Oscar: I know.
Oscar: But if we’re finally acknowledging everything—what the hell does that even mean? Theodore said the bond specialist confirmed that sex outside the bond could cause another soul infraction. So none of us can be with her and none of us can be with anyone else? We’re all just going to fight over her and pretend we aren’t fighting over her for the rest of our lives while she tries to take all of our shitty aggressiveness into herself?
Elijah: No. We’ll figure something else out.
Moses: Not even you can make that math work, Elijah.
Cian: You don’t know that.
Kilian: What possibilities have you seen, Cian?
Cian: I’ve seen her in my future. I’ve seen you all in my future. Nothing more concrete than that.
Moses: You’ve seen us miserable and trying to kill each other?
Cian: No. They were happy dreams. But they were just dreams.
Kalen glanced over to Isobel with a sigh. Her head was starting to loll to the side like she had accidentally fallen asleep waiting for him. His phone kept vibrating, but he slipped it into his pocket, crouching before her and gently clasping her shoulder.
Oscar would come around.
They really didn’t have any other choice, and it was best to get it all out in the open before summer break, so everyone would have the space to think and process before coming back for their third year. He was going to need them all to come back strong and ready.
Isobel jolted awake, her fists raised in defence, her eyes wide and panicked as she sucked in a heaving breath.
“P-Professor.” She quickly lowered her fists. “Sorry, I fell asleep.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” His fingers twitched with the need to sweep the fretful strands of hair falling into her face back behind her ears, but he only turned it, offering her his palm instead.
She hesitantly placed her smaller hand into his grip, and he helped her up.
Isobel trailed Kalen back to Dorm A, feeling guilty every step of the way. He was holding an umbrella over her head like he was her bodyguard or something—while he got absolutely drenched. But she was also too terrified to scoot closer to him, and he seemed to prefer maintaining a suitable distance between their bodies.
She had tried to take the handle of the umbrella off him a few times, but he only grunted out a sound to make her hand drop. He didn’t speak until they were both inside his office, and even then, it was just to curse out Mikel under his breath as he slicked back his wet hair.
“Come on up.” He opened a door, revealing a set of stairs, and nodded toward them.
She slipped past him and hurried up the stairs, finding herself in a room much like the other bedrooms on the first level, complete with an en suite and a bay window, though this one obviously couldn’t be climbed out of.
He snatched a change of clothes from his walk-in and disappeared into his en suite, emerging clean and dry—this time in one of the suits he wore when he wasn’t training her to climb, though he left the jacket and tie off.
“Take a seat,” he suggested, motioning to the bay window. “Do you have a shortlist of classes you’re interested in?”
“Uh—yes. I want to do Professor Lye’s Acro Duo class.”
“Duo?” He questioned, gripping the back of his desk chair, and spinning it around to face her before sitting, his ankle planted over his knee as he shifted his hips to get comfortable, his big arms crossing over his chest. His vanilla scent was mild and sweet, his influence a low hum of comfort. She wasn’t sure how he was doing it, but it seemed deliberate, somehow.
“Yeah.” She frowned. “Why do you say it like that?”
“Because you won’t dance with Elijah. They’ve given you several opportunities to.”
“Okay, firstly.” She reared back in surprise. “Was that some sort of ploy? His whole ‘running into casting problems’ thing? Why do you even know about it? And secondly, I did agree to dance with Elijah. And we did … um, dance.”
Kalen ran his tongue over his firm lower lip, eyeing her quietly. “It wasn’t a ploy. They noticed your name on the sign-up sheet for Lye’s audition list and also signed up in case you wanted to audition with a partner, but then … well, I suppose when they realised you were too scared to dance with Elijah, then they wanted to figure out why. Sometimes it isn’t good to pique Elijah’s curiosity.”
“That goes for both of them,” she muttered.
Kalen’s lips twitched. “Perhaps. So, any other classes?”
“Urban Dance, Interpretive Choreography, Hip-Hop Fusion, and Lyrical Dance.”
“That leaves one free slot.”
“Will I be continuing with the small group sessions next year?”
“Yes, and your tutoring sessions with me and Elijah. Since Elijah and I will take up two sessions a week, I’ll work out a way to spread those over your classes with the lowest priority. But … I would suggest you drop Urban Dance from the list. Interpretive Choreography is basically the same thing, except the professor for that class is organising a guest choreographer each week and you’ll gain far more experience. And you should add in Icon Matters, the introduction class. It’s a whole lot of bullshit, but they teach you how to manage your social media and all the associated skills you’re going to need to play the game going forward.”
She nodded quietly, dropping her attention to her lap as she played with the hem of her shirt.
“Talk to me,” he suggested. “What are you thinking?”
“Just that I need to start taking this seriously.” She raised her chin, swallowing as she met his eyes. “You guys will all be fine if something happens to me or if we’re all separated, but I won’t. And the only way I get those surrogate pills is if I stay out of the settlements. The only way to secure my future is to win this game.”
He nodded, regarding her seriously. “Welcome to the club.”
“I’m not asking you to help me or anything.” She went back to fiddling with her shirt, her cheeks heating. “I’m just asking you not to sabotage me.”
“What if there was a way for all of us to win?” he asked quietly, his deep rumble tunnelling shock through her.
“What?” her head jerked up. “No. They only choose one winner.”
Kalen sucked in a deep breath, shaking his head. “It’s a conversation for later. With everyone. We need to do this as a group. From now on, we need to do everything as a group, understood?”
“I think so.”
“You understand, princess. So let me rephrase. Do you agree?” He leaned forward, notching his forearms on his knees, drawing his face close to hers, his fierce amber eyes digging into hers with a glint of something she couldn’t quite read.
“Can I think about it?” she dodged.
For some reason, that amused him. “You really think you can do this alone, Carter?”