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LUKE

She may not be with me, but I’m aware of her. Aware of her heartbeat. Aware of every breath. Aware of every movement. I want to go to her and claim her over and over again, not caring how many people see. In fact, the more the better.

“Luke?” A knock at my office door interrupts my thoughts.

“Come in,” I call out to Professor Fauna.

She steps inside with a nervous smile and closes the door.

“What is it?” I ask immediately, picking up on the tension.

“I didn’t want to have to come here, Luke. But people are talking.”

“About what?”

“You and Miss Aragon.”

I suppress a growl, my fangs threatening to descend at even the mere mention of her name from another’s lips. “I’m not in the habit of discussing students with other faculty without cause.”

Professor Fauna shifts uncomfortably. “Luke, we’ve known each other for decades. You know I wouldn’t come to you if it weren’t serious.”

“What exactly are people saying?”

“That you’re involved with her. That you’ve been seen with her at odd hours. That you’re... different around her.” She hesitates. “The students are noticing. The staff are noticing.”

I lean back in my chair, forcing my expression to remain neutral despite the territorial rage building inside me. The sire bond makes this conversation physically painful. Every cell in my body rejects the idea of someone questioning my connection to Gaida.

“Miss Aragon is involved in a special project relating to the current situation at the academy. I cannot say any more.”

Fauna raises an eyebrow, clearly not satisfied with my explanation. “Luke, I’ve known you long enough to recognise when you’re not being forthright.”

“I am being as forthright as the situation allows,” I say, my voice dropping to a dangerous register. The bond with Gaida pulses with every beat of my heart, making it difficult to maintain my composure. “There are matters of security at stake that I cannot discuss freely, even with trusted colleagues.”

Her eyes widen slightly at my tone. “This is more than a professional interest, isn’t it?”

I stand, placing my palms flat on the desk to steady myself. “Professor Fauna, I appreciate your concern, but I must ask you to trust my judgement in this matter. Miss Aragon’s role in the current situation is complicated.”

“Complicated enough to risk your position as Headmaster? Your reputation? The academy’s standing?”

“If necessary, yes. MistHallow, its students, and the world beyond here are in danger, Linda. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand the situation, Luke, but that doesn’t stop the rumour mill from working overtime.”

“Then grind it to a halt. There is nothing more to be said.”

“You’re asking me to shut down rumours without giving me anything to counter them with,” she says, frustration evident in her voice. “That’s not how it works, Luke. People need reassurance, especially after the attacks.”

I straighten, adjusting my suit jacket as I attempt to regain my usual composure. “Then reassure them that the Headmaster is doing everything necessary to protect this institution and its students. That is all they need to know for now.”

“And after this crisis passes? What then?”

The question hangs in the air between us. What then, indeed? I cannot imagine a future where Gaida isn’t central to my existence. The bond we share has rewritten everything I thought I knew about myself.

“When this crisis passes,” I say carefully, “there will be many changes at MistHallow. Some visible, some not. But I will address them appropriately when the time comes.”

Linda sighs, recognising the dismissal in my tone. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Luke. For all our sakes.”

As she turns to leave, I feel Gaida’s emotions shift through our bond. A wave of sorrow and responsibility nearly buckles my knees. She’s with the ferals.

She’s in pain, and I can’t stand it.

“That will be all, Linda,” I say, already moving toward the door before she’s fully exited. The moment she’s gone, I lock my office and take the hidden passage that leads to the lower levels. Few know of these secret corridors that honeycomb through MistHallow’s ancient walls.

The bond pulls on me stronger when I draw closer to her, like a compass pointing due north. I enter the lab, my eyes finding her immediately.

She sits on a stool, shoulders slumped, watching the ferals through the glass. Her clothes are damp, her hair hanging in wet strands around her face. The sight of her so defeated ignites something primal in me.

“You’re soaked,” I say, shrugging off my jacket as I approach her.

She doesn’t turn. “I thought you were staying away.”

“I felt you.” I drape my jacket around her shoulders, letting my hands linger longer than necessary. “Your distress.”

“The bond,” she murmurs, finally looking up at me. Her blue eyes are haunted. “I can’t escape it, can I?”

“Do you want to?”

She doesn’t answer immediately, which sends a jolt of anxiety through me that I carefully mask. Instead, she turns back to the glass, where Eliza is rocking back and forth in her chair.

“No,” she finally says. “I don’t want to escape it. But I don’t know how to live with it either. Not yet.”

I step closer, unable to help myself. “It will become easier with time.”

“Will it? Because everything feels so intense right now. Every emotion, every thought.” She glances up at me, vulnerability etched across her features. “When you’re not near me, it’s like part of me is missing.”

“I know.” The confession slips out before I can stop it. “I’ve existed for fifteen hundred years, Gaida, and I’ve never felt anything like this.”

She turns fully toward me now, my jacket engulfing her small frame. “Look at them,” she says, gesturing to the ferals. “All this suffering because of Mashtar. Because of what I am.”

“Not because of you. Never because of you.” I cup her face in my hands, tilting it upward. “You are the solution, not the cause.”

“And the solution requires Felix to die tomorrow night.”

“Temporarily,” I remind her, though I understand her fear. “We will bring him back.”

“Constantine was here earlier.”

“Oh?”

“He was quite helpful. He is easy to talk to.”

I snort in amusement and slight shock. “Is he now? Could’ve fooled me.”

She giggles. “I think so. Maybe because I don’t really know him. He has answers to questions I didn’t know I had. His world, yours and Felix’s world, is so different from here. Maybe that also helps. It’s like he doesn’t really exist.”

“He definitely exists,” I say dryly. “And has caused more than his fair share of chaos.”

She leans slightly into my touch, unconsciously seeking comfort. “He said his wife has multiple husbands. Is that common where you’re from?”

“No,” I say, my thumb brushing her cheek. “Constantine’s family situation is unique, to say the least. His wife is extraordinary, even by our world’s standards.”

“He seems to love her very much.”

“He does. It took them centuries to get it right, though.” I pause, remembering the destruction that had followed their separations. “When they were apart, his world suffered for it.”

“I want us to be like that. Do you think it’s possible to have that kind of love?”

“I think we already do.”

Gaida shivers, and I pull her closer, wrapping my arms around her. Through our bond, I feel her exhaustion, her worry, her fear.

“You need to see Felix.”

“I know. I’m stalling because it’s weird.”

“I get it, but you have to. He won’t have a chance of fooling the sword if you don’t give him your blood.”

“I know. Will you come with me?” she asks.

“If you want me to.”

She nods, then glances back at the ferals one last time. “I hope we do right by them.”

“We can only do our best.”

We leave the lab, my hand at the small of her back, guiding her through the corridors. Linda’s words echo in my mind, but I don’t remove my hand, instead, I pull her closer. In a few months, she will have graduated, and none of this will matter anymore.