I turned and found Eli smirking and quirked a brow. Isabella giggled and smiled when she saw the tall blonde.
“Saryna!”
She smiled at Isabella and gave her a brief hug.
“This is my friend, Anna. She’s the Initiate I was telling you about that won the tournament last week,” Isabella said.
Her eyes flickered to me with new interest. “Right. The one Caelan insisted on training himself.”
Her expression never changed, but her gaze was intense. I looked away first.
She reminded me a lot of my mom—the blue eyes that seemed to peer into your soul, the thick, long blonde hair.
But those traits weren’t that uncommon.
“How do you like Nightfall so far?” she asked.
I nodded awkwardly. “It’s different. I had no idea what to expect. It’s certainly been a journey.”
She smiled politely. “I imagine the tasks are shocking for most. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” I muttered. “Do you know why Caelan wanted to train me? I didn’t realize he’d chosen to do so.”
Saryna’s expression twinkled with curiosity for a moment, but Isabella grabbed her arm.
“Saryna,” Isabella squealed. “Look, Isaac is here!”
She pulled Saryna away, and I gave her a brief smile and subtle wave goodbye.
Every one of the Aurkai I’d met had been odd.
All in their own ways, too. They were like abstract works of art that could be interpreted in any number of ways, but you’d never guess the artist's original intention.
It was all bizarre. Why were they so strange? And whenever I asked them where they were from, no one gave me a straight answer. Roslyn, Blake, Melanie, Caelan, Malakai, and Saryna. All of them were manicured, well-dressed, extremely confident, and yet had dissimilar accents, styles, personalities, and preferences for social exposure. Yet they were all descendants of the original families that created Nightfall. Malakai had made a disparaging comment about Caelan—did that mean their families were at odds?
As if summoned by my thoughts, Malakai strolled past without noticing me, coming from the deeper dungeon corridor. My body stiffened, the intoxicating delirium of his kiss still fresh in my mind.
“Finally,” he said from the other side of a still partially formed stone wall with several pieces having been busted out.
I watched from the shadows, my gaze following his.
It was Blake.
“You know I never come early to these things,” Blake muttered, a smirk on his lips.
Malakai clasped hands with him and leaned in for a brief hug.
“If I can get you to come at all, you mean,” Malakai said. “Sometimes I question if I am your best friend or if it is that piano of yours.”
Blake laughed with a handsome, wry smile and looked away sheepishly.
“I am here,” he said. “And only for you, my friend.”
My chest sank.
They were friends? The image of the raven flashed across my mind. I’d seen it on Blake’s clothing. It was like the symbol I’d seen in The Raven Room. They knew each other from Raven Falls.
Others were crowding around them, but one woman in particular stood out—Melanie. She touched Blake’s arm with one hand, then his cheek with the other, pulling his mouth to hers for a kiss she clearly intended to be deeper than it was. Blake turned away from her with fury all over him. He moved away, putting space between himself and Melanie, but she followed him.
