“No,” I said quickly. “You know what she’ll be like.” I gave him a pleading look.
He sighed. “Ellis and Timothy’s friends aren’t the only ones to have noticed you, Aria.” He caught my look of surprise and shook his head. “Harvey and my friends have made commentsover the years, too. But you’ve always been too focused on studying to notice any of them.”
I continued to regard him skeptically, but he merely shook his head. “I’m just saying I’m not surprised you’ve caught the eye of this mage boy. That doesn’t mean I like it, though. He may be mageborn, but that doesn’t give him the right to mess with you—whiling away his summer with flirtation and then dropping you cold once his studies resume.”
“It’s not like that,” I assured him. “We don’t do anything but study. And eat,” I added conscientiously. “Obviously we also have to eat sometimes. I’ve made so much progress with my reading and writing. I swear Zak’s never even tried to hold my hand.”
One of Anson’s brows shot up. “Zak?”
I bit my lip at my slip-up, but I didn’t break eye contact, not giving an inch.
He sighed again, capitulating to my beseeching expression. “Fine. I won’t say anything. But I hope you know what you’re doing, Aria.”
I grinned. “You always were my favorite brother, Anson!”
“Ha! I heard you telling Timothy the same thing only last week.”
I gave him a quick squeeze. “I have a very flexible mind.”
I raced out of the alley, wanting to be on my way before he could change his mind. But I slowed down as soon as I was out of sight, my thoughts heavy. Anson’s words had reminded me just how dangerous it was to allow myself foolish hope. I needed to focus on my studies for the last weeks of the summer and nothing else.
When I ran into Zak several streets away from the office of sealed affairs, I couldn’t greet him with my usual cheer. Constraint gripped me, and it put me on edge. I hated the loss of our old ease.
For his part, he greeted me as usual, falling into step beside me as we made our way toward our shared destination. But as we passed a dark side alley, he took a sudden turn, pulling me after him.
“Let’s go this way,” he said. “We haven’t walked this route yet.”
“That’s because it stinks,” I said testily, eyeing a questionable pile against a side wall.
I glanced back at the street we had just left, trying to spot the reason for his sudden change of direction. It was completely empty.
I came to an abrupt stop, my frustration spilling over. I couldn’t bring up the true source of my discomfort, so it had latched on to a new target instead.
“What in the kingdom is going on, Zak? The street’s completely empty! There’s no one to avoid, so why are we ducking down a stinky alley?”
Zak had stopped several steps further on, taken by surprise, but he returned to me in two quick strides at my words. “That’s what you thought I was doing?” he demanded.
I shrugged, regretting my momentary loss of control. “I figured you were avoiding someone you knew. It’s not a big deal.”
Zak took a step back, his brows knit. “If that were true, it would definitely be a big deal, Aria. Why didn’t you say anything? Have you been thinking that all this time?”
He seemed genuinely distressed at my assumption, but if it hadn’t been for that reason, I couldn’t think of any other.
“If not that, then why?” I asked. “Are you some secret inspector, tasked with inspecting every back alley of Corrin?” I tried to make my words light and amused, but my tone fell flat.
“I—” Zak looked away, running a hand through his hair. He groaned. “I was trying to lure out the Shrouded Killer. You saidonce that I fit the profile of his victims, and I agree. I thought that if I came to his notice, he might choose me as his next target.”
“WHAT?!” I shouted so loudly that two startled birds took flight from the next alley over. I lowered my voice. “You’ve been doingwhat?”
He grimaced guiltily, and I shook my head. “No, wait. Not here.” Grabbing his arm, I towed him behind me at my fastest walk, hustling us both into the office of sealed affairs and into the first empty study room I found. Closing the door firmly behind us, I turned to face him, my arms crossed.
I still remembered how he had responded when I told him he looked like one of the Shrouded Mage’s victims. He had seemed pleased and excited, which had confused me at the time, although I hadn’t thought of it since. What in the kingdom was going on in his brain?
He watched me, his expression chagrined. And when I didn’t immediately speak, he filled the silence.
“I wasn’t planning to say anything about it. But if you’ve been thinking I’m ashamed to be seen with you…I never want you to think that, Aria.”
“Do you think this is a better option?” I asked, outraged. “I’d far rather you be ashamed of me than find out you’re trying to become the next victim of a serial killer. That’s the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard. And it doesn’t even make sense. They already caught the Shrouded Mage and sealed him. I was there myself! And given how many people he killed, he must have been given a life sentence on top of his sealing. He’s currently sitting in a cell somewhere.”
