.”
I lean back in my chair and sigh. “Great. So I’m the unstablehumanwith mystery magic. Love that for me.”
“I don’t think anyone’s saying that exactly,” he offers gently.
I rest my chin on my hand. “It just feels like…I’ve got this Veilbind, but it didn't help. Like I’m trying to control something that was never meant to be mine. Maybe a human having magic really is against some cosmic rule, and I’m being punished.”
He reaches for me, his hand covering mine. “You’re not being punished. You’re just learning. And I’ve been researching…” His voice lowers, like he’s letting me in on some secret. “I think you must have Fae somewhere in your bloodline or a latent shifter. Only Fae and Shifters form that strong of a connection with the Veil.”
My eyebrows rise. “You think I’m part Fae or a shifter?”
He nods, pushing up his glasses. “But… uh… they’re usually from noble bloodlines. Like Raiden’s.”
Of course. Raiden, the golden Veil-favored wonder boy. I sigh again, softer this time. “Well, if I’ve got any noble blood, it must’ve gotten lost in transit.”
Nolan smiles faintly, but then his expression shifts, eyes flicking over my shoulder toward the far end of the library.
“Do you hear that?” he murmurs.
I go still. There, just beyond the end of our aisle, two voices, low and cold, slip through the quiet like knives.
“…doesn’t belong here. I don’t care what the Headmaster says.”
“Too dangerous. Too unpredictable.”
Nolan stiffens beside me. “They’re talking about you.”
I nod once, jaw tightening.
“She’s already drawing attention. Someone needs to control her, and the Fang failed. So it's our turn. The Circle is meeting later.”
Nolan's fingers curl around the edge of his book. “That’s not good.”
“No kidding,” I whisper. My stomach churns. What the fuck is The Circle? And why are they meeting about me? I don’t evenknow what that means, but it sounds like something I should be afraid of.
He leans slightly, lowering his voice further. “I can try to find out which Bloods they are. Discreetly. If you want.”
I glance at him, heart twisting. Nolan’s not a fighter. He’s not someone who thrives on intrigue or confrontation. But he’s still willing to stick his neck out for me.
“Not yet,” I murmur. “Let’s not poke anything we don’t understand. And I already know trusting a Blood is a bad idea.”
He nods, but the tension in his shoulders doesn’t ease.
The voices fade, footsteps retreating down another aisle. The moment stretches long and uneasy. And then the door creaks open again, and the library's atmosphere shifts in a different way entirely.
Auron steps inside like he owns the place—tall, regal, quiet. His pale eyes sweep the room, pausing just a beat too long when they land on me.
“Why is he coming over here?” Nolan’s tone is tight, eyes following Auron’s every move.
I glance at him, then back at Auron, who’s making a straight path toward our table. I don’t answer. I can’t. Auron’s already closing the distance between us with the kind of confidence that says he doesn’t just belong here—he owns the air we’re breathing.
He stops on the other side of the table, and for a moment, he just stands there. Silent. Watching me. Not a single glance spared for Nolan. I don’t like how he ignores my friends.
“Lindsay,” he says smoothly, like it’s a greeting we’ve exchanged a hundred times instead of the first word he’s spoken directly to me that didn't sound like an insult. “We should talk.”
