Alix Ryder
Just as expected, chaos walks in this time in the form of Evara's friends, whom I'd called over from her phone after the incident. Or should I say, my best friend's 'damsel in distress crew'?
"Eva, what happened?" the blonde one demands, storming in like a queen on a mission. Her sharp gaze flicks between Reano and me, already playing detective, like we're the culprits behind her friend's collapse.
I'm just about to answer when another girl steps forward.
Wait… is that Nyra?
Nyra James, the girl who doesn't do people. Since when is she friends with Evara?
What's even more shocking is Zade standing beside her arms crossed, jaw locked, eyes cold. Zade Morgan doesn't show up unless there's a scoreboard or a business deal on the line. And yet, here he is. That's two of the most unreachable people in Edelmare orbiting this new girl like she's gravity itself.
Just who is she?
I glance back at Eva who's conscious now, but pale. She's still gripping the edge of the cot like the world might spin off without her.
Consider me intrigued.
Reano suddenly stands. The blonde—Bella, judging by the name on Eva's speed dial glares at him, waiting for answers he clearly isn't offering. Without a word, he brushes past her, face blank, heading for the door.
Classic Reano silence over drama, every time.
Which leaves me to clean up the mess.
I step forward with my usual easygoing grin. "Hey, I'm Alix. Your friend fainted into the pool. Reano here just happened to be her knight in shining armor. Saved the day."
Bella stares at me like I've sprouted horns. That hard to believe?
She turns to Eva. One small nod from her seems to settle whatever storm was brewing in Bella's eyes.
"I'm Bellarina," she says curtly. "Thank you… both of you."
Before I can toss out a casual anytime, a familiar voice interrupts from behind.
"Make sure she gets some rest. It was an allergic reaction that caused the collapse."
I spin around.
Reano. Didn't he leave?
He doesn't wait for acknowledgement. Just drops the line like a grenade and vanishes again down the hallway cold and efficient, like always.
I give the girls a quick nod and trail after him.
We find Jake leaning against the corridor wall, guilt written all over his face.
Reano doesn't waste a second. "Let's talk."
We move to the quiet end of the hallway.
Jake speaks first, fast and defensive. "Before you come at me—I swear, she didn't show any signs. No flush, no aura, no reaction. I didn't think she was a Loreth. I didn't know."
Reano folds his arms, eyes sharp. "You were running an analysis. Protocol says you observe for atleast twenty minutes after ingestion. Especially with unknowns."
Jake rubs the back of his neck. "Her friend's human. I assumed she was, too. And with no aura—"
"You weren't completely wrong," I cut in. "There are rare humans resistant to Loreth influence. Documented cases. Maybe she's one of them. Would explain the delayed reaction."
Reano goes still, mind clearly racing. That thought lands hard.
Before he can respond, footsteps echo. Eva and Bellarina round the corner right into our huddle and Bellarina gives a suspicious look.
I react instinctively.
"Founder's Day prep," I blurt out with a grin, voice too chipper to be casual. "Just figuring out the boring stuff."
Eva nods, trusting. Bellarina… not so much. Her eyes narrow, reading us like a file full of redacted truths.
Then, of course, Zade arrives. Arms folded, gaze unreadable. "What are you guys scheming?" he asks, deadpan.
"Nothing that exciting," Jake adds, already sweating. "Unless ceremony logistics count as a crime."
Reano's phone buzzes. He glances at it, mutters something under his breath, and stalks off again, third time's the charm.
I follow his lead. "Catch you later," I toss behind me with a wink.
Jake? He's left behind. Trapped between Bellarina's suspicious squint and Zade's statue still judgment.
Poor guy.
Reano's strides are sharp and fast, the kind that warn you not to talk unless you want to bleed for it.
I catch up just as he turns down the east wing toward the observation decks. Empty this time of day, smart move.
"You okay?" I ask, keeping pace.
"No," he mutters. "I'm not."
That's rare. Reano admitting anything.
"She had no aura, Alix," he says, stopping short and facing the glass wall overlooking the academy gardens. "No aura. No trace. And yet… I felt something when I pulled her from that pool. Something old. Like her essence recognized me."
