Page 24 of Hexmate

He shrugged, unrepentant. “What? It works. Trust me.”

I shook my head, but I couldn’t help smiling. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good,” Wild nodded. “Now, about that paper...”

I groaned, flopping back onto my bed. “Don’t remind me. Ten pages on spell casting in Latin versus English. It’s going to be torture.”

“Want some help? Believe it or not, Latin is based on Fae language, so I practically already speak it. I’m sort of an expert.”

“Sure,” I muttered, grabbing my bag.

However, the moment I picked it up, the zipper pulled free, and all my books went tumbling out onto the floor in a heap. Papers scattered everywhere along with pencils and at least three glass vials worth of seeds for my herbalism course.

“Dammit,” I muttered, dropping down to the floor to gather them up.

Wild knelt down beside me, helping me pick it all up. But after only a second or two, he stopped, holding a small piece of paper in his hands. “Uh… Caden?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you write yourself a little folded note?”

I glanced up at the paper, my brows furrowed. “No. I’ve never seen that before.”

Wild turned it around, displaying the chunky letters on the front. “Well, it’s got your name on it.”

I stared at the folded paper, my heart suddenly racing. The handwriting looked vaguely familiar. “What? Let me see that.”

Wild handed it over, his expression curious. I unfolded the note with trembling fingers, my eyes scanning the messy handwriting:

Caden,

Meet me at the tall ridge just outside the barrier at midnight. The one overlooking the valley. I want to talk to you alone.

-Atlas

My breath caught in my throat. Atlas had written a note for me? What could he possibly want?

“Well?” Wild prompted, leaning over my shoulder. “What does it say?”

I hesitated for a moment before reading it aloud. Wild’s eyes widened, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

“Oh ho ho! A midnight rendezvous? How romantic! Make sure you take lube!”

“Shut up,” I muttered, but I couldn’t stop the blush creeping up my neck. “It’s probably nothing.”

“Nothing? Caden, he’s asking you to meet him alone outside the academy barrier. That’s not nothing.”

I bit my lip, re-reading the note. “But why? And how did he even get this in my bag?”

Wild shrugged. “Does it matter? The question is, are you going to go?”

I stared at the note, my heart pounding. The responsible part of me knew I should ignore it, focus on my paper, and not risk getting into more trouble. But another part of me, a part that had been dormant for far too long, was thrumming with excitement.

“I... I think I am,” I said softly, surprising myself.

Wild’s eyes lit up. “Really? That’s my boy!”

I glanced at the clock. It was only a bit past five. “I have a little bit of time to kill before then.”

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