Page 38 of Of Shadow and Moon

Nasarea's eyes flash, and I can see her fists clenching at her sides as she steps closer until we are practically nose to nose.

I glare at her, my face hot with anger, but instead of giving her the satisfaction of a retort, I grab my towel and head toward the small bathroom, slamming the door shut.

I lean against the door, panting, trying to regain my composure. Nasarea's right about one thing, anyway. I am hiding something. Multiple things really. But she'll never know what.

I take a step into the shower, letting cool water wash away the remnants of orange juice, and some of the tension. But no amount of water could wash away bitterness, anger, or that constant feeling that I didn't belong here.

I'm much calmer, though still on edge, when I'm done. I towel off and throw on fresh clothes, dreading having to go out and face Nasarea again. But I am not going to hide in here.

I walk back into the room fully prepared for yet another snide comment, but Nasarea only looks at me, then goes back to her book like nothing happened.

I look out the window, and I can see clouds across the sky, lazily making their way across. Part of me still envies that peace I see in others, the friendships, the normalcy. But a greater part of me knows better. I am not normal. I never was, and I never will be.

Chapter 23

Selestina

The cool night air makes me shiver as I step outside the academy walls, my senses attuned to every sound. It's late, too late to be wandering around alone, but I need the quiet, the solitude. It's the only time I can let my guard down, even for just a moment. The academy feels too suffocating lately, like the walls are closing in.

I wrap my arms around myself, looking up at the night sky, my mind racing in a hundred directions. Alexander's orders. The princes. The shadows. My murder. Which is sounding more and more like it is actually a possibility and not just the coroner's mistake. It feels like everything is reaching a breaking point, and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold it all together.

But as I move across the courtyard, something seems wrong.

I stop, my heart slowing as I listen, my body already racing into survival mode. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle as I feel eyes on me. I turn, scanning, but there's nothing. No one.

Except…there. A shadow stirs, slipping from the trees near the edge of the courtyard.

I tense, my hand instinctively going to the dagger hidden beneath my cloak. I wait for them to attack. Let them have the first move.

Out of the darkness steps Eztli Moreno. His eyes are wild, his face pale in the moonlight, and there is something off in the way he's moving. Unhinged. Manic.

“Selestina,” he snaps, a crazed grin spreading across his face as he stalks toward me. “You thought you could hide. Thought you could fool everyone, didn't you? But I know. I know who you are.”

I freeze, my blood going cold. I don't move, don't breathe. “What the hell are you talking about?” I say, voice low, cautious.

My mind's screaming at me while doing everything to keep my face a blank mask.

He laughs, the sound shrill and unhinged. “Don't play dumb with me. We know exactly who you are. You're not just some nobody human.” His eyes narrow, manic intensity burning in their depths. “You're the Shadow Reaper.”

I freeze, the words hanging between us like a death sentence.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” I say, my voice tight. But it's too late. I can see it in his eyes. He's already convinced, and nothing I say will change that.

Eztli takes a step closer to me, a wide grin spreading across his face. “Oh, you think you're so clever? But I've been following you. Following your every move. And now, I'm going to expose you.” His voice is rising, manic and gleeful. “You're done for, Selestina.”

A flare of panic rises in my chest, but I tamp it down, keeping my face neutral. “You don't want to do this,” I saycalmly. “Whatever you think you know, you don't. Just walk away.”

But he doesn't listen. He lunges at me, a dagger flashing in his hand.

Instinct takes over, and before he can even blink, I've disarmed him. My movements are quick, precise, too quick for someone who's just a student. Too quick for a nobody human, like he said. His dagger clatters to the ground, and I have him pinned against a nearby tree, my dagger pressed to his throat. His wild eyes meet mine, and for a moment, I think he might actually be afraid.

But then he laughs.

It is not the laugh of a lost man; it is that of a man who knows something I don't.

“You can't stop what's coming,” he says in a low, husky tone.

Before I can move, before I can utter a word, Eztli reaches for something hanging around his neck, a little vial filled with dark liquid. My heart lurches in my chest as I realize what he is about to do.

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