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Alex strained her memory. “He said, ‘Come, A’enara’, as if he expected something to happen, but it didn’t do anything. That made him a little… angry.”

“How interesting,” Roka said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on?” Alex asked.

They looked at each other before Roka answered, “I’m sorry, Alex, but I don’t think we should talk about this until we have more information.”

“Surprise, surprise,” she mumbled.More secrets.

“It’s for your own protection,” Roka assured her. “If you’re truly capable of wielding A’enara, then the threat you pose to our city—and the threat Aven will consider you to be to him directly—has just increased tenfold. We can’t let anyone else find out about this until we know if our presumptions are correct.”

Alex glanced between them, frowning slightly. “I don’t understand.”

Zain barked out a laugh, diverting her attention to him. “That’s because you’re about to drop dead on your feet.”

She shot him an unimpressed look. “Someonediddrag me out of bed in the middle of the night.”

“And I’m sure that same someone is more than willing to escort you back right now,” Roka said with an indulgent smile. “Unless there’s anything else you want to discuss?”

“Nope,” Alex said. “The only questions I have seem to be ones you can’t answer.”

“Alex—”

“Don’t worry, Roka,” she gently but firmly interrupted. “I get it. Really. And I appreciate you looking out for me, even if I don’t understand why.”

He nodded in acknowledgement and stood, offering her his hand.

“One last thing,” Roka said as he led her to the door. “As you’re aware, Aven’s plans to infiltrate Meya rely on you getting him here through the Library. I was only able to convince the council to let you to remain at Akarnae by assuring them that you wouldn’t open a doorway through to Raelia again.”

Alex couldn’t hide her disappointment. “Are you saying I can’t come back?”

Roka curled his arm around her shoulders. “Of course you can. But until we have a better idea of Aven’s plans, you’ll have to journey here using theValispath.”

“But I can’t access theValispath. Human, remember?”

The prince grinned. “No, but Zain can.”

Alex looked from his brilliant smile to Kyia’s sparkling emerald eyes and Zain’s highly amused expression before she repeated, for the billionth time that night, “I don’t understand.”

Roka chuckled at her confusion and said, “I visited your headmaster earlier in the week. Together we negotiated for Zain to take on the role of teaching assistant in your Combat class. He’ll be accompanying you back to the academy for the time being and acting as a go-between for communication.”

Alex couldn’t hide her dismay. “Please tell me you haven’t assigned me a bodyguard? Not cool, Roka.”

The three Meyarins laughed at her obvious displeasure.

“I have better things to do than babysit a mortal,” Zain said. “You’ll barely see me.”

“Zain’s teaching position will allow him some anonymity while he carries out a different mission objective,” Roka explained. “His true task is to unveil Aven’s plans—or at least attempt as much— and hopefully without gaining my brother’s notice.”

“Oh,” Alex said. “I guess that’s okay.”

“I’m glad you approve,” Zain said, his eyes still laughing at her.

“Sorry if this seems blunt,” Alex said, taking in the massive guard’s appearance, “but how do you plan on keeping your anonymity when you look like you do? You’re kind of like the Incredible Hulk, without the whole pigment issue.” Seeing his baffled look, she clarified, “You’re not built for blending in, if you know what I mean. And like all Meyarins, you’re kind of, um… physically distracting.”

“Aw, does the little human have a crush on me?” Zain teased. “I’m flattered, Alex. Truly.”

Alex scrunched her nose at him. “You’re probably older than the dinosaurs. I’m not too picky when it comes to age, but I’m confident it’d never work out between us.”