INICIAR SESIÓNJasper’s POV: We spent the next hour going through everything we had. Lorie’s messages. Darian’s account. The ballroom footage. The names of students who had worked at the ceremony and the staff members who had access to the drinks. Most of it led nowhere. The student assistants had been assigned through the academy’s event office. The drinks had come from an outside supplier, but the compound itself hadn’t been part of the official inventory. Someone had arranged for it to reach Lorie separately. That meant there was another person involved in the supply chain. I rubbed my forehead. “This is getting ridiculous.” Lucien stood behind me, studying the list on the screen. “Who approved the event’s external suppliers?” I scrolled through the records. “There’s the event coordinator, the academy administrator, and someone from the Council’s liaison office.” “Name?” I clicked the document. “Let’s see.” A list of signatures appeared. I scanned the first few names, then stopped. “That
Jasper’s POV:I was beginning to hate secrets. Which was ironic, considering how many I had kept over the years. But there was something particularly unpleasant about knowing someone was deliberately targeting the woman you loved and having to pretend everything was perfectly normal while you figured out who was responsible.Aria wasn’t stupid. Far from it. She’d already noticed the strange behavior between Lucien and me, and judging by the way she’d been watching us lately, she wasn’t going to let it slide for much longer. We needed answers. We needed them quickly.I sat behind the desk in my room, scrolling through the messages we’d managed to recover from Lorie’s phone. There wasn’t much to work with. Whoever Mr. S was, he knew how to keep his identity hidden. No full name, no identifiable number, and no obvious connection to anyone at Ebonveil. Just a collection of carefully worded instructions and brief exchanges.“Make certain she doesn’t become a problem before we are ready.” I
Archer’s POV: The following morning, I was sitting at the edge of my bed when my phone buzzed.A message from Ryker.“Where are you? Training starts in twenty minutes.” I glanced at the clock.I wasn’t going to training. Not yet. I had something else to deal with. The professor had announced the magic trial pairings, and I’d spent most of the evening thinking about one particular name.Aria Veyne….My partner.I’d almost laughed when the professor announced it. Not because I found the situation funny, but because some part of me had been waiting for an excuse to spend time with her again. I’d wanted a reason to approach her that didn’t involve apologizing or asking her to forgive me.Now I had one. The problem was that I had no idea what to do with it. The trials weren’t ordinary classroom exercises. They were designed to push students beyond their comfort zones, testing magical control, combat ability, and cooperation under pressure. Some challenges required physical coordination. Ot
Chapter 90 — The Things I Can’t ResistI hadn’t stopped thinking about the kiss.Four fucking days, and I could still feel her hands gripping my shirt, her fingers twisting into the fabric as she pulled me closer. I could still remember the way she had looked at me when we finally broke apart, her violet eyes wide, her lips swollen from mine, and her breathing uneven.I’d replayed it so many times that I was beginning to lose count. The first time, I’d remembered how surprised she had been when I kissed her. She hadn’t moved at first, and for one terrible second, I’d thought she was going to push me away. Then her hands had found my shirt, and she’d kissed me back with an intensity that nearly brought me to my knees.The second time, I’d remembered the way she’d looked at me afterward. And that was where the memory always turned sour. She’d pulled away. Told me she couldn’t do this right now. Then she’d walked out of that classroom without looking back.I’d wanted to follow her. My wo
Aria’s POV:It had been four days since Archer kissed me. Four days since I’d stood in an empty classroom with my hands twisted into his shirt, kissing him back like I hadn’t spent weeks trying to convince myself I was over him. Four days since I’d walked away feeling like the biggest idiot at Ebonveil Academy.And for four days, I had avoided him like the plague.If I saw him coming down a corridor, I turned around. If he entered the dining hall, I suddenly remembered something important I needed from the other side of the academy. I had even started taking a longer route to my morning classes just to avoid passing the werewolf training grounds.It was exhausting. But not nearly as exhausting as trying to look him in the eyes after what had happened. The worst part was that Archer didn’t seem particularly bothered by my attempts to avoid him. At least, not from what I could tell. Whenever our paths crossed, his green eyes would find mine, and that infuriating little smirk would appea
Aria’s POV:The doctor had finally cleared me to return, though Lucien had made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t particularly happy about it. Jasper had been even worse, following me around my room that morning while listing all the reasons I should spend another day resting.Apparently, recovering from being drugged meant I was expected to remain wrapped in blankets until they both decided I was fit to rejoin the living. I loved them for worrying, but I was beginning to lose my mind.“I’ll be fine,” I assured Jasper as I slipped my books into my bag.“You said that last time,” he replied.“And look how well that turned out.” His expression changed, the humor disappearing from his face.I immediately regretted the words. “Jasper…”He crossed the room and brushed a strand of hair away from my face. “Just be careful, little nightmare. That’s all I’m asking.”Lucien appeared in the doorway, already dressed for class. His amber eyes moved over me, lingering on my face as though checking







