Page 21 of Severed Heir

“No. But you got it anyway.”

“Explain.”

She dragged her gaze down my frame like she could tear me open with a stare. “You were aided the entire time at theAcademy.” She stepped closer, voice sharpening. “There’s no one here to protect you.” Then her gaze flicked toward the front door. “Even now, he can’t stay away from you.”

I stiffened. “He came to escort his brother.”

Not a lie. But not the whole truth. He’d come to deliver Delair’s notice of death.

Antonia’s grip tightened on my arm. “I lost my chance to become an heir,” she hissed. “And I’ll bet anythingyouhad something to do with it.”

“Why don’t we start over, Antonia?” My voice cracked. Then Alaric’s last words clung to the back of my tongue. I should’ve told her months ago what I promised I would tell her.

“Toni,” she corrected coldly, cutting in front of me. “Well, we’re roommates now. Better sleep with one eye open.” She leaned in, her breath cold against my ear. “As I warned Malachi back at Serpent, don’t wake me with your screams.”

Then she dragged me down the hall and out into the courtyard. The ground crunched beneath our boots. The sun hung pale and bloodless in the sky. Warm enough that most had already stripped off their outer layers, tossing them to the ground like shields they no longer needed.

“Toni, I’m sorry about—” The words soured mid-sentence. “I’m sorry you were kicked out.”

She looked away, jaw tight. “Just shut up,” she muttered. “Seriously. Woe is me, Severyn.Gods, you’re always sorry.”

She raked a hand through her silver-cropped hair. “Always sorry. And always getting everything anyway.”

We had all lost someone, but I guess my loss didn’t mean anything to her.

“I understand Alaric was—”

“Don’t finish that sentence.” She snapped her fingers between us. “You don’t understand anything.”

“I didn’t do anything to you, Toni.”

She smiled. “Your father’s a powerful ruler. You had a Serpent wrapped around your finger the second your brother died. And now? Here, you’re nothing. Here, we areequal.And gods, does it ever give me joy.”

I didn’t argue. “You’re right,” I said. “You deserve to hate me.”

Rok stepped into the center of the circle, voice slicing through the murmurs. “For initiation, newbies will be sorted into sentinels, border guards, and searchers,” he barked. “Everyone will get a chance to lead during dungeon stealth and raise their ranks.”

Toni released her shadows with a flick of her wrist. They were darker now, edged like blades, and almost lethal. Across from me, Myla faced off against a male guard, silver frost spiraling from her boots and seeping into the fractured ground.

Perhaps Sabitha had been kind when she said I’d last a week.

I barely had time to breathe before a voice behind me said, “Hey, you’re Severyn, right?”

I turned to find a male staring at me. He wasn’t a royal guard, just one of the quelless initiates I’d seen earlier. Ashen curls skimmed the tops of his ears, and warm brown eyes flicked down to my clenched fist before rising to meet mine. He had a shadow of stubble along his jaw, like he’d forgotten to shave for a day. He wasn’t much taller than me.

“Hi,” I said, caught off guard.

He smiled. “Think you could teach me a few fire tricks?”

I blinked. “Tricks?”

His brows lifted. “You know. Just in case I feel like lighting someone’s hair on fire later.”

“I’m not sure that’s much of a trick.”

“My parents are both flames,” he said, shrugging off his jacket. He had tawny skin and lean shoulders,with a pale scar curving just above his collarbone. “My stepfather used to say it takes years to master a quell. Was he lying?”

I hesitated. “Controlling it takes work,” I said, still unsure why this random initiate had pickedmeto talk to.

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