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Lord would be so deeply disappointed with me.

Wolf’s hand fell on my thigh and squeezed gently. I snapped my head in his direction, too surprised by the gentleness of the gesture to stop myself, and I raised my eyebrow in question.

He winked, which confused me even more.

But then my eyes landed on Lanson, who still stared at me, only now his eyes were looking at Wolf’s hand on my thigh.

Now it was his turn to flush red.

Good.He’s the one who should be angry. He’s the one who should hate himself, who should be ashamed of his actions.

Fuck him.

As soon as Lanson looked away, Wolf removed his hand. My stomach dipped, causing me a rush of emotion I couldn’t begin to decipher.

But in the midst of it all, I even thought I had heard Wolf muffle a laugh, too.

Chapter

Twenty-Three

By the time our magic lesson ended for lunch, I forgot all about Lanson and his betrayal.

It was time for me to refocus, to lock in on what was really important.

Lanson was nothing but a distraction. Without him, I had a chance of learning my magic. I had a chance of getting stronger, at preparing even more for the Transcendent.

It was time to make Lord proud.

I didn’t realize Wolf had been walking behind me until his hand fell on my lower back. “This way,” he whispered in my ear, close enough that his breath tickled the skin on my neck. “We have different lunch plans today, Huntress.”

He sped up and turned down the next hallway, opposite the rest of the students. He led me away from Ashlani and Voiler, who would no doubt be waiting in the dining hall. But I didn’t have much of a choice, and a few seconds later, I was following him down that same hallway.

We walked through a maze of different corridors, ones I was certain I had never been down before, until he pushed open a pair of old doors that led outside.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Wolf turned and held his hands out, a smile flickering on his face. “This is your new classroom,” he announced.

I took in the surroundings. Once I had fully pushed through the door, I realized we weren’t out of the castle—not really.

Wolf managed to find another small courtyard, one that was still contained within the four stone walls but was much smaller than the courtyard we had been training in with the rest of the students.

This area was not pristine and perfectly groomed like the rest of the castle. An overgrown garden lingered in the far corner, and the grass in the back had grown taller. I could tell nobody had been in here for a while. The tall white walls were now coated in crawling vines and a thin layer of dirt.

I preferred it over the rest of the castle. It was natural and unkept, reminding me of Midgrave.

“My new classroom?” I repeated.

“This is where I’ll be training you,” he said. “Clearly, you aren’t able to train like you would if you were alone. Too many prying apprentice eyes with your big secret.”

I sighed and dropped my bag against the wall. “So, you’re my teacher now? I mean this in the nicest way possible, but are you qualified for that? Maybe we should find a tutor who—”

“First, you didn’t even try to be nice. Second, unless you want even more people to know your little secret about being a trained vampyre assassin back in Midgrave, I’m all you have. And yes, I am qualified.”

I put both hands on my hips, waiting for more.

Wolf stared back at me with those light eyes that I was finding less and less terrifying.