Page 46 of Great Falls Rogue
Heat fills my cheeks as the rejection registers. “Shade—”
“You are a beautiful cadet, Leralynn,” Shade says softly. “But you are a cadet.” Without waiting for my reply, he bows to me and walks out of the infirmary, the door swinging in his wake.
2
Lera
“Tye.” I keep my voice low as we all flow into the Great Hall, knowing the immortal male a few paces away is perfectly capable of hearing me over the swell of violin music and murmuring voices. The hall is a dazzling vision, tables draped in the finest linens, candlelight glinting off crystal chandeliers above and sterling-silver serving platters below. Formal gowns in every color of the rainbow and sharply tailored suits swirl together as cadets find their seats.
Tye frowns at something across the room and keeps walking, his broad back perfectly straight and red hair unaccountably tidy, nothing about him suggesting that he marked my voice. The act is so effective that I’d believe it—if he’d not been avoiding me all week. Hadn’t so much as made eye contact with me since the night Han walked him out of the dungeon cell, leaving me behind. I know we’d gone further than we’d intended that night, but Tye’s the one who started us in that direction to begin with. And now he’s acting like…like I stole his favorite toy and stomped on it.
Giving me anI don’t know what to sayheadshake, Arisha leads us to one of the empty tables in the front of the room. The gilded porcelain plates and matching soup bowls are already on the tables, the savory spice of roasted lamb drifting in from the kitchens. The meat at the Academy is cooked a bit more than my fae taste would usually prefer, but the chefs do wicked things with the apples and cranberries they add to the roast.
Scowling at Tye’s back, I survey the rest of the room, including a long instructors’ table at the front of the hall. My face heats again when I mark Shade, achingly handsome in a fine white tunic and black pants, his rejection suddenly coming back to me with all too much clarity. Coal’s refusal to deviate from his signature solid black—along with his deeply etched scowl—sets him apart from the rest. River and Sage sit together in the middle of the table, the Academy’s other instructors extending to the right and left of the pair. Han, damn the man, is there at Sage’s left elbow, the headmaster leaning so close to Han that he almost sits in his lap.
I study him closely, as I’ve done automatically every time I’ve seen him since our encounter in the woods. Groomed black hair, piercing blue-gray eyes, sharply handsome face—and completely normal ears and canines. My eyes aren’t compelled away from them like they are with my males. Not a veiled fae.Human.
But no matter how many times I come to this conclusion, my instincts still scream that something is off. He fought like a fae male, from his preternatural speed to his impossible strength.
I grind my teeth. “Maybe he has some other kind of veil,” I murmur beneath my breath to Arisha.
“Maybe.” She sounds unconvinced, her freckled cheeks tightening as she studies him from under her curtain of unruly curls.
“You have a better theory?”
“I think it’s wise to be careful about how many conclusions we draw solely from the fact that he broke Coal’s arm, especially when it wasCoalwho went afterhim.” Arisha sneezes into a handkerchief, throwing a withering glance at the elaborate bouquet of lupines and peonies on our table. Sadly for her, spring is still in full, spectacular bloom. “The incident probably speaks more to Coal’s state than Han’s. Do you think the Prowess team is under orders not to speak with anyone, or did they conjure that on their own?”
Following Arisha’s gaze, I note the one table covered with satin linens in the Academy’s red and gold hues, in contrast to the white and gold of the other settings. There,standing behind their chairs as they wait for Sage’s introduction, Han’s Prowess athletes are in their rich red parade uniforms instead of court dress. Tye’s lithe and proud silhouette draws the eyes of every female in the room, just as Princess Katita’s golden hair and perfect curves draw the males’. Beside each other, they look like a stunning royal tapestry.
Delightful.
“They must be under—” I shut my mouth. Tye hasn’t met a rule he didn’t break on principle, so the choice to ignore me might well be his. Which stings even more.
Before I can say anything more, Headmaster Sage stands up and taps a fork against his crystal goblet, the melodic chime bringing the violins and voices to a sudden halt.
With his small frame and hunched shoulders, the standing Sage is little taller than the sitting River—who I catch moving his chair back slightly to try to keep from upstaging the headmaster. Sometimes I wish River’s courtesy was just a little more selective.
As if feeling my gaze on him, River glances over, the gray eyes I’ve not seen since that day in his study piercing right into my soul. One bloody glance and my insides melt. I’m just starting to wonder what exactly this will do to our study sessions, which will resume with the normal schedule, when Sage interrupts my thoughts.
“My lords and ladies of the Great Falls Academy. It is my pleasure to welcome you back from the Ostera holidays to the final stretch of this academic year,” Sage announces, the hall’s acoustics amplifying his croaking voice.
I try to distract myself from sudden thoughts of the coming intimate tutoring sessions by taking a slow sip of wine.
“Before I release you to your dinner,” continues Sage, “allow me to be the first to share the Academy’s proud news. With the assistance of Master Han—the new Prowess coach whom some of you may have already met—and our distinguished athletes, the Academy has petitioned the Prowess commission to hold this year’s Trials competition right here at Great Falls itself.”
My hand freezes halfway back down to the table, tightening dangerously around the crystal goblet.
Sage pauses, the previously silent room suddenly abuzz with excited scents and darting whispers. Cadets shift about, grabbing each other’s shoulders and near knocking down plates in their enthusiasm, their lives suddenly a hundred times more exciting than they were only a second ago. All but the actual Prowess athletes, who stand at attention at their places.
Against the room’s sudden spike of energy, the deafening silence in my head is that much starker, a cold panic seeping into my veins. Despite both Arisha’s and Gavriel’s untiring efforts, we’ve made zero progress in halting the wards’ deterioration, much less in coming up with a way to rebuild what was already broken. My killing off Mors’s vile creatures seeping into Great Falls’ woods was never meant as a solution, only some stitching to buy time until we conjure a fix or else Lunos sends aid.
And now the Prowess Trials, the single event gathering the continent’s rulers in one place, is coming to Great Falls. The very heart of the cracking wards’ spreading web and the Night Guards’ hunting ground.Bloody ever-loving stars.
The initial weakness in the wards may be natural deterioration, but I’ve no doubt the Night Guard has been picking at the cut. Widening it for their plans, which all centerhere.And now Sage wants to host a convention of mice in the middle of a snake pit.
My heart quickens, the smell of food suddenly turning nauseating. If the Trials come here, people are going to die. I can barely keep the occasional aberrations at bay, let alone hold off a full and inevitable Night Guard assault. And even if I stood a chance, I can’t be everywhere at once.Stars,the very Academy might be compromised already. My eyes flicker to Han, whose pale eyes look calmly satisfied.
The very worst part is that this whole mess is our fault. I have to bite back a scream of frustration. The Academy was never even supposed to have a Trials athlete. Not until the veil spun the story for Tye—
