Silver
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I shouted at Confiance and the Dean, tears streaming down my cheeks. “My father swore you to secrecy about my title and you just go sharing it without a second thought? How dare you!”
I staggered to my feet, my vision blurring as the tears kept coming. The room was in shambles. The Dean’s desk was overturned, papers were scattered everywhere, and there was a massive crater where Ash had been standing moments before. The wailing magical sirens outside only made everything feel more chaotic, more wrong.
“Mr. Erestolal,” the Dean started, brushing dust from his suit, “you need to calm down?—”
“Calm down?” I spun on him, my own twilight magic crackling at my fingertips. Purple energy sparked between my fingers, responding to my rage and grief. I’d never shown it on campus before, not until now. “Calm down?! The person I love just disappeared because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut! He’s out there somewhere, hurting and scared, and it’s your fault!”
Confiance stepped forward, her expression maddeningly serene despite the destruction around us. “Your father’s secrecywas meant to protect you, Prince Erestolal. But this situation has escalated beyond the need for such measures. The Elder Council must be informed?—”
“I don’t give a damn about the Elder Council right now!” My voice cracked, and I hated how broken I sounded. “Ash is gone. He disintegrated the silver cuffs and shadow walked, without any control. Do you understand what that means? He could be anywhere! He could be hurt or lost or?—”
Professor Blackwood moved closer, her hand raised in a placating gesture. “Mr. Erestolal, I understand you’re upset, but I can assure you Mr. Vale is fine. His magic is far more under control thanks to my lessons.”
“Without the cuffs, he could slip into another realm,” I shot back, my stomach churning with nausea. “What if he steps into an elemental plane by accident? Or a volcano? Or the bottom of the ocean? It won’t matter how much control he has then, he’ll be dead!”
The reality of what had just happened was starting to sink in, replacing my anger with cold, paralyzing fear. Ash was out there somewhere, alone and hurting, and I had no idea how to find him. The mate bond pulled at my chest, screaming at me to go after him, but I didn’t know which direction to even start.
“His student ID,” Professor Blackwood said suddenly, her eyes widening. “I told him I could track him with it. If he still has it on him?—”
“Then track him!” I demanded. “Now!”
She nodded and pulled out her wand, muttering an incantation under her breath. A small golden compass materialized in her palm, its needle spinning wildly before finally settling on a direction. North. The needle was pointing north.
“He’s moving fast,” she said, her brow furrowing. “Shadow walking repeatedly from the feel of it. He’s not thinking clearly, just running.”
I was already heading for the door before she finished speaking. “I’m going after him.”
“Mr. Erestolal, wait?—”
“No!” I whirled on her, my chest heaving. “I’m not waiting. Every second we stand here arguing is another second Ash is out there alone, thinking I betrayed him. The bond is already screaming at me to go after him. If I don’t—” My voice broke, and I had to swallow hard before continuing. “If I don’t find him, if something happens to him because I was too much of a coward to tell him the truth, I’ll never forgive myself.”
The Dean moved to block the doorway, his expression stern. “You cannot simply leave campus without proper authorization, Mr. Erestolal. There are protocols?—”
“Fuck your protocols!” Purple energy exploded from my hands, crackling up the doorframe. The Dean stumbled back, his eyes wide. “My mate is out there, hurt and alone, because all of you couldn’t keep a simple secret. So, you can either help me find him, or you can get out of my way.”
Confiance’s expression shifted, something almost like respect flickering across her fae features. “Let him go, Thornfield. A severed mate bond at this stage could kill them both. We’ve already seen how volatile their connection is.”
“But the king—” the Dean protested.
“The king will have to understand,” Confiance said firmly.
“The king does NOT understand,” a deep voice said behind me.
I turned on my heel, my jaw dropping open as I saw a dark portal glowing in the hallway only a few feet away. Inside it stood a silhouette, a silver crown atop its head. As I took a step back,my father appeared, stepping out of the portal flanked by two of the royal guards.
“K-King Erestolal,” the Dean stammered. “I… I wasn’t expecting you.”
“And I wasn’t expecting this academy’s wards to fail for a second time this semester,” my father growled in reply. “But here we are.” His gaze alighted over me and Professor Blackwood before settling on Confiance whom he clearly recognized. “Does anyone care to explain why this school and my heir is once again unprotected?” He paused a moment. “Or perhaps you’d like to tell me about this mate bond that I just overheard?”
I felt my blood run cold. Of all the times for my father to show up, this was the absolute worst. The King of the Twilight Realm stood in the destroyed dean’s office of Widdershins Academy, his silver crown gleaming in the flickering light of half-extinguished sconces. His purple skin seemed darker than usual, his silver eyes that were so much like mine, were blazing with barely contained fury.
“Father,” I managed, my voice hoarse. “I can explain?—”
“Explain?” His voice cut through the chaos like a blade. “Explain how you’ve been hiding a mate bond from me? Explain how you’ve endangered yourself and the entire Twilight Realm by forming an attachment to a shadow witch? Or perhaps you’d like to explain why I had to learn about this from an emergency ward breach alert rather than from my own son?”
The royal guards flanked him, their hands resting on their weapons. I recognized them both since they’d trained me in combat when I was younger. Neither would meet my eyes now.
