I stare at him, waiting for him to take it back.
He doesn’t.
“That’s not possible,” I finally say.
“That’s why I prefer steel. It doesn’t change the rules on you.” His gaze doesn’t waver. “Old magic does, and this island is soaked in it. Especially on the Crown.”
A witch who can compel other witches. At this academy.
“Who is it?” I ask.
“That information is classified.” He moves back to the bed, and my heart rate spikes as he sits on the edge, close enough that I can see the individual lines of the crossed swords tattooed onhis back. “No one can know you were on the Crown. If they do, you’re a walking target.”
The threat settles over me, heavy enough to feel in my bones.
I went to a forbidden location. Discovered a secret that could destabilize magical society. Also, my brother is missing.
This can’t be real. Any moment now I’ll wake up in my bed and realize I had too much fire wine at the Halloween Ball, and that none of this ever happened.
As it is, I close my eyes and reach for my heat sensing magic, wanting to test the extent of the Crown’s amplification.
Kieran’s heat signature blazes beside me. His core temperature is elevated, there’s an increased blood flow to his extremities, and his magic boils hot beneath his skin.
Normal. I’ve always been able to sense someone who’s this close to me. Usually that person isn’tKieran Cross,but the principle remains the same.
Curious, I reach further, and it’s like someone turned up the volume on a radio I’d grown used to keeping low.
Heat signatures flare throughout the buildings. Faculty milling around in their quarters. Students beginning to stir. The kitchen staff moving around the dining hall.
Not normal. It’s not anywherecloseto normal.
“Evie,” Kieran says, yanking my focus back into the room. “You can’t tell anyone what you know.”
I open my eyes and find him watching me with an intensity that makes my heart rise into my throat.
“I won’t tell anyone.”
“Not even Jade.”
My stomach twists. Because Jade’s my closest friend here. We’re roommates.
But this knowledge would put her at risk too, and I won’t put her in the same position I unwillingly landed in. One full of secrets and lies and…
Oh, gods. I’m not meant for this.
“Evie,” Kieran repeats, and when I look at him, he’s watching me with so much intensity that I half expect him to produce a blade out of thin air.
“Okay. Not even Jade,” I repeat, the words scraping like glass in my throat.
“Not your family. Not Felix. Nobody.” He leans forward, each inch deliberate, his eyes never leaving mine. “Every person you tell becomes a liability.”
“I understand.”
“Good.” He nods once, sharp and final.
“But by helping me keep this secret, you’re risking yourself too,” I realize. “If anyone finds out that you know I was on the Crown and didn’t report it…”
“I’m aware.”
