Page 19 of Libra Dragon

She shouldn’t have worried. She’d been awake for barely more than an hour before a soft knocking on her door announced his presence. He looked like he’d barely slept, his usually neat appearance fraying around the edges, but his tired smile still sent that thrill through her body that she’d given up fighting. It was a fleeting smile, though, leaving a grave expression in its place, and when she invited him to sit with her on the edge of the bed, he drew up a chair instead.

“This is a mess,” she said softly, looking down at her hands. This much, at least, she’d planned for. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything last night, Callan. I know how much you want to fix this.”

“The Dean’s a reasonable man, Kaya,” he said, and she could see his frustration in the tensing of his jaw. “If you just talked to him, if you just explained—”

“I can’t trust him,” she said flatly, cutting him off. “He’s got ties to the Mage’s Guild that run back centuries, Callan. I have no way of knowing that he won’t report everything I tell him right back to them.”

“The Guild?” Callan frowned at her. “He didn’t even mention them last night.”

“Well, he’s not stupid, is he?” She grimaced. “Think about it. Think about how eager he’s been to track me down, just over a few lies on a resume. Look where I am right now. Would he really be holding me prisoner like this if he wasn’t selling me out to the Mage’s Guild? All of that, last night… Callan, it was for your benefit, not mine. The Dean knows exactly who I am. It’s only a matter of time until representatives from the Guild come to get me. Hours, maybe.”

It was working. She could see the doubt on his face, see him gnawing at his lower lip as his trust in the Dean began to fray. It was monstrous, how good she was at this… but she hardened her heart to the pangs of guilt. Remember who betrayed who, she reminded herself. Remember who sold you out to the Dean, Inota. Don’t get soft now. “He said he just needed to know who you were,” he said, though she could hear the doubt in his voice. “That he needed to be sure you hadn’t gotten hold of dangerous secrets while you were here. He promised you wouldn’t be harmed.”

“Did he? Or did he promise thathewouldn’t harm me?” She let some of her frustration show. “Callan, I’m not going to argue with you. I don’t have time. I need to get out of here,now, or I’m going to end up dead. If you’re with me, this is it. If you’re not… then this is goodbye.”

Callan looked at her for a long moment, and she tried to pretend she wasn’t holding her breath. She needed him on her side if she had any hope of making a real escape, that was the truth, but if he took the university’s side now, there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She’d escape anyway, find a way off Sanguine, hide in the Fog to regroup for a while, figure something else out—but the very thought of leaving here without him made her feel so cold and hollow and exhausted that she was genuinely worried she wouldn’t have the strength to go through with it.

“I’m with you,” he said, and she almost didn’t want to believe him, so strong was the joy that rushed through her. Impulsively, she lunged forward, half-falling into his lap as she claimed his lips in a clumsy kiss that he returned without hesitation. Despite everything that had happened, the heat between them hadn’t gone anywhere.

“Distract the guard,” she whispered. “I’ll meet you on the beach in twenty minutes.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Trust me.”

He did, she realized, watching him go. He still did, after everything. What was it going to take to break this man’s heart? He left the door ajar behind him and she squinted through the door, taking careful note of which guard was out there. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the guard eventually closed her door, and she heard footsteps as the two of them walked away.

She didn’t have long. Inota took a deep breath, then transformed herself, hoping she was getting the details right—she’d only seen the guards by moonlight last night, but she knew their uniforms well enough to replicate them. She waited until she heard the footsteps of the guard returning to his post, and then she hurled the fruit bowl as hard as she could against the wall and let herself fall into a heap on the stone floor as it shattered.

The door slammed open. The guard rushed to her side, shaking her shoulder as he called his fellow guard’s name. She groaned, tentatively rubbing the side of her head as though she’d been struck, mumbled something about the prisoner escaping and pointing to the door. Promising he’d be back, the guard rose to his feet and tore out of the room, shouting down the hallway as he gave chase to a ghost. Inota, wearing the face of a student now, slipped through the door he’d left wide open and lost herself in the crowd.

Now all she could do was hope that this time, Callan came to meet her alone. She knew it was reckless to trust him, but what alternative did she have left?

Chapter 19 - Callan

He almost didn’t go to meet her down at the pier. After he’d pulled the guard away for a few minutes, he disappeared into the crowds of students, trying to ignore the shouting he heard seconds later. But what could he do now? By distracting the guard as long as he had, he’d implicated himself in Kaya’s escape. He could go to the Dean and warn him, he supposed. But what Kaya had said was sticking with him. What if she was right? What if the Dean had already reached out to the Mage’s Guild? He’d certainly seemed angry enough to do something like that last night. The Dean hated being lied to. But was it possible there was more to his anger than that?

He didn’t know. It was just as likely that Kaya was lying to him about the Dean’s ties to the Mage’s Guild, of course. He felt stupid for trusting a woman whose real name he didn’t even know, but it was so hard to think clearly when she was right there in front of him. Worse still, some part of him didn’t even care if she was lying to him. As long as he was with her, he’d be happy.

And even if this was the biggest mistake of his life, all of his instincts were telling him to go to her.

The beach was empty when he reached it, the morning still windswept and overcast. He took a seat on one of the rocks, wondering if it might be the one he and Kaya had sat on together at the party, what felt like a lifetime ago. He looked out at the ocean, at the gray sky above it, and let his thoughts settle. By the time he felt a familiar warmth sit on the rock beside him, his mind was calm—and when he met those gray eyes, he knew he was on the right path.

“Are you alright?” he asked softly. She nodded. “And the guards?”

“I didn’t hurt anyone. Just played some tricks.” She took a deep breath. “Callan, I know it’s a big ask—”

“Just tell me what to do.” He felt curiously detached from reality at the moment, suspended in what may have been the biggest mistake of his life. He’d be suspended for this at the very least, if not outright expelled. This went far beyond a student-teacher relationship. He was actively, knowingly helping a fugitive escape the custody of the university, someone suspected of having stolen important secrets from the university. And for all he knew, she had. It felt like the more time he spent with her, the less he actually knew about her.

But the one thing he did know was that she was his soulmate. And if there was even the slightest chance that she was in danger here, he was going to do everything in his power to help her escape.

“Thank you,” Kaya whispered, her eyes bright with tears. He reached up to stroke her cheek, smiling faintly at the way her eyes slid closed at the touch. They sat there for one precious moment before she inhaled sharply. “Okay. We need to get out of here. I’d planned to take a boat, but that’s not going to be possible today. We’re going to have to fly.”

“Through the Fog?” A chill ran down his spine. Traveling through the Fog in a vehicle was one thing—there were magic users on board who knew how to navigate that treacherous space between civilizations. He’d made a few trips through it on foot, of course, but he’d always had Cato at his side, working whatever magic mages used to keep themselves clear-headed and safe while they traveled. Was Kaya really suggesting that the two of them fly through it unaccompanied?

“I can keep us safe,” she said. “I know how.”

His eyes widened a little. “I thought only mages could do that.” But Kaya shook her head a little impatiently.

---