"You mean like a past life thing?"
"I don't believe in that," he says quickly. Then quieter, "But something's not right. The girl we saved she's not just any Loreth or human. She's something more."
The air around us seems to thin.
I glance toward the hallway where we left the others. "And she has no idea, does she?"
Reano doesn't answer.
He doesn't have to.
A beat of silence passes. Just the wind brushing through the garden trees beyond the glass. Reano's jaw is tight, his hands clenched. The guy looks like he's been sucker punched by fate and knowing him, that's probably not far from the truth.
Either ways she is definitly not any normal passing human.
The sound of a door opening breaks the moment. We both turn just in time to see Nyra step into the corridor behind us, backlit by the flickering crystal sconces. She doesn't look surprised to see us just mildly irritated, like we're standing between her and a secret she's already half figured out.
"She's asking for you," Nyra says to Reano, voice level but laced with something I can't quite place.
Reano nods once, eyes still clouded, and walks off without another word.
I stay behind.
Nyra doesn't move either.
We both stare through the glass for a second too long.
"You knew," I say finally, watching her reflection instead of turning. "Didn't you?"
"I had suspicions," she replies, calm as ever. "Now I have more than that."
"Care to share with the class?"
"No." Her lips twitch slightly. "Not yet. But I will when it matters."
I huff a laugh. "Cryptic. Classic Nyra."
She shrugs. "You hang around secrets long enough, you either start hoarding them or drowning in them."
"Which are you doing?"
She looks at me for real now, eyes unreadable. "Trying to stay afloat."
That lands heavier than I expect. She turns and walks away, the heels of her boots echoing softly.
I wait a few more seconds, collecting thoughts I don't know how to label yet, then head back toward the main hall.
By the time I reach the common room, Eva's sitting up, still pale but with more color than before. Bella's beside her, arms folded protectively, and Zade is across the room pretending not to care while clearly calculating every movement in the space.
Jake is nowhere to be seen, probably evaporated under Zade's judgmental stare.
I lean against the doorframe, watching them all without saying a word.
A strange sort of silence has settled. Not awkward. Not tense. Just… expectant. Like the air before a thunderstorm.
Eva glances up and meets my gaze.
And just like that I feel it too.
She is gravity.
Not just to Reano. Not just to her little human-Loreth trio.
To all of us.
And we're already caught in the pull.
Zade Morgan
Bellarina's voice, sharp with panic.
"It's Eva. She collapsed—Reano pulled her out of the pool. I'm going to the med wing."
I don't ask questions. I don't need to.
The second she said 'Reano' told me enough. This wasn't a fainting spell or some human fragility. This was Loreth deep.
By the time I get there, Eva's conscious barely.
Reano's already brooding in a corner like he's auditioning for martyr of the year, jaw tight, shoulders coiled.
Bella's gripping Eva like she's made of smoke, like one wrong breeze and she'll vanish.
But my eyes land on someone else.
Nyra.
She steps forward but not too close and stares at Eva.
Still.
Silent.
Heavy.
She wouldn't be doing that unless she felt the shift too.
And that's when I knew.
Eva's not just some human who slipped past the radar.
She's not some fluke with good instincts and better luck.
No.
She's something more.
Something that hums beneath the surface like a storm with its teeth bared.
Now we're in the hallway.
Post-interrogation. Post-chaos.
Post the usual Reano disappearing act.
I'm leaning against the wall like nothing bothers me arms crossed, face unreadable.
Bella's grilling Jake with her eyes, dissecting every word he doesn't say. He's sweating guilt like it's designer cologne.
But me?
My mind's still in that med bay.
Reano said it was an allergic reaction.
Liar.
I saw the way he walked out, like something in him cracked and he's still trying to tape it together before someone notices.
I've known Reano Madriff since we were kids.
Long enough to see the panic behind his poker face.
And this time?
He's scared.
Not of Eva.
Of what she means.
Of what she might be.
Bella narrows her eyes, slicing through the tension.
"What were you all talking about?"
Jake fumbles. "Founder's Day prep. Logistics, really."
