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I know I’m lucky to have him as my father, and I know we’re lucky to have him fighting in our corner, but more than that, I’m lucky he blindly supports us no matter what.
“You’re coming for us?” I ask, wanting to hear the words, and my father nods.
“I’ll always come for you, Son.”
TWENTY-FOUR
RAVEN
Irun my hands down the lapels of my blazer as I take a deep breath and smile at myself in the mirror. I might be wearing this stuffy uniform, trapped in this damn academy with the enemy as our leader as I await his next move, but determined positivity keeps the weight of the world from my shoulders for the first time in a long time.
It’s Monday morning, which is a fresh day and a fresh start.
After speaking with Rhys over the weekend, there’s been a lightness among us that I’ve never actually felt before. Hope is real and it’s present in all of us. The Monarchy is coming, we just have to bide our time, remain alert and vigilant, and everything is going to be okay.
We’ve seen it all by now. It’s surely impossible for anything to shock us.
Hitching my backpack up my arm, I head out into the lounge with a noticeable bounce in my step to see my guys laughing among themselves. Seeing them smile makes me grin wider. Creed notices me first and jumps from his seat. His arm is around my shoulders in the next breath and he’s hurrying me toward the door.
I giggle. I don’t know why, I just do.
Fuck.
The floor vibrates with the footsteps of the others chasing after us and we’re laughing freely as we step out of the front door to where Leila waits. We manage to calm down as she raises her eyebrows at us.
“Good morning, you guys,” she says with a smirk, falling into step with me as we head up the path.
I lean my head on Creed’s shoulder. “Morning, how’s everything with your father?” I haven’t seen her since he refused to let her come to the party, and the way her face scrunches up says it all. “That fun, huh?”
“The funnest,” she retorts with an eye roll, and I grin. “Did you learn anything good at the party?”
I don’t doubt myself for a single second as I catch her up with exactly what we heard Sebastian and Ruben talking about. It’s not much, but it’s something. My gut tells me the target is onmyback, but I’m not going to let that drag me down. I’m quite sure my brother has had his sights set on taking my life since I got here, I don’t see that changing any time soon.
“So I didn’t miss out on anything fun then,” she says with a sigh as we approach the academy building, and I shake my head.
“Well, that depends,” Eldon starts, a sparkle in his eyes as he waggles his eyebrows. “Raven and I—”
“Shut up,” I grumble, and Creed shoves him on my behalf, but that only makes him laugh louder.
Leila shakes her head at him and steps in closer, nudging her arm against mine. “There’s a meeting tonight,” she breathes, keeping her voice low, and I nod, glancing at the others.
“Perfect, what time?” I ask, my mind already going a mile a minute.
“Seven sharp.”
I nod. “Are you free beforehand?”
Her eyebrows rise. “I can be. Is everything okay?”
“I hope so,” I reply, taking a deep breath. After much consideration and a lot of back and forth, I’ve decided I’m going to trust this girl wholeheartedly or not at all. So here we are. “I want to be in that meeting room before anyone shows up. Can we make that happen?”
“Definitely. Is there a reason why?” She seems more intrigued than suspicious, and I don’t know why, but it gives me the confidence I need.
“There’s mention of a table in the book you gave us. I want to know if it’s the one down there.”
Adrenaline coursesthrough me as we cut across the grounds of campus, discreetly heading toward the Nightmares Guild chamber an hour earlier than the meeting. Fuck stealth mode when you have a hot guy who turns invisible on demand.
My fingers are laced with his, Leila on my other side, while Eldon has his hand on Zane’s shoulder, creating a chain with Brax and Creed connecting too.
