A pause. Slow, echoingknocks— three — from the masked members’ staffs against the floor.
Acceptance.
Lucian steps back toward me, lowering his voice. “Go get cleaned up. And rest. You’ll need it.”
I turn, and as I climb the steps to leave, I catch Jace’s eyes — dark and stormy. Challenge. Intrigue. Maybe even… concern?
Good.
I don’t makeit to breakfast. I barely make it out of bed.
Muscles I didn’t know exist ache. I slept like the dead last night and still feel half buried. But I drag myself into my uniform, pull my hair into a low bun, and shove my sore feet into boots.
Outside my room, the hallway is quiet. I don’t make it five steps before someone is suddenlythere.
“It shouldn’t have been possible. Not for someone like you.”
There it is. The same tone they all use — like I’m still beneath them. A stray dog that has wandered too close to a table hosting a feast.
I tilt my head. “And yet… here I am.”
Is he really going to do this before I can get caffeine?
“Did he help you?” Jace’s eyes narrow to slits.
“Who?” I know exactly who he means, but its fun to poke the bear.
Jace leans in like he can intimidate the truth out of me.
“Lucian. Your dad.” He rolls his eyes. “Did he give you shortcuts? Codes? A back door?”
I stare at him. “Everything I got, I worked for.”
His expression cracks for a heartbeat, just enough for me to see it. The uncertainty.
“You expect me to believe you pulled that off without help?”
I take a slow step toward him, barely an inch between us now.
“I don’t give a damn what you believe, Ravencourt. I did what I needed to do. You can keep circling like a vulture, but it won’t change the fact that I’m alive.”
“For now,” he grits out.
He holds my gaze, something simmering behind his eyes — not anger, exactly. Obsession? Frustration? Intrigue?
I start to walk away.
“You know what I think?” Jace raises his voice. “I think you’re starting to believe the lie that you’re more than what you came from.”
I slowly turn back around.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
He takes a single step closer. Calm, a predatory gleam in his eyes. “It is. When you start thinking you belong here. Like you’re one of us. Like this place won’t chew you up and spit you out the second you slip.”
“Newsflash, Ravencourt. I’ve already been chewed up. This place doesn’t scare me.Youdon’t scare me.”
He studies me, head tilted, like I’m a puzzle with pieces that don’t fit where they should.
