Thornhill Academy. Chapter 54

**Allison**

I pull back from him, heart hammering, and look him dead in the eyes. “Do you really want all of this?” My voice comes out low and serious, no teasing, no armour. Just me, bare and bracing for the answer.

He doesn’t even blink. “Every dark, depraved and fucked-up thing about you, Ally,” he says, voice like a vow, “It’s mine. And I’ll love every part of it.”

Something in my chest twists painfully at his words, a mix of relief and terror, and before I can reply, he’s already moving. “Now come on,” he murmurs, softer now, “you’ve had a big day. You need rest.”

He leads me toward the bed, his hand warm at the small of my back. I don’t even protest when he pulls back the covers, waiting for me to climb in. The moment I sink into the mattress, exhaustion hits me like a wave. In one smooth motion, he strips off his shirt and slides in beside me, the heat of his body immediately cocooning mine. His arm snakes around my waist, pulling me against his chest like it’s the most natural thing in the world.

“Sleep, little pet,” he whispers into my hair, and the steady beat of his heart under my ear is the last thing I remember before the dark takes me.

Morning came like a hammer to the skull with loud banging on my door, Kael’s voice ricocheting through the attic like he owned it. “Rivers! Open up!”

I barely had time to pry one eye open before Evander was already out of bed. The sheets fell from his torso, hair a glorious, ruffled mess, his bare shoulders catching the thin light filtering through the skylight. He looked like sin and fire and every dangerous thing wrapped into one, and all I could do was croak, “Wait!”

But it was too late. He swung the door open.

Kael practically bounced inside, filled with chaotic energy and no boundaries. “Well, well,” he drawled, grinning at Evander, “I thought you were dead.” His eyes flicked over Evander, shirtless, rumpled, very obviously in my room, and one eyebrow rose like a damn exclamation point. “Didn’t feel like telling your best friend you were skipping half a class and then not coming back to your room last night, or…?”

Evander didn’t even flinch under the scrutiny, but the look he threw Kael was lethal enough to quiet even him for half a heartbeat. The air was suddenly heavy with unspoken things, secrets, half-truths, and Kael’s curiosity buzzing like a live wire. I groaned into my pillow. This was about to be a lot of fun.

Evander’s golden eyes flick to me, teeth catching his bottom lip in that nervous habit of his. “He knows…” he says, voice low and edged with something like guilt. “I told him, when I suspected you were my mate.”

I blink at him. “You told him?”

Kael’s head snaps between us like he’s at a tennis match. “Wait, *you told her?*”

Evander drags a hand down his face. “Well… yeah. Some stuff happened.”

Kael’s gaze sweeps the room, my bed, Evander standing shirtless in it, me sitting there in a tangle of hair and blankets, and he gives a low whistle, eyebrows climbing. “Clearly,” he mutters.

I roll my eyes so hard it’s a miracle they don’t fall out. “Not that stuff,” I snap and grab the nearest pillow, winging it at his head. It hits him square in the face with a satisfying thud.

Kael pulls it off, smirking. “Uh-huh. Sure, Rivers.”

Evander just exhales through his nose, somewhere between exasperated and trying not to laugh.

“Right,” I mutter, grabbing the nearest pile of clean clothes and clutching them to my chest. “I’m having a shower. You two can… discuss whatever it is you pillow talk about.”

Kael’s grin spreads slowly and wickedly. “Great idea.” Before I can even make it halfway to the bathroom, he’s flopped back onto my bed, arms stretched wide, groaning dramatically. “Fuck, this is a nice bed.” He gives the mattress an appreciative pat, then pats the space beside him like an idiot. “C’mon, Drayke, we can make this a real bonding moment.”

Evander shakes his head, fighting a smile that’s all teeth and trouble. “You’re insufferable.”

“And yet you love me,” Kael fires back, already kicking his boots off and sinking deeper into the covers like he owns the place.

I sigh, half-amused, half-done with both of them. “Unbelievable.”

Evander shrugