Page 8 of The Fate of Eternity

“About what?” Kryll asks, folding his arms over his chest as he glares down at her.

“About what Miss Reagan just said,” she barks back, unwavering beneath his looming presence.

“Which part?” Raiden adds, rising to my defense.

“Don’t play dumb. The Council,” she snarls, slapping her palms against her desk.

With the way she’s acting, you would think… does shenotknow?

“I don’t know what else you need to know. They are a plague on this kingdom,” Brody states all matter-of-fact, like his own father isn’t a member.

She rolls her eyes. “There’s always a plague somewhere, Mr. Orenda. I mean the fated mates. How do you know that to be true?” she pushes, throwing her arms out in frustration as hereyes swirl wildly, as if she’s trying to navigate the stormy seas without any form of life raft.

I can sense it. Deep in my bones, and despite my better judgment, I let my mind magic flutter over my skin. I’m instantly met with panic, betrayal, and uncertainty.

She doesn’t know.

She doesn’t fucking know.

“Because they’ve tried it before,” I blurt. I’m not entirely sure I’m making the right decision to share that information with her, but it feels like I’ve got nothing to lose.

“When?” She stills, frozen in place at my admission, and it only serves to confirm my thoughts. I can sense the guys looking at me, unsure if I’m doing the right thing, but none of them try to interject.

“After the last trial. When Brody took me off campus to heal from the poisoned vampire bite Vallie gave me.”

Her eyes widen, the surprise undeniable as she blinks at me. “The night her father went missing. You killed him.” To my surprise, there’s no anger in her tone.

“Yes.” I breathe the truth, watching with bated breath to see what her reaction will be.

She leans back in her seat, assessing me with new eyes. “I thought she was lying.”

“On this one occasion, she wasn’t,” I say with a shrug, still waiting for her to go bat shit crazy on me for my actions, but it doesn’t come. Instead, she clears her throat, assessing the five of us once again before tapping her desktop in thought.

“What do they expect to achieve by forcing the five of you to be fated mates?”

“That’s the question I’d love to know the answer to,” Cassian grunts, swiping a hand through his hair as Brody takes a step forward. His eyes find mine, considering me for a momentbefore he turns back around, planting his hand on her desk as he speaks.

“I’m assuming it’s to control us in our weakened state in order to maintain control of the kingdom. Make us beacons of hope to our people, name us the heirs, and control us like puppets.”

Her lips curl, almost giving the sense that she’s not happy, but that can’t be true. Not if?—

“I will not allow it,” she snarls, anger flowing from her in waves.

“Huh?” Brody stands, confusion crinkling his nose as Bozzelli follows suit, fixing her jacket as she stands tall.

“I willnotallow it,” she repeats before pressing a button on her desk. “I want everyone off campus now, and I want the containment placed back on the academy immediately. Nobody in, nobody out.” It takes me a second to realize it must be an intercom or something as she ends the call and settles her stare on Cassian. “And that includes you too, Mr. Kenner.” The five of us gape at her in surprise. “He expected you to leave, he made sure I exempted you from the powers last time, but I won’t do it again,” she explains, and Cassian nods.

“Understood.”

Wait… is she… she’s not… she can’t be on our side… can she?

“What now?” Raiden asks, and she scoffs, a sense of delirium lightening the dismay.

“Now? I don’t know. I need to think about the madness that wreaks havoc on my academy. The havoc that always seems to circulate around you, Miss Reagan.” I open my mouth to point out the fact that it’s not my fault—well, notalwaysmy fault, at least—but she’s waving her hand dismissively before I can even consider defending myself. “Go. Sleep. None of this is over. Far from it. We must prepare now. For what, I can’t be entirely sure,but the fact that I have put tonight's full trial on pause will only put us all in the line of fire.”

5

CASSIAN

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