Page 90 of Nova Academy

‘Shh,’ I reprimanded. ‘Something happened. It’s about Arty.’

He shut up immediately and listened to what I had to say. I told him about the dream, every detail that I could recall. I told him about the surveillance footage from the Entario Waystation docking port, and when I verbalised my suspicions for the first time I knew I sounded absolutely insane, but there was so much relief to hear it spoken aloud and it felt right. I knew I was right.

‘None of that makes any sense,’ he said after mulling over my words. ‘It would explain a lot, but not everything. You said he…glowed?’

‘Blue. Under his skin and behind his eyes. It was definitely there.’

‘But the dream… you don’t honestly believe that’s possible, do you? That he was feeding you information while you were asleep?’

I exhaled roughly through my nose. ‘I don’t know. I don’t have an explanation. I don’t understand what happened, but I do know that itdidhappen. I know what I saw, and he bolted as soon as he realised.’

‘I can’t believe I’m actually entertaining this…’ he mumbled. I had clearly blown his mind with the information overload, but there was still a scepticism underneath his acceptance. ‘We should get confirmation before we come to any concrete conclusions. I don’t want to throw out outlandish accusations without evidence.’

‘I don’t think I’m wrong, but I can see your point. Let’s keep an eye out for anything unusual, see if we can catch him doing it again,’ I told him.

He sighed, clearly torn, but eventually acquiesced. ‘It’s a plan,’ he confirmed. ‘But now I need to actually shower, so get out.’

I stuck out my bottom lip in a pout, the cool air caressing my lip as it poked out from beneath my beard. ‘You sure I can’t stay for the show?’ I teased, but I was only half kidding. I would definitely enjoy it if he said yes, though I knew he wouldn’t before he rejected the offer.

‘Out, Bromm,’ he chuckled.

I obeyed, sending him one last sad look over my shoulder before the door closed in my face. Oh, well. There was always my imagination.

I bumped into Foryk and Cadmus as soon as I re-entered the communal area, and both of them raised their brows at me. There was clearly someone still in the bathroom, the sounds of the shower travelling through the door, which meant they knew I was in there with someone.

‘Arty’s usually done by now,’ Cadmus stated.

‘He was done ages ago,’ I told them, knowing he had showered long before the buzzer went off to wake us up.

‘So who were you just in the shower with?’ he asked, confused.

‘Reece is in there right now,’ I informed them.

Foryk growled, the sound full of disapproval. ‘You won’t get far with Arty if you’re messing around with other guys, Bromm.’

I laughed at the insinuation. ‘Please, Reece is as straight as they come. We were just chatting.’

‘In the bathroom?’

I shrugged. ‘It was a private conversation.’

‘You have private conversations with Reece?’ asked Cadmus at the same time the Foryk exclaimed, ‘Are you replacing me?’

‘Okay, first, why wouldn’t I have private conversations with Reece? We’re friends. And no, I’m not replacing you, Ryk. You’re still my number one.’

He grunted. ‘Good.’

He left to go pick out his clothes for his turn in the shower, and Cadmus took that opportunity to saddle up to me with a sly smile that immediately raised my hackles.

‘You slept on the couch, huh?’ he asked, tipping his chin at the blanket still on the sofa as evidence.

‘Uh, yeah?’

‘Naked?’

I looked down my body to see that I was, indeed, still lacking clothes. I hadn’t even noticed.

‘Uh, yeah.’

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