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Alex’s stomach plummeted as she thought again of Lena nullifying D.C.’s gift—and she wondered how she’d never considered the possibility that others were being targeted as well.

“I thought you knew,” Kaiden said. “Without Lena’s interference, Marselle and his supernatural wisdom would have been way ahead of Aven and his plans by now.”

That explained so much. It explained why Darrius was so full of doubt, so concerned for Alex, and so hesitant to speak up amongst the other teachers to force a plan of action. He was used to being guided by his gift, but now he couldn’t even access it.

“I didn’t know,” Alex said quietly. “Who else is Lena targeting?”

“I’m not sure,” Kaiden answered, “but I think a few of the teachers, as well as some of the higher ups in the military. Jeera’s mentioned some Warden friends who haven’t been able to use their abilities for a while now, too.”

“Is she…?”

“She’s fine,” Kaiden assured her. “Lena doesn’t know about Jeera’s gift.”

Alex toed the snow with her boot. “And you? Does Lena—does Aven—know what you can do?”

“Are you kidding?” Kaiden laughed. “At the risk of sounding arrogant, Aven would have tried to Claim me long before now if that were true.”

“But at Sir Oswald’s, Lena nullified you. And Aven—he recognised your name. He knew you were training with Athora.”

“Firstly, Lena was in close range then—her ability acted like a blanket over everyone in that room without her needing to know personal specifics,” Kaiden said. “And secondly, very few people in this world know who Athora is. Those whohaveheard of him tend to believe the rumours that he is highly proficient in the mind arts. That’s true, but Aven is one of a very small list who know there is much more to Athora—more than you or I will ever know.”

Mr. Mystery Man strikes again, Alex thought mildly, wondering if she’d ever learn any of Athora’s secrets.

“But Aven is also condescending enough that, even though he knows exactly the kinds of things Athora might teach a student, he would never imagine Athora would deign to share those things with what Aven considers to be a lowly human.”

“I’m not sure I’m following,” Alex admitted after a pause, sensing there was more.

“My aunt is the commander over the entirety of Medora’s human intelligence and armed forces,” Kaiden said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “From the moment Jeera and I could form coherent thoughts, we were both trained to protect our minds from gift manipulation. To guard our secrets—and any secrets we might overhear deliberately or by accident.”

Alex recalled how Signa had been frustrated when he’d been unable to read Kaiden’s mind, something she’d wondered about at the time but later forgotten.

“The rumours circulating about Athora are, predominantly, that he is the most adept instructor for anyone wanting to learn how to fortify their mental defences,” Kaiden said. “So you’re right—Avenhadheard of me. But since Signa couldn’t read me, Aven concluded that Athora was teaching me how to protect against mental manipulation. He was blinded by his contempt for humans and didn’t once consider that I might be training with Athora for other reasons, as well.”

“So…” Alex summed up what she really wanted to know. “He doesn’t know about you?”

Kaiden chuckled and confirmed, “He doesn’t know about me.”

She nodded once. “Good. Let’s try and keep it that way.”

Drawing his hand from his pocket, Kaiden reached out and curled his arm around Alex’s shoulders, pulling her close and leading her forward along the path once more. “I can promise you that’s my intention.”

“Good,” she somehow managed to utter, despite being wholly distracted by his new, unexpected proximity.

“Do you have any other questions before we freeze to death or reach eavesdropping ears?” Kaiden asked.

Alex struggled to think of anything while she was held so closely against him. Even through their layers of clothing, she felt the comfort of his heat enveloping her. And that smell—how could he possibly smell so good? She was certain she must reek of wood smoke after sitting in front of Athora’s fireplace for the last few hours. Never before had she wished so much for a change of clothes and a bottle of instant shampoo.

“Alex?”

She glanced sideways at him. “Huh?”

Kaiden pressed his lips together in what she knew was an attempt to repress a smile. “Any other questions?” he repeated.

“Oh, uh… No,” she said, somewhat dazed. Then she came to her senses and cried, much louder than was necessary given the lack of distance between them, “Wait! There is something else.”

“You’ve got about thirty seconds before we hit the dorm building,” Kaiden said, and she took that as an invitation to continue.

“A’enara,” she said. “You told me you’d learned something.”