Emma groaned. “I keep getting into trouble. I thought the attacks would stop once I left home.”
“You were attacked before you came to Arcanea University?” I asked, shocked.
Emma nodded. “Yes. It was a huge black wolven, no wings. It found me in the woods outside my house, back in Detroit. I managed to kill it with my illusion magic. Lady Magdalina said he was sent by the Black Claw. She promised me I’d be safe here, but I guess not.”
This was turning my dinner. Emma had almost been killed once before. But she was all the way in America when the attack happened. Why would someone from the Black Claw want to hurt her? She was an innocent girl that had no ties to any of this. She didn’t even know about our world until it was forced on her.
Emma shrugged. “I don’t know. Lady Magdalina said that the Black Claw sends out assassins to kill unbonded Marked, so that they’ll never mate with their Companions and Malovia will become weaker, and easier to take over.”
That sounded like a bunch of bullshit. It would take far too many resources and too much effort for the Black Claw to be interested in taking out unbonded Marked one by one. They had bigger issues to face here. They wanted her for other reasons.
But I didn’t want to worry Emma, so I said, “Yeah, maybe.”
“Lady Magdalina said you’d bond with someone important,” Odette sang. Emma waved at her to try and get her to shut up.
“Did she?” I leaned in closer, curious. How would Lady Magdalina have any idea of that?
Emma nodded. “She did. Lady Magdalina must know the Phantom personally.”
I suppressed a groan, but Emma caught my look of disgust. “I see that. I don’t care if you don’t believe he’s my mate. We’ve been over this.”
“One thing I don’t get,” Kiara said, interrupting me before I could say anything to Emma, “is how this could be happening at Arcanea University. Security is insane here. It has to be, to prevent monsters from getting in. Lady Magdalina is extremely gifted. Her magic is stronger than anyone else’s in Malovia.”
“Is it?” Emma asked.
“Lady Magdalina is the most powerful sorceress alive,” Delmare said. “The Black Claw is rumored to be terrified of her retaliation. Whoever is committing these crimes is either not afraid of her— which is crazy, because that’s basically suicide— or they’re cocky enough to think that they can get away with it.”
“Which probably means that they’re right under her nose,” Kiara said. “There’s no other way they could get away with all of this, unless they were a student or a teacher. Someone Magdalina trusts.”
Emma sat in silence for a few moments before she said quietly, “I think it’s Lady Korva.”
I nearly choked on my food. “Lady Korva?” I asked in disbelief. “What does she have to do with any of this?”
“It’s clear she doesn’t like me. She accused me of hurting Morgan the moment she got a chance to,” Emma pointed out.
“Yes, but what reason would she have for targeting you?” I asked.
The aura around the table became awkward. Odette looked the other way, while Kiara blushed. Emma didn’t say anything— just stared at me like it was obvious.
Delmare threw her hands up and blurted out, “Oh gods, Ethan. Lady Korva thinks you’re going to pick Emma as your mate for the King’s Contest. Fucking duh.”
“What?” I stuttered. “That… that’s impossible. We could never—”
Emma took my bad cover up as disgust and snapped, “That’s okay, I know you’d never pick me, anyway. Lady Korva sees us hang out a lot, so in her twisted mind, she probably figures that you like me.”
“Yeah, and if you don’t have a mate before the Contest, you can’t compete,” Odette pointed out. “Lady Korva wants her son to win. So if she takes Emma out, her chances of Elijah obtaining the crown get a whole lot better.”
I tried to think quickly as Emma stared me down. To be honest, I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do about the King’s Contest. Yes, I’d found my mate— but she didn’t know, and I wasn’t going to reveal that information to her and put her in more danger than she was already in. She wouldn’t believe me, anyway. She was so wrapped up in the Phantom fantasy that the only way I could prove to her that we were bonded was to blow my secret identity— and I wasn’t about to do that.
At the same time, the Contest was less than two months away. I didn’t have time to keep dawdling around with this decision. Either I had to tell Emma we were bonded, or I had to find another girl to take her place.
The thought made me feel like my guts were being ripped out. Another girl couldn’t take Emma’s place. Not ever. And I didn’t want to live my life with any other queen by my side but her.
I was silent for too long, and Emma sneered, “We all know you’re going to pick Chastity. Why don’t you hurry up and do it?”
“Chastity? My ex?” I said, confused. “I haven’t talked to her in weeks.”
“She’s not going to be your ex for much longer, is she? She’s going to be yourqueen,” Emma snarled.
