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“Care about her?” She smiles wryly. “That’s good to hear.” She bites her lip and grins at me. “She cares about you, too, you know.”

I lift a brow. “She said that?”

A smile tugs at her lips. “Well, no. But she’s told me in grotesque detail all the ways she’d embalm and taxidermy your body and mount you on her wall. And I speak Bella fluently enough to know that means she’s kinda crazy about you.”

“Mount me on her wall, huh?”

“Yeah. She had some very specific pose ideas, too”

I grin. “I have zero doubt she did.”

Arianna laughs. Then her expression turns serious again as she lifts her eyes to me. “One thing I do want to make clear,” she says, her brow furrowing deeply. “What happened is for Bella to tell you, if she even decides to.”

She pokes my chest with a finger.

“Don’t ask her. And don’t you dare push.”

Dawn is still breaking as I leave Morvaine Manor to go crawl back into bed next to Bella. I’m barely a dozen yards down the wooded path that leads back to the main campus when a heavy, muscled arm wraps around my neck from behind and all but yanks me off my feet.

I grunt as I’m slammed against a thick tree trunk. Suddenly, I’m looking at the deadly calm face of Adrik Volkov looming large in my field of vision.

“Good morning, Adrik,” I mutter, grabbing his forearm against my throat and trying to push him off me.

Adrik doesn’t budge.

“Take your goddamn arm away from my neck,” I growl quietly. “Now.”

A deadly glint fills his eerily calm eyes, like a shark’s black, soulless gaze.

“Enjoying your morning coffee, Damiano?”

Adrik’s voice always has a flinty, stony rasp to it, as if he’s been smoking three packs a day for forty years despite being all of twenty-two and, as far as I know, not a smoker. But right now, there’s an even more lethal edge in his tone.

“I’m guessing you weren't lurking in the trees to ask how my Colombian roast was,” I say flatly. “What are we doing here, Adrik?”

His eyes narrow. “Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing.”

I frown at him. “What am I, the president of The Order, doing at Morvaine Manor, the building that houses it?”

Adrik shakes his head. “You haven’t set foot in Morvaine in almost three weeks,” he growls.

My brow furrows deeper. “Which is exactly why I thought it would be good to show my face⁠—”

“At five in the morning.”

I shrug. “Early bird gets the worm, Adrik.”

“Yes, but this early bird…” He taps a finger against my chest. “Was early enough that he stood outside for ten minutes, checking his watch as if he was waiting for something before he went inside and made coffee.” His gaze lasers into me as he tilts his head to the side. “This early bird also usually drinks medium roast coffee. This morning, he chose an extra dark blend.”

I sigh as the pieces start to click.

“This early bird…” He taps my chest again. “Also texted Yelena last night, confirming that Achilles was out of town and that Yelena was having a friend over to spend the night.”

A tired smile tugs at my lips.

“Adrik.”

I reach up and pat his cheek, which I’m sure almost makes him punch me out.