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“Are you here forCrossborn?”I asked her.

“I am, yeah.”

“Me too.” I eyed her. “So, I’m sensing Dark Fae, but the ability you used moments ago was a whole other thing beyond that species’ capability.” I frowned. “I can’t place it.”

“Wraith,” she informed me.

“Wraith? Wow, that’s so rare and special.”

Confusion filled her eyes, like she’d never had that reaction before.

Sadly, it took her a few moments to actually get a handle on it and accept it, before her whole face lit up as it settled with her. “You’re obviously part Incubus. And magic-wielder, right? When I grabbed you, I saw your fingers twitch with the instinctual urge to call your power. Until you obviously read that my intentions weren’t bad.”

“You’ve got it. Incubus-Sorcerer hybrid.”

“That’s really something.”

“Right back at you.” I gestured down the corridor in the distance. “You want to head in? I’m pretty sure the Great Hall is one right turn at the end of this hallway.”

“It definitely is.”

I arched an eyebrow.

“I like to be prepared.”

So, she’d done recon before even coming here? Even for something like this that wasn’t dangerous in the least? Her survival instincts were clearly easily triggered. Something had happened to her, something to—stop analyzing and focus!

Dammit,overhearing that conversation about Ariana had knocked me off track.

The urge to head back to the Academy and report it right away to her, Kai, and Vorzyr was overwhelming. But they wereall in classes. Me suddenly pulling them all away would just invite suspicion. And it wasn’t like we could even discuss this sort of thing while on campus, so we’d have to leave in the middle of classes and basically take off—even more suspicious.

No, I just needed to calm downandfocus on why I’d come here, and what a big deal it was thatCrossbornwas being kicked off today, what a defining moment and turning point it was for hybrid kind.

We walked side-by-side toward the Great Hall, and as we did, the magical lighting overhead flickered with Velra’s every step, haunting whispers echoed.

“Sorry,” she told me. “I can’t always control it.”

“No worries. I get it, believe me. You’re nervous about this, huh?”

“I’m not really a team-player type, but I believe in whatCrossbornis about and what it will work to accomplish, so I agreed to come on board when Warlow Boyd reached out to me.”

“You seem just fine interacting withme.”

The corner of her mouth turned up. “That’s true. Thanks.”

“Just calling it like it is.”

As we reached the doors to the Great Hall, I rounded on her before she could step inside and told her, “Don’t be so hard on yourself. The world already does that to us. We can’t afford to let our own doubts, guilt, and fear pile on.”

She started at my words. “Does that work? Telling yourself that?” Her delivery wasn’t biting or mean as she asked, it was honest curiosity with a whole lot of need, her wanting to be able to entertain a spark of hope, but so cautious about doing so. It was how a lot of hybrid beings were. Something this new team would work toward changing.

“I’ve started to think that way now, yes. It’s my final year at Maven Academy, and I’ve been making changes where that’sconcerned, pushing myself, becoming more accepting of even the more difficult aspects of my hybrid status and abilities.”

“Maven Academy,” she uttered.

There was definitely recognition there, like, beyond the name and the fact that it was a known institution throughout the supernatural world… something personal.

But before I could get into that, a big hand landed on my shoulder, and I spun to see Warlow standing there, smiling out at us.