LOGINBZZT. Blinding white light abruptly floods my pitch-black bedroom.
I squint at the ceiling. The power grid was supposed to be completely fried by the Blood Moon's magnetic interference. So how...?
Oh.
The guy living on the floor above me has the divine power of the Thunder God. He's acting as a human generator for the building.
My mind instantly runs the numbers, and a spark of cold, competitive jealousy flares in my chest.
How many cr
He looks at me for a moment with an expression I couldn't describe if I tried.Then he pulls me back in, and kisses me properly this time, and there's nothing apologetic about it.His hands are steady now.The gentleness is still there but the uncertainty isn't, and the difference is significant.When he finally pulls back, his breathing has gone uneven at the edges.He holds very still, not moving away but not continuing, and I understand without being told that this is the line he's drawn for himself, not for me.I could push it.But I don't."You lasted about four seconds before kissing me," I say instead. "When you thought I was unconscious. Your self-control is genuinely impressive.""Please stop talking.""I'm complimenting you.""I'm aware." His forehead drops to mine. "It doesn't help."I laugh.His arms tighten once, brief, and then ease.Afterward, I hold up my left hand between us and flex the fingers.Bone. White, articulated, perfectly functional.Where it meets the skin
Hilbert's office door is locked when I get there."Hm?" I tilt my head at Hilbert. "Since when do you lock the office?""I wasn't planning to stay here." He's already holding his keys, and something in his expression is doing something careful and deliberate. "I wanted to show you my place. If that's alright."My sleepiness sharpens into curiosity. I look at him, at the faint warmth sitting high on his cheekbones, and take a quick reading of the situation."Is this the NSFW kind of company or the regular kind?"He blinks. Then, earnestly, "It's more comfortable there. For sleeping."I study his face. Warm, open, slightly flustered at the edges.Pure intentions. Genuinely.It's almost funny how easy he is to read."Fine," I say. "But you have to carry me."I hold my arms out.Hilbert stares at them for a half second, and I watch something in his chest cave completely.He bends down and picks me up without another word, and I tuck my head against his throat and decide this is an accepta
The cafeteria has never been this crowded.Word got out about the milk, obviously.The rationing system sorts itself out by combat ranking, which means my portion is roughly equivalent to a second-year's, and I'm working through it steadily when the first shadow falls across my tray.A very large shadow.Roko, flanked by what appears to be a traveling exhibition of sumo wrestlers, looms over the table.Arlo goes still.Medusa plants one hand flat on the table and looks up at Roko. "What.""Don't worry." I meet Roko's eyes across the table and smile. "He's here for me."The eye contact lasts approximately three seconds, atmosphere thickening nicely, before the cafeteria entrance opens again and a new set of people walk in.Two of them.Identical, down to the last detail—same height, same deep violet hair, same heart-shaped pupils that make you feel like you're being perceived in a way you didn't consent to.They move through the crowd like water finding its level, effortless, parting t
When I hear the soft ping of the terminal at the front of the room, Professor Hilbert is uploading our latest batch of data.He looks from the screen to Arlo, who has once again drifted toward my desk.Hilbert's expression is unreadable, but I know that look. He's already decided Arlo is a distraction. He'll move me soon, probably under the guise of "improving my view".Arlo, blissfully unaware that he's about to lose his seat, leans in close."A lightning rod is too dangerous," he whispers, his voice thick with the kind of reckless ambition that usually gets people killed. "I've decided on a kite. For the storm next Monday."I drop onto the floor to start my daily set of push-ups. "A kite? How very...Franklin of you.""I can hang a key from the end of the line," he continues, dropping down to join me. "It'll channel the strike without being lethal. I need that 1:1 replication of the God of Medicine's experience.""Arlo, sweetie," I say, my voice steady as I hit my twentieth rep, "hav
"These are the bullets Nyla requested for you." Hilbert sets a small case on the desk beside me. "She asked me to pass them along. Also asked me to remind you—not on school grounds."I pick one up and turn it over. "Perfect weight." I glance up. "She couldn't give them to me herself? She has class this afternoon.""She has something else today. I'm covering for her."I'm sitting in his lap, which has become the default position for these between-class windows, and I shift my weight to look at him properly. "Two classes in one day. Will the headmistress pay you double?""It's a favor."He lifts the teacup and holds it to my lips without being asked.I drink.He brings it to his own mouth after, drinking from the same spot, and sets it down with a quiet sound against the wood."The freshman ball is next Friday," he says. "Eighteen hundred hours. I announced it in class this morning.""Will you be there?""To give the opening address.""And to dance?"He smiles, the patient kind. "Openin
The break between classes has quietly become something else.I'm not sure when it happened. Somewhere between the second tutoring session and the third time Hilbert found a reason to walk me to the corridor, it just became understood—this time is ours.Right now I have his hand in mine.He gave it over without hesitation, turned it palm-up in my lap like an offering, and I've been studying it for the last several minutes with the seriousness the subject deserves.It's a good hand. Large, warm, the kind of hand that has never needed to prove anything.No calluses. Which means he rarely fights with weapons.He fights with everything that grows."Well?" Hilbert’s voice is patient, faintly amused. "What does it say?"I trace the longest line across his palm with one finger, slow. "Your love line is very extended, Professor Hilbert." I look up at him through my lashes. "You commit deeply. Singularly."Something moves in those green eyes. He turns his hand over, and his thumb draws a single







