Page 38

POLARIS

“ I still feel like there’s time for morning sex,” Wylder states as he adjusts the collar on his polo shirt, and I roll my eyes at him through the reflection of the mirror.

“I mean, there’s always time for morning sex, but Minnie is on the other side of the door waiting for us,” I clarify, and he sighs, sidestepping so he’s directly behind me, hands making their way to my waist. He squeezes and I groan.

“If you knew how to be quiet, that wouldn’t be an issue,” he breathes against my ear with a smug grin curling his lips, and I turn to face him with my best attempt at a pointed look, despite finding him amusing.

“Carry on and you don’t get to hear me ever again,” I warn, and he darts back, palms up in the air in surrender.

“I’ll shut up,” he promises, and I can’t hold back my smile any longer.

“What a good idea,” I muse with a wink, and he snatches me up before I can take a breath, pinning me to his chest as he wraps me in a warm embrace.

Linking my arms around his neck, I squeeze him tight.

“I like you,” he mutters against my ear and I grin, feeling the familiar heat of blush on my cheeks.

“I like you too,” I repeat, the exact words he’s said to me repeatedly since last night.

He all but carried me back, and faithful to their promises, the wolves refused to leave me unattended. Lucky for Wylder, he chose last night and I fell asleep against his chest like there were no worries in the world.

All too quickly, he presses a kiss to the crown of my head before placing me back on my feet. Another knock sounds from the door and he cuts across the distance to swing it open. But as he curls his hand around the door handle, he pauses, glancing back at me.

“Where did the chalice go?” he asks, and I point toward my armoire.

“Oh, I moved it when Blaze came. I panicked,” I ramble, still unsure whether it was the right decision to make or not.

“But you think he should know,” Wylder states, speaking my thoughts, and I nod.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t entirely my thing to tell, so I didn’t.”

He smiles in understanding. “Soon,” he confirms, waving me closer, and the second I’m at his side, he presses another kiss on my head before swinging the door open.

“Thank God. I thought I was going to be sick having to listen to you two do… whatever you two do,” Minnie grumbles, waving a hand at us, and I snicker.

“Luckily for you guys, everyone else is waiting downstairs,” she offers, heading for the stairs.

When she reaches the top and we still haven’t moved, she looks back at us with a pointed look. “Now!”

Wylder chuckles, slinking an arm around my shoulders as he tugs me toward the stairs. We make it down the steps and outside quickly, where Asher, Tatum, Lincoln, and Bryony are waiting for us.

Tatum smiles at me in the sweet way only he can, melting any worries that settle in my soul, while Asher cocks a brow at us, amusement dancing across his features, leaving Lincoln to launch two pastries through the air.

Thankfully, Wylder catches both of them, handing the cinnamon roll off to me without a word.

“Thank you,” I mutter, but it’s lost to Wylder’s grumbling.

“I’m going to need more than this, Alpha,” he states, and Lincoln rolls his eyes, taking off toward the main academy building with the others.

“Well, you should have thought of that before you slept in,” he retorts, peering over his shoulder, and Wylder frowns.

“Why? There’s plenty of time before our first class,” he exclaims, and Lincoln shakes his head, but it’s Tatum who offers further explanation.

“There’s another assembly,” he states, and I freeze, cinnamon roll poised at my lips as my legs stop working.

Tatum sees the panic that radiates through me and stops walking to give me his full attention.

“Don’t worry, there won’t be any fighting this time,” he explains, and I nod, lowering my pastry as I fall back into step with everyone.

“But what about the other students who ran?” I ask, acutely aware that not everyone broke their blood-kin bond when the carnage unraveled in the assembly hall.

“Oh, that could happen any time.” Bryony offers a weak shrug to try and ease the brutal reality, and my eyes widen. “I’m surprised you haven’t seen it already,” she adds, and I gulp, my nerves getting the better of me.

I walk the rest of the way in silence, listening to the light conversation transpiring between the others, but I’m too locked in my mind to partake.

Florentine’s was awful, but at least their purpose was to keep us alive so I didn’t have to witness death. Not like here. Watching V die, then Declan, it was a lot. But knowing there’s more to come, one possibly at my own hands… it’s overwhelming, and I’m right back to feeling imposter syndrome.

I’m struggling to feel confident enough or strong enough to survive this place. Every time I take two steps forward, I feel like I wind up taking five more back.

