Cora leaned against the opposite wall, picking at her nails. “How bad is he?”
“Not bad, surprisingly.” I tipped my head toward the door. “Dimitri, you’re up.”
He brushed a kiss against my temple, then slipped into the office.
The rest of us wandered toward the seating nook and waited.
“It’s weird,” Seth said quietly, flopping into a chair. “We started with ten. Now it’s…what, five?”
“Yeah. We halved,” Ominous muttered.
“Regardless of what we lost, we have to keep going. It’s going to be a good year,” I said. “We’re all on squads now. We get real missions, House Cooperation simulations, and no House-only classes. We’re so close to becoming agents.”
“That’s true.” Cora smiled softly. “I liked the House-only classes, though. Less chance of random idiocy from the other Houses like my squad had last year in House Cooperation.”
“I’ve noticed that they’re phasing out the ones who aren’t cut out for teamwork,” Seth brought up. “That’s why they want us mixing more before graduation. Training us to play nice.”
“Yep,” Ominous agreed. “We lost our fucking healer last year all because one of our enforcers made him go out in a fight. So, Bloodwyne made us use healing potions to make up for it.”
“Ah, I didn’t realize you were in Pops's class,” I said with a small laugh. “Makes sense, though.”
One by one, the advisor door opened and closed again, our housemates disappearing inside and reappearing with varying degrees of annoyance and relief.
We were dismissed back to our House after we’d all talked to Atlas. Cora seemed to deal with him better than I thought she would.
The walk from Apex Nexus back to the House of Twilight felt both heavy and light at the same time.
It was a new year.
Ourfinalyear.
When we got back, I went with Dimitri to greet the second and third years since he was House Head.
By the time Dimitri and I got back to our floor and said goodnight to everyone else, exhaustion had settled in my bones.
Dimitri shut my room door behind us and leaned his forehead against it, letting out a steady breath.
“Tired?” I asked, stripping out of my clothes.
“Being House Head is exhausting,” he complained. “And I’ve only been House Head for two hours.”
I laughed, the sound loosening something tight in my chest.
He turned, letting out an appreciative growl as his red eyes took in the fact that I was naked. “You’re too beautiful for your own good.”
“Same to you,” I purred, climbing into bed and waiting for him.
He stripped down to his boxers, then slid in beside me, pulling me against his chest. “If we didn’t have House Cooperation in the morning, I’d love to take the time to fully enjoy my mate, but…”
“You’re House Head, and you’re responsible,” I finished for him.
“Am I that predictable?” he chuckled.
“Yes,” I teased, kissing his pec.
Then, my phone buzzed on the nightstand.
I groaned as Dimitri reached for it and handed it to me.
