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The major challenge was going to be talking to Morgan and Archer about it. He’d been dreading the conversation, knowing he’d have to tell them that he wouldn’t be traveling back home with them for the break as had been their plan. Part of him wondered if it wouldn’t be better to lie and say he’d decided to stay at the university over the break, but he gave up on that plan quite quickly. For a start, Morgan was impossible to lie to, even if she did often promise not to use her aura-reading powers without warning him. There was also the fact that Archer was on the university staff and would be likely to hear about the project he was undertaking with Kaya. More than that, though, he didn’t like lying to his friends. It was already chafing at him that he couldn’t talk with either of them about the exhilarating, joyous fact that he’d finally met his soulmate—he wasn’t going to compound that lie of omission with even more untruths.
“You’re going on a study trip? That’s brilliant!” Morgan looked like she was about to bounce out of her seat. “Professor Reine’s been telling me I should apply to do something, it’s such a great program they have here, but I didn’t get my act together in time—what’s the project?”
“It’s turned into a historical inquiry into the Mage’s Guild, actually,” he explained, warming to the subject of his project despite the uneasy feeling in his stomach. “I’m interested in how they adapted their laws to the existing laws of the places they were opening new chapters. The cities on Isthmus all have different systems of governance, and the insula itself has an over-reaching set of guidelines, some of which were at odds with the Mage’s Guild—”
“Does that mean Kaya’s supervising?” Archer broke in, never one to leave an interesting subject unbroached for long. His eyes were gleaming, and Callan didn’t miss the way Morgan drove a swift elbow into his ribs. Something told him that the two of them had been discussing him in his absence… and not just him. Kaya, too.
“She is,” he said carefully, noting the way Morgan kept her expression carefully neutral. “Her connections at the Mage’s Guild should come in handy.”
“I bet,” Archer said, looking like he was just about to explode. Callan had a feeling that Morgan’s sharp elbow was inches from his ribcage, though, and despite how badly he clearly wanted to ask follow-up questions, he resisted. “Well. We’ll miss you.”
“Can’t wait to hear how the trip goes,” Morgan agreed. The three of them stared at each other for a long moment, and Callan found himself fighting not to laugh. He’d never seen two people so desperate to ask questions before, but it was clear that they were sticking to the promise Morgan had made weeks ago not to pry on this subject.
“I appreciate you both,” he said finally, meaning it. Morgan just nodded, her expression cryptic. Archer exhaled dramatically and dropped his head onto the table with a thump.
The last week of classes came up incredibly quickly. Callan realized he’d almost forgotten that the second of Kaya’s three lectures was coming up at the very end of the term—he’d been so focused on getting through the days that lay between him and their trip away together that he’d forgotten he had her lecture to look forward to. He arrived early for the session, keen to get a seat close to the front, and was surprised to see the hall more crowded than he’d expected. It wasn’t unheard of for teachers to attend each other’s lectures, especially in the case of visiting lecturers, but he was surprised to see a few dozen people already filling the seats, even though the majority of the students hadn’t arrived yet. Kaya was making herself popular, it seemed. Even the Dean was here.
This was a good sign for her career, wasn’t it? He was suddenly grateful they’d handled this the way they had. As much as it had hurt to keep himself away from her when all he wanted was to hold her in his arms, he knew now that it would have been unforgivably selfish to prioritize what he wanted over her career. They’d talk about it when they were away, he told himself firmly. He was beginning to develop quite the list of discussion points for when they were finally alone…
He had just settled in with his notebook when he felt someone slip into the seat next to him. When he looked up, expecting to see one of his friends from the class, he was surprised to instead find himself eye to eye with Professor Reine, a teacher he’d had little opportunity to speak with. He’d heard plenty about her from Morgan, though—enough to feel a shiver of apprehension run down his spine. She was notoriously eccentric, as the school’s professors went, and from what Morgan said she had a wicked sense of humor when you got to know her, but her icy exterior certainly didn’t give any of that away. She was looking at him hard, her pale blue eyes unsettlingly sharp, and he felt an all-too-familiar feeling rush over him. It felt like being scrutinized by Morgan, only about a thousand times worse.
“Good morning, Professor,” he managed to make himself say despite his unease. She narrowed her eyes slightly, then turned wordlessly to the front of the room, where Kaya had just emerged to prepare her notes for the lecture. Taking the hint, Callan sat in obedient and somewhat uncomfortable silence with Professor Reine while the lecture hall slowly filled. He couldn’t shake the feeling that while those pale, piercing eyes might have moved away from his face, she was somehow still listening to his innermost thoughts.
