Page 7 of Veiled

Starting Track Schedule:

M- Vanguard Training – Vanguard Building

T- Dragon Riding – Riding Field/Classroom

W- Arcane Healing – Infirmary/ Classroom

Th- Ghost Walking – Castle- Room 113

F- Spell Casting – Spell Casting Lab

I read it over and over, but I already know I’ll be referencing my schedule a lot over the next couple weeks.

My stomach growls loudly, echoing off the walls of my mostly empty room. Thankfully, it’s almost time to meet Matt for dinner, so I grab my phone and my map—because getting lost on day one would be beyond humiliating—and head out the door.

Chapter four

Annalise

When I step outside, the clouds above Scion glow with streaks of gold and violet, and the last scraps of the setting sun catch on the spires of the west towers. It smells like rain and smoke, and I can’t help but deeply inhale the intoxicating scent.

Students move through the courtyard in small groups—a handful of Bravo company recruits still in uniform from their track class, others in civilian clothes, headed for the dining hall.

I unfold my map and make a mental note of every building and sign I see, trying to commit each one to memory as I make my way into the castle.

Sitting right in the center on the first floor, the dining hall defies my expectations with its vaulted ceilings, high stone arches, and beautiful stained-glass windows. Scattered throughout the room, there are probably close to a hundred wooden tables, several already filling up with recruits talking over each other.

I scan the crowd for Matt, but my vision is blocked by a tall, broad-shouldered man stepping directly into my path. Unsurprisingly, he’s wearing his usual ice-cold expression as he glowers down at me.

Lucas, my ex-boyfriend from my sophomore year of high school, if you can really call him an ex after only dating for two weeks. That was all it took before I overheard him telling his football buddies he only asked me out because he wanted to take my virginity, and he was scared my dad would kill him if we weren’t officially dating.

I ended our relationship right then, in front of the entire team, and being the six-foot-two blonde god, at our school in the middle of nowhere, my lack of interest in him or his dick was more offense than he could handle. First, he swore up and down I’d misheard him and was overacting, begging me to take him back. When that didn’t work, the switch flipped. He spent the rest of his junior year, all of senior year, and every possible moment since, making up rumors about me, each more ridiculous than the last, and all eaten up by our simple-minded community.

Since graduation, we’ve only interacted when we were forced to at high-class events. His dad, the King-favored prosecutor, and mine, the revered Sheriff, were often invited to the same society functions.

I thanked my lucky stars six months ago when Lucas turned twenty-one and left for Scion, an unfortunate fact I’d forgotten until now.

Looking up at him, I can’t help but be annoyed by the way he’s looking at me, the same malice-filled eyes he’s reserved for me since our relationship ended.

“Tell me, what kind of pathetic person steals from the nicest man ever and then tries to kill him in his own house?”

I’m not sure if the question is directed toward me or his friends standing behind him, talking amongst themselves, but I grace him with my voice nonetheless.

“Aww, Lucas. How sweet you came to welcome me.”

“Ha! The only thing I’d welcome you to is my—”

Before he can finish what I can only assume was a terrible attempt at an insult, a familiar voice interrupts.

“Careful, Lucas. We both know you get…excited…quickly around Lee. Don’t want it to get the better of you in such a public place.” Matt steps in beside me, easy as ever, and drapes an arm over my shoulders.

He knows I can take care of myself, but he’s been itching for a reason, any reason, to deck Lucas since sophomore year. One glance at his loose stance and lopsided grin tells me he’s praying Lucas has finally grown a pair and will swing first.

“Well, look who it is,” Lucas’s lip curls up in irritation.

“Did you need something? Or can you fuck off so we can go eat our dinner?” Matt asks, his bored tone seeping through.

“Oh! I forgot, you were sentenced to service with her. Not quite the romantic getaway you two imagined when you planned to run off together, is it?” Lucas’s gaze flicks to me as he mutters, “At least you finally let him have a taste after stringing him along for so long.”