I was summoned at dawn.
No note. No guard escort. Just a soft knock and a voice that whispered: "The Headmaster wants you."
Every instinct told me not to go.
But I went.
Because if Lucian was involved in this, if he really had stormed the campus like a one-man army, then something bigger was at play. Something I needed to see for myself.
---
The Headmaster's Chamber – Restricted East Wing
The halls smelled like ink and secrets. I passed through the heavy double doors alone, heart steady, eyes wide open.
He sat behind a massive desk made of black marble, sleeves rolled to his elbows, tea untouched beside him.
Lucian.
Alive. Calm. Dangerous.
"Sit," he said without looking at me.
I obeyed.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he dropped a file on the desk.
I opened it slowly.
A name leapt out at me:
> Ashira Eve—Status: Active asset. Intelligence class: Omega-Rose.
Lucian's voice was cold. "They never decommissioned you."
My mouth went dry.
Lucian: "You thought the agency lost you? That Alden just raised you out of guilt?"
He looked me in the eye.
"They embedded a trigger. One I just disabled."
I blinked. "Trigger…?"
Lucian nodded. "You were still bound by the Omega Protocol. One phone call to the wrong person and you'd have killed your own allies."
I couldn't breathe.
Lucian: "You're free now. But it won't last long. The table is moving."
I: "And you stormed the campus just to tell me that?"
Lucian stood and walked to the window. "No. I came to kill the second mole."
I stood. "Who?"
Lucian: "You've already met him. And he's been playing chess with your emotions from the start."
I stared. "Who?!"
Lucian turned around.
And handed me a second file.
I opened it—and my breath left me.
A photo.
Of Darius.
---
Flashback – Chapter 11, Dorm Courtyard
Darius leaning on the pillar, watching me practice. Silent. Calculating. Too calm for a teenager. Too sharp for a student.
"You dance like someone trained to kill," he'd said.
I thought he was joking.
He wasn't.
---
Present
Lucian: "He's not who he claims to be. Name's not Darius. It's Elijah Ward. Double agent. Born into the elite killer family but raised by our enemies."
I felt dizzy.
Lucian's voice softened. "He wasn't sent to hurt you. He was sent to learn you. To study your patterns. Figure out if Alden's legacy still breathed."
I: "But he—he helped me. Saved me. More than once."
Lucian: "That's what makes him dangerous."
I took a step back. "Why are you telling me all this now?"
Lucian approached me slowly, hands in his coat pockets.
"Because I'm not going to live long enough to protect you forever."
My stomach dropped.
He smiled faintly. "The King has put a bounty on my head. The academy will pretend not to know, but they'll let it happen."
"No," I said immediately. "No one's killing you—"
"Listen," he snapped. "There are too many kings in this game, Ashira. You need to become your own."
He handed me a key. "This unlocks Alden's private vault. Everything you need to survive—lies there."
---
Later That Night – Boys' Dorms, Common Room
I returned, file in hand, thoughts spiraling like a hurricane.
Kael and Ryker were arguing over something. Vale was asleep. Aris was nowhere to be seen.
And Darius… stood quietly by the fire, staring into the flames.
When he turned to look at me, I couldn't breathe.
Because I didn't see Darius anymore.
I saw Elijah.
He took one step toward me.
"I guess you know now," he said softly.
I clutched the file tighter.
"Why?" I whispered.
He didn't lie.
"Because I needed to know if you were real. If the ghost child from Alden's reports was human."
I looked at him, eyes brimming. "And what did you find out?"
He smiled bitterly. "That I was the one who stopped being human."
He dropped something into my palm.
A silver ring with a red cross on it.
His insignia.
"You'll need this," he said, brushing past me.
I turned.
"Wait—why give it to me? Why now?"
He didn't look back.
"Because I'm not sure who I'm fighting for anymore. And if I have to die… I'd rather it be by your hand than theirs."
---
End of Chapter 40