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“Howdidyou find me? I couldn’t see anything in that darkness.”

Kaiden hesitated, but then said, “I’ve told you before I have pretty good intuition. Plus, it wasn’t hard to hear your struggle with Aven.”

“About him…” Alex trailed off awkwardly. She drew a breath and said, “He’s not someone you want to go around talking about.”

“I’m not stupid, Alex,” Kaiden said. “Aven Dalmarta isn’t someone I’d choose to have as an adversary. Unlike you, apparently.”

“That particular decision was out of my hands,” Alex huffed as she pushed a branch away from her face. “He’s been after me since the first day I arrived in—”

She stopped speaking, having almost said way too much. She mentally replayed her words and was relieved to note that she hadn’t given away anything too incriminating. But then Kaiden’s statement fully registered, and she asked, “How do you know his full name?”

Kaiden didn’t answer immediately, but Alex refused to break the silence or change the topic. When they were safely out of the gardens and heading up the hill he explained.

“I’ve never seen him before, but tonight wasn’t the first time I’ve heard of Aven. I know who he is, where he comes from and why he’s no longer a prince of Meya. I also know what it’ll mean if he makes it back there. What Idon’tknow is where you fit into the picture, and why Aven believes you can ‘escort’ him to Meya. Last I heard, the city was impossible to locate.”

She bit her cheek and avoided eye contact, even when she felt him waiting for a response.

“I also have no idea how you managed to fight like that,” Kaiden pressed. “I’ve never seen a human move so fast.” When she still didn’t speak, he added, “Alex, I’ve gone up against you in class and I’ve watched you fight others, but you’ve never shown anything close to the skill you demonstrated tonight. You held your own against aMeyarin. That shouldn’t have been possible.”

“Guess I’m just full of surprises,” Alex said, trying to make a joke of it but failing miserably.

“You saved my life tonight,” Kaiden said quietly. “I’m not going to force you to tell me anything, and I’ll make sure Declan doesn’t either. But you have to know that I’m… concerned.I was worried when I thought you had Marcus Sparker on your tail, but Aven Dalmarta…”

Kaiden trailed off into a sigh. He stopped walking and reached out for Alex’s hand, halting her beside him. Looking straight into her eyes, he said, “Just promise me that if you ever need help, you’ll ask.”

Alex kept her gaze locked on his. She couldn’t escape the emotions pouring out of him. Above everything else, she could see how much he wanted her to trust him.

“I promise,” she whispered. And she meant it. But only as a last resort. She would never willingly drag him or anyone else into the mess that had become her life.

He continued looking at her for a moment longer and then nodded, apparently satisfied she was telling the truth. He dropped her hand and she immediately felt a sense of loss at the broken contact, absurd as that was.

“We should keep moving,” he said. “I’m sure the others will be worrying about us.”

They hurried up the hill in silence, careful with their footing as the light from the mansion faded with every step. Only when they were near the meeting place did Kaiden speak again.

“I’m not sure if you realised in the middle of all that, but your weapon disappeared after it knocked the telekinetic woman to the floor,” he said. “It just vanished into the air. What’s the deal with that

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Alex said. “It’s happened three times now. It just appears when I need it and disappears again afterwards.”

“Aven called it ‘A’enara’,” Kaiden mused. “I’ll see if I can find out anything about it once we’re back at the academy, if you want?”

Alex didn’t need to think about his offer. “That would actually be really good; I wouldn’t even know where to begin looking.”

“Consider it done,” he said. “I’ll let you know if I discover anything.”

“Thanks, Kaiden.” She sent him a soft smile. “Oh, and thanks for, you know, rescuing me. I don’t think I would’ve made it out of there if you hadn’t come back. But I’m sorry you had to carry me—I’m surprised you didn’t break your back.”

Kaiden laughed. “You weigh practically nothing, Alex. I’ve carried much heavier things in Finn’s class. I’d choose you any day.”

Alex was glad the darkness kept him from seeing her reaction to his statement. ‘I’d choose you any day.’ Maybe she was taking his words out of context, but so what?

“How did you get me away from Aven, anyway?” she asked, deliberately moving her thoughts along.

“I used this,” he said, pulling from his belt the silver Stabiliser he must have stolen back from Calista.

“Youshothim?”

“It didn’t do much good,” Kaiden admitted. “He was barely jolted, when most people would’ve been out like a light. But it was enough to shock him into releasing you, which gave me the chance I needed to get you out of there.”