Page 60 of Secrets and Shadows

My hand itches to reach out and touch him, to assure myself that he’s real, but I don’t. Instead, I want to retreat to my room and bury myself under the covers until tomorrow morning. Ineed a do-over. This is all too much. But one question still needs to be answered before I do.

“Will you tell the headmistress about this?”

Kai doesn’t answer, simply shaking his head, dragging out the silence even longer.

I clear my throat, trying to break the tension. “So… what now?”

Kai’s gaze flicks up toward the remaining five hundred or so steps we still have to climb. “I’ll take you back to your room.”

“Can’t you use your shadow abilities to make these stairs go faster?” I huff, gesturing toward the seemingly endless stone steps. Exhaustion is now hitting me after another terrifying encounter with the dark entity of the forest. So, the idea of climbing more steps is… ugh.

“I prefer to save my powers for more life-threatening situations. And with you, those seem to happen quite often.” He can’t hide a slight twitch in his cheek, but he manages to keep most of his expression neutral. Is he trying not to smile?

I let out a groan. “Fine.”

Grumbling under my breath, I start climbing the stairs, still convinced he could make this night easier with his abilities since he seems to use them pretty constantly when stalking me. But nothing is ever simple, and it seems my fated mate is no exception.

Twenty-Three

LILITH

Kai quickly leadsme to my room, saying nothing else, but his presence comforting beside me. He excuses himself with a nod, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts.

Before I even have a chance to settle in and process the whirlwind of emotions from earlier, there’s a sharp knock on my door. My gut instinct tells me it’ll either be Simon or Vaughn—or maybe both. Given how closely the three of them are tied together, I wouldn’t be surprised if they already knew what happened.

However, when I open the door, I’m taken aback to find Headmistress Bennett standing outside. A small crow perches on her shoulder, its beady eyes fixed on me with an unsettling intensity that sends a shiver crawling down my spine. The air thickens, a warning whispering through my veins that something is wrong.

“Headmistress Bennett,” I manage to say, and my voice is steadier than I feel. “What brings you to my room?”

“May I come in?” Headmistress Bennett asks, her voice smooth with authority, though the coldness of her expression makes it clear that declining isn’t really an option. I’m sureshe has more important things to do than visit students in the dorms. This can’t be good.

But I nod and step aside to let her enter my room. The moment the door clicks shut behind us, I can feel the weight of her gaze, and it sinks in: I’m in trouble. A lot of it.

“I’ve been notified you went into the forest on your own,” she begins, her tone clipped and unwavering. “You do understand that such actions without proper authorization can result in suspension, do you not?”

I’m once again baffled at how fast information travels within the walls of the academy. I literally just got in the door. And there’s no way Kai had any time to go report it. And he said he wouldn’t, anyway, and I believe him. The bond wouldn’t let him betray me, would it?

I hide my surprise and nod again, the gravity of her words settling heavily in my chest. It’s one of the first rules drilled into us when he first arrived at the academy—students in their first two years are strictly forbidden from entering the forest without supervision. But for me, that wasn’t an option. No one would’ve allowed me to search for the answers I so desperately needed. But I should’ve been more careful.

Shit.

“I apologize,” I say softly, my voice barely above a whisper. “But I have so many unanswered questions. I felt I had to take action, even if it wasn’t the wisest decision. I couldn’t keep sitting idly by.”

As I speak, a nagging thought lingers in the back of my mind: How much does she know? Is she aware that Kai was there with me? Or what the darkness told me?

“And did you find any of the answers you seek?” she inquires, her gaze sharpening.

The words spoken by the Darkness echo hauntingly in my mind, but I struggle to push them away. They can’t be true.Deep within my soul, I know I’m not evil; all I want is to serve this realm with honor, like my father. But the fear grips me, preventing me from saying any of this out loud. What if it sounds like something an evil person would say?

“Unfortunately, no,” I lie, the knot in my throat tightening. “I was attacked again, but I managed to escape. Will I be suspended?” I leave out the fact that I had help.

Headmistress Bennett lets out a heavy sigh, her expression unreadable as always. I can’t figure out whether she’s angry or indifferent. “For now, no. But I’m especially glad Kai was there to help.”

My heart sinks at her words, a sharp sense of betrayal eating at my stomach, which makes my bond with Kai hum weirdly. Now that I know it’s there, I can’t ignore it. I’m surprised I hadn’t realized what it was before today. “Kai told you?” I try to keep my voice steady, but I know she can hear the shock in it. He said he wouldn’t—

“No, he didn’t tell me this,” she clarifies, taking a seat in the chair in front of my desk. She gestures for me to sit on my bed, as if bracing for a long conversation. Reluctantly, I make my way back and sit down, clasping my hands together tightly to hide the shaking that might tell her I’m more nervous than I seem.

Headmistress Bennett straightens the deep purple blouse with leather detailing before continuing. “He’s not in trouble either, as I specifically asked him to keep an eye on you.”

---