I deadpan. "So thrilling we might die from excitement."
Eva doesn't even blink.
She trusts too easily.
Bella, though—she's scanning me like I'm a locked vault with a ticking clock. I offer her nothing. Smile in place. Bones chilled.
Jake's practically shaking now.
Serves him right.
"Start talking," I say, voice low, eyes sharp. "No more dodging."
He stiffens. "Zade, I swear—"
"I'm not Reano," I cut in. "I don't do calm. If she'd died, you'd be explaining this to the council, not to us."
That shuts him up.
Bella glares at me, but doesn't interfere. She wants answers too.
Then Eva shifts. Her voice is soft, like paper trying not to tear.
"Zade, it's okay. It was an accident."
That's the problem.
She believes that.
I walk to the window, arms still crossed, jaw tight. I don't look at her.
Because if I do, I might start asking questions she isn't ready to answer.
And worse, I might see what Reano saw.
That thing we're not supposed to name.
That pull.
A few minutes later, Reano and Nyra return.
Quiet. Deliberate.
She doesn't speak, just looks at me.
A flick of her eyes says everything: We need to talk.
Not here.
Not yet.
And when I turn back to Eva she's watching me now.
Really watching.
Like she knows she's being measured, but can't figure out what scale we're using.
I don't say anything.
Because what do you tell the girl whose existence is closer to a myth than reality?
What do you say to someone who doesn't even know she's standing at the center of a battlefield disguised as a school?
What do you say to someone oblivious to the fact that her pulse could change the balance of the entire kingdom?
But am sure all of us are hoping what we are thinking is not true since we are not sure yet.
Everyone present in the hallway agrees to not take this matter any further at Eva's request.
But something's waking up in her. Something ancient. Untamed.
And we're all pretending it's fine.
Reano, who looks like he was holding back a scream.
Nyra, who should've said something hours ago.
Even Alix, who's pretending this is all just a weird coincidence.
But me?
I'm not pretending anymore.
Because if Eva's who I think she is…
Then this academy isn't just her school.
It's her battleground.
And we're all either allies or collateral.
I find her by the south courtyard exactly where I knew she'd be.
Nyra James never hides when she needs to say something. She waits.
And tonight, I can feel the weight of her silence before I even reach her.
She's sitting on the edge of the stone fountain, moonlight catching the silver ends of her hair. Arms folded, boot tapping lightly against the marble.
I lean against the pillar beside her.
"Don't pretend you didn't feel it too."
She doesn't look at me. "You think I'm pretending?"
I shrug. "You're not talking."
"I'm trying not to panic," she says, voice low. "Because if I'm right and I think I am—then everything we've been told about our history is repeating itself."
My jaw tightens. "She's might just be a normal human,"
Nyra turns slowly to face me. Her eyes are dark, but not cold. Calculating.
"No. She's an Anchor."
The silence hangs thick between us, heavy with the weight of truth neither of us want to say aloud.
"But we are still not sure about it."
Nyra nods once. "But there's no other explanation to this."
I drag a hand through my hair. "That means her parents—"
"Hid her existence," Nyra finishes. "On purpose."
I exhale, slow. "That's only possible with ancient magic."
"That's forbidden magic."
For a moment, neither of us say anything. The wind rustles the trees. Somewhere in the distance, a clock chimes past midnight.
Then I ask the one thing I've been holding back since the moment I heard about Reano pulling her from the water,
"Did he know?"
Nyra's expression darkens. "I think he suspected it the very day he met her. But tonight? He saw it."
And we both know what that means.
Reano Madriff—the golden heir, the prophecy child, the kingdom's favorite,
She is the start of something serious in this kingdom.....or she might be
And Reano would have to go against himself to stop it from happening
"Zade, you need to decide something right now. Are we protecting her… or exposing her?"
Nyra stands. Looks me dead in the eyes.
My throat tightens, but I don't hesitate.
"I'm protecting her."
Nyra's eyes soften for just a breath. "Then you'd better start watching your back. Because if she is who we think she is, they're going to come for her."
I nod once.
"They'll have to go through me."
"Us" she adds.