CASPIAN POV
I stand in the empty hallway after Aria and that silver-haired girl disappear around the corner, my father's medical file burning a hole in my bag.
I stole it this morning from his locked study. Breaking into my own father's private office like a thief, searching for answers about why he's dying. What I found was worse than I imagined.
The file mentions "accelerated cellular decay due to magical backlash" and "curse symptoms consistent with forbidden ritual failure." There are dates going back six months—right around when the first student death happened at Thornwick.
Your father is the killer.
Aria's note feels like it's branded on my brain. I want to believe she's lying, trying to mess with me for revenge after I humiliated her. But the timing matches too perfectly.
"Caspian! There you are!"
I shove the medical file deeper into my bag as my friends round the corner—Drake, Marcus, and Vivian, all children of powerful Council families. All people I'm supposed to care about but mostly just tolerate.
"Dude, that was SAVAGE in class," Drake says, clapping me on the shoulder. "The way you destroyed that Null girl? Perfect."
"She looked like she was going to cry," Vivian adds with a cruel smile. "About time someone put her in her place. These scholarship kids need to remember they're only here because we allow it."
Something sharp and uncomfortable twists in my chest. I remember Aria's face—not crying, but blank. Completely blank, like she'd shut down every emotion to survive the humiliation.
Just like I do when my father tears me apart at breakfast.
"Yeah," I hear myself say. "Whatever."
Marcus frowns. "You okay? You don't seem happy about it."
"I'm fine." I force a smile that feels like cracking ice. "Just thinking about the Council exam next month. Father expects perfection."
"Your dad is so intense," Vivian says, but there's admiration in her voice. "Lord Silas is like the most powerful person on the Council. You're so lucky."
Lucky. Right.
Lucky to have a father who's never said he's proud of me. Lucky to live under constant criticism. Lucky to watch him die slowly while he refuses to tell me what's wrong.
So lucky I want to scream.
"I have to go," I say abruptly. "See you at dinner."
I walk away before they can ask questions, my mind spinning. The midnight meeting with Aria feels like a trap, but I need to know what she knows. If there's even a chance she has information that could save my father...
I round the corner and nearly collide with Professor Thorne, the Headmistress. She's terrifying on a good day—tall, powerful, with eyes that see too much.
"Mr. Everhart," she says coolly. "Walk with me."
It's not a request.
We walk in silence through empty corridors. My heart pounds. Does she know I broke into my father's study? Did someone see me with Aria's note?
Finally, she stops outside her office and turns to face me. "I'm going to ask you a question, and I need you to be honest. Can you do that?"
"Yes, Headmistress."
"Have you noticed anything unusual about your father lately?"
My blood turns cold. "What do you mean?"
"Behavioral changes. Strange meetings. Unexplained absences." Her green eyes pierce through me. "Your father is on the Council, Caspian. He has access to sensitive information and restricted areas of this Academy. If he's involved in something dangerous, I need to know."
"Involved in what?" I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.
She studies me for a long moment. "Three students have died at this Academy in the past six months. The Council ruled them accidents, but I'm not convinced. And your father fought very hard to shut down my investigation."
The medical file in my bag suddenly feels like it weighs a thousand pounds.
"I don't know anything about that," I lie.
Professor Thorne's expression shifts to something almost like pity. "I hope for your sake that's true. Because if your father is involved in those deaths, and you're protecting him, you'll burn alongside him when the truth comes out."
She walks into her office and closes the door, leaving me shaking in the hallway.
Three students dead. My father fighting to hide the investigation. His mysterious illness that started six months ago.
Your father is the killer.
No. It can't be true. My father is cold and harsh and impossible to please, but he's not a murderer. He's not a monster.
Except... what if he is?
I pull out my phone with trembling hands and search the Academy database for student deaths in the past six months. Three names appear:
Marcus Thornhill - Age 17 - Cause: Magical accident during lab work Sarah Chen - Age 16 - Cause: Fall from East Tower David Reeves - Age 18 - Cause: Drowning in the lake
All ruled accidents. All within six months. All with different magical abilities—fire, air, and water.
And if there's a ritual that requires different types of magic...
My phone buzzes with a text from an unknown number:
Your girlfriend told you to meet at midnight. Don't go alone. It's a trap. She's the Siphon everyone's looking for, and she's planning to drain you and use your power to escape before the Council catches her. Come to the North Tower at 11 PM if you want proof.
I stare at the message, my mind racing.
Aria's eyes changed colors this morning when I grabbed her—purple, glowing, impossible. Siphons can steal magic with a touch. What if she's been draining students this whole time? What if she left that note to manipulate me, get me alone so she could take my Celestial magic?
But then why would she warn me my father is in danger?
Unless that's part of the trap too.
I need to know the truth. About my father. About Aria. About everything that's been happening at this Academy.
I type back: Who is this?
The response comes immediately:
A friend. Someone who doesn't want to see you become the next victim. North Tower. 11 PM. Come alone, or the Siphon wins.
I delete both messages and shove my phone in my pocket.
Eleven PM at the North Tower to meet this mysterious "friend." Midnight at the greenhouse to meet Aria.
One of these is definitely a trap. Maybe both.
But I'm going to both anyway, because sitting here knowing nothing while people die and my father wastes away is driving me insane.
I head back to my dorm to prepare, my mind already planning what spells I'll need, what weapons to bring, what lies to tell if anyone asks where I'm going.
I'm so focused on planning that I don't notice the shadow following me down the hallway. Don't see the figure slip into the darkness as I enter my room. Don't realize that someone's been watching my every move since I found that note in class.
If I had noticed, I might have realized the truth sooner.
But by the time I figure it out, it will be far too late.