Thankful that no one calls me out for being quiet, I manage to eat my cinnamon roll and enter the assembly hall without puking.

Bryony links her arm through mine as I stare around the room, seeing it in its usual arrangement once again.

She spies Foster in the back row of the witches’ section and takes the spot beside him.

I don’t bother acknowledging him today. He never seems to think I exist, and I don’t have the mental capacity this morning now that we’re back here.

“Do we have any idea what the assembly is about?” Bryony asks, looking to Foster for answers, and he shakes his head.

“Nothing for sure, but there have been a few murmurs that it’s about blood kins,” he offers, and my stomach twists with panic. My gaze snaps to the spot above the entryway, remembering the man from yesterday, but the balcony has disappeared, the man I could have sworn I knew along with it.

Looking around the room, I note that bodies fill every seat, but before I can spot the wolves or Blaze, Professor Whitmore takes center stage, garnering everyone’s attention.

“Good morning, students. Thank you for joining me before classes begin. After the last declarations of blood kin bonds, we decided a new approach may be less… feral,” he explains, thankfully getting straight to the point, but it does nothing to alleviate my panic.

“Feral? It’s always like that,” Bryony whispers, offering me a tight smile, but I don’t know what to say. I wouldn’t know; it’s the only one I’ve experienced.

“With that in mind, we have decided to proceed as follows. We shall announce the next round of blood kins in a few short moments. From there, we will take seven days before we announce the pairings. When it comes time to announce them, it will take place in this hall as always, but instead of all at once, causing such disarray, each pairing will be declared one at a time. A thirty-second window will be offered to see how the students would like to respond to the knowledge before the next pairing is called. The curse will act as always. The countdown is no different, the symbols unchanged, simply revealed with more decorum. I’ll assume there are no further questions, but it is with the utmost importance that you remember to conduct yourselves responsibly.

Understood?” He doesn’t wait around for an answer, clapping his hands together.

“Now, for the names, are you ready?” His smile shouldn’t be so wide when announcing someone’s impending doom, but I don’t say a word as my hands ball into fists in my lap.

Bryony places her hand down on top of mine and I quickly hold on to hers, trying to offer her comfort, too, as Professor Whitmore begins reading names off a sheet.

“From the humans, we have Letti Gold, Destiny Chambers, and Benjamin Nichol. The vampires called upon are Sian Tillman and Blaze Williams.” My gaze darts across to the vampires, but I still can’t see him.

My heart races wildly in my chest, the usual pull I feel toward him wavering with the panic taking root.

I’m sure I’m going to stop breathing. “Wolves, we have Lincoln James, Minnie James, Bianca Diamond, and Dylan Daniels. Leaving the remaining three students to be witches.” My face pulses with every word he says, the mention of Minnie and Lincoln making both Bryony and I squeeze each other’s hands even tighter.

I’m going to be sick.

“And those three witches are Foster Graham, Bryony Tanner, and Polaris Beauchamp.”

My hand claps over my mouth, bile burning up my throat as my pulse echoes in my ears, making it impossible for me to hear anything else the professor has to say.

Bryony’s hold on my hand doesn’t waver as I close my eyes, blocking out the world.

I sense people moving after a few minutes, but I can’t bring myself to join them. All I can think about is the fact that my time has come. I can’t even recall when my damn birthday is. Is it now? Is it soon? Why? How?

My blood kin has gone from being anyone in the world while I was at Florentine’s, to someone in this academy, and now, it’s one of eleven people, eight of which I know.

I can’t take it. My heart can’t take it.

None of this is fair.

Tears prick the back of my eyelids. I can’t hide the pain I’m struggling with.

Only when a set of hands land on my knees do I know it’s not just Bryony and me anymore. Another hand strokes down my cheek, dampness beneath their touch, and I know a few of my tears have fallen.

I can’t imagine what I look like at this moment, but I can’t bring myself to care about it more than the facts that have just been declared.

“Amica Mea, I need you to look at me.”

Blaze.

I shake my head, refusing to open my eyes, and he curses. “Someone get the fucking bracelet off her wrist, now,” he snarls.

“Like hell, who knows what you’ll do to her,” Lincoln snaps back, and Blaze snickers, but there’s no humor to the sound.

“You’re standing right here with me, asshole. It can go right back on once I’m done,” Blaze grunts, the hands on my knees rubbing back and forth soothingly.