Even the unnerving presence of the water magic master couldn’t dull the delight he felt at seeing Kaya again, though. She was every bit as magnetic as she had been during the first lecture, and the continuation of the lecture was even more interesting than the introduction it was building on. Callan quickly filled a page with notes, and then another several, and by the time the lecture finished he’d almost forgotten that Professor Reine was sitting next to him. He remembered quickly, though, when Kaya finished her lecture and the students began to file out. As had been his habit, he fiddled with his books and his satchel as he waited for the hall to empty, wanting to talk to Kaya alone… but something was wrong. Professor Reine didn’t seem inclined to go anywhere. Was she waiting around to talk to Kaya as well? It didn’t seem like it. She was simply sitting there, and even though Kaya shot her more than a few curious glances, she never responded with anything more than a cheerful little wave.
Callan did his best to wait her out, but it was like trying to outwait a stone in a river. By the time the hall was empty of students, it was only the three of them left. Kaya was clearly confused and a little worried by the Professor’s presence, Callan was running out of things to move from one section of his satchel to another, and Professor Reine was giving no sign that she had anywhere to be other than her seat in this empty lecture hall.
Finally, Kaya gathered her notes and headed out of the hall, glancing at him as she went with a tiny shrug. He felt disappointment like a leaden weight in the pit of his stomach. He’d been hoping to catch a few precious moments alone with her—not long enough to talk much, but maybe long enough to steal a kiss. But with Professor Reine staying obstinately in her seat, there was no way they could’ve been anything but professional with each other. And asking her to leave would only have aroused more suspicion.
Suppressing the aggrieved sigh he badly wanted to utter, he got to his feet at last—only to feel the sudden vise-like grip of a hand around his wrist. Professor Reine had lashed out to grab him, and she pulled him back down into his seat with a force that surprised him, coming as it did from such a slight woman. Then her eerie eyes were on him, and he felt his breath freeze in his lungs again. She knew, he thought incoherently. She knew everything, she knew every secret he’d ever promised to keep, she knew the deepest, darkest thoughts in his mind—
“Good lecture, wasn’t it?” the Professor said brightly, for all the world as though the last ten minutes hadn’t happened.
“Uh, yes. Yes, very interesting.” Get it together, Callan. You know how to talk to people, don’t you? Aren’t you planning to make a career out of it? “I’m actually doing a project on the Mage’s Guild.”
“Interesting people,” she said, eyes glinting. “Mages, I mean. Do you know many?”
“A friend of mine is a mage, yes,” he said, thinking of Cato with a smile. “He’s not a member of the Guild, though.”
“Dangerous people.” Professor Reine’s gaze hadn’t wavered. “That much power is always dangerous. That’s why the Guild has so many rules, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
He nodded cautiously. Was this why Professor Reine had lingered in the hall for so long? To talk to him about the Mage Guild’s system of governance? “I’ve only been able to look at an abridged copy here, but I’m hoping to learn more on my trip.”
He was startled again by a sudden, high sound—and it took him a few beats to realize that the professor was laughing at him, a bright, clear sound that felt oddly out of place in the stuffy lecture hall. “I don’t doubt you are!”
“Professor?”
Her laughter stilled a little, and she looked at him closely, as though she was trying to solve some kind of puzzle. Then she sat back, exhaling. “You don’t see it, do you?”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Professor.”
“We get them every year. Students who turn up here, wanting book knowledge and nothing else. You don’t know the first thing about your own magic, do you?”
Where was this coming from? Callan found himself fighting to keep his irritation in check. First, this woman had sabotaged a rare chance to speak to Kaya alone, now she was attacking him over his choice of classes? “I’m hoping to find room in my schedule next year—”
“Far too late.” Her voice was flat and hard, all trace of mirth gone from her expression. “The danger is now, Callan, not a year from now, and you’re woefully unprepared.”
“Professor, with respect, I have other classes,” he said through gritted teeth, hoping he didn’t sound as rude as he felt. “So if you’ll excuse me…” He rose to his feet, half expecting her to drag him down again. But she only shrugged, leaning back in the creaky lecture hall chair and fixing him with a beady-eyed stare.
