WILLA

The moment Headmaster Alaric delivered the final verdict, silence settled over the room.

Eric, Kol, and Lance exchanged looks, their faces draining of color.

I tried to make sense of it, to understand what passed between them without words, but the tension alone told me enough.

This was bad.

I slowly pushed myself up from the floor. The pain had dulled, no longer overwhelming, but it still lingered beneath the surface.

At least I could stand now without folding in on myself or needing support from anyone.

Bond activation. That was what Headmaster Alaric had called it.

Questions crowded my mind, one after another, demanding answers I didn’t have.

Would Nyra even know enough to explain this?

Or would I be left guessing, talking to a voice that might not have all the answers either?

Maybe the library would be better. At least books wouldn’t argue back.

"No!" Eric’s voice shattered the quiet.

I lurched, instinctively stepping back as I looked at him, my eyes wide. He moved toward the platform, anger radiating off him in waves.

"You can’t do that," he growled. "I don’t care if you take away all the points—"

"Callahan!"

Nelson, head of House Cassian, shot to his feet, his voice thundering across the room as his gaze darkened on Eric.

Eric didn’t even glance at him.

"I don’t care about the points," he repeated, his teeth clenched so tightly the words barely slipped through. "I earned every single one of them, and I’ll earn them again. But..."

He took another step forward, stopping just short of the platform. His voice lowered, strained with something deeper than anger. "Don’t make me stay away from her."

"I can’t stay away either," Lance added without hesitation.

"Same here," Kol said. "So I reject the verdict."

Heat climbed up my neck, spreading across my cheeks.

They were talking as if I wasn’t standing in the hall.

The committee turned their attention to me, their expressions filled with disbelief, as though I had somehow forced those words out of them.

Headmaster Alaric was the only one who didn’t look at me that way. He simply sighed. "Like I said—"

Eric cut him off. "I heard you," he said sharply, "and respectfully, I’m not doing that shit."

"I’m not doing it either," Lance said.

"Neither am I," Kol added.

I let out a quiet groan, dragging a hand through my hair. At this point, the three of them might as well have been sharing the same brain.

The last thing I ever expected was for them to agree on anything. They were the most popular boys in the academy, constantly at odds because of house rivalries, and now... because of me...

Maybe coming here had been a mistake. Maybe whoever brought me here had made the wrong choice.

"I—"

"Meeting dismissed," Headmaster Alaric said, cutting Eric off before he could continue. "Return to your dorms and attend your classes."

He rose from his seat and turned toward the door at the far end of the room.

Eric moved immediately, striding after him, but Nelson caught his wrist before he could get far, stopping him in place.

"We need to talk," he said, gripping Eric’s wrist and dragging him out of the room, ignoring his resistance and protests.

"You too," the head of House Garrick, Benson, said to Lance.

"Walk with me," Coach Riley added to Kol in a quieter tone.

One by one, the boys followed their house heads without argument, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the hall.

Only then did it hit me. No one had come for Elyse. There was no head of House Valerius.

I supposed that was for the best. Fewer questions. Less scrutiny.

I let out a breath and turned on my heel, making my way out of the hall. Outside, Verah was waiting.

The moment she saw me, she pushed herself off the large tree she had been leaning against and hurried toward me.

"Hey!"

"I thought you left," I said. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Verah scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And abandon my best friend after she’s been interrogated? Not a chance. If they had let me in, I would’ve been right there beside you, defending you."

A small smile tugged at my lips, though the unease in my chest didn’t fully settle.

She grabbed my hand, intertwining our fingers as we started walking away from the hall.

"Tell me everything," she said.

"Nothing much," I replied.

It came too quickly. Because I had no idea where to even begin explaining what had just happened.

Verah stopped walking.

"Nothing much?" she repeated, her brows pulling together as she stared at me. "That doesn’t sound like Lord Callahan at all."

Lord Callahan. Eric’s father.

Looking at him, it was easy to see where Eric got both his looks and his attitude. They could have passed as twins if not for the streaks of age in his father’s features.

However, the way he spoke to Eric stirred something uncomfortable in my chest.

It reminded me too much of the Bakers. Of the way they had spoken to me.

I was never good enough to them. They had promised to take me in, to love me, to treat me like their own.

Instead, they did the opposite. And Eric’s father’s voice carried that same tone. Cold. Dismissive.

As if Eric was more of a burden than a son.

"How is he?" I asked, glancing at Verah.

"Who? Lord Callahan?" she asked.

I nodded.

"You know what he’s like," Verah said, her nose wrinkling slightly. "Strong, handsome..."

"I don’t care about his looks," I cut in with a small snicker.

That wasn’t what I meant.

Verah turned to me, studying me like she was trying to read between the lines. "You’ve always cared about looks, Elyse. We both do. What else would you want to know about him if not that?"

His relationship with Eric.

Why Eric seemed to carry so much resentment toward him.

The tension between them that hadn’t needed words to be understood.

I met Verah’s gaze, forcing a smile onto my face. "He’s definitely handsome," I said lightly. "You’re right."

I tossed my hair back with a casual shrug.

"Right," she said, nodding in agreement.

We held each other’s gaze for a brief moment. Then, almost at the same time, we tipped our heads back and burst into laughter.

After our laughter faded, Verah nudged my arm lightly. "That reminds me, we need to get you to the doctor and book an appointment. Your brain clearly needs checking."

I let out a nervous laugh, brushing it off. "Does it really matter? You could just tell me whatever I’ve forgotten. It’s obvious I’m still dealing with the aftermath of the kidnapping."

"Of course it matters," Verah insisted, her tone firm. "I want my best friend back. Only the doctor can—"

"It’ll be handled." A feminine voice broke through her words.

We both froze, our breath catching at the same time. Then another voice followed, colder, more authoritative.

"You two have a lot of explaining to do, young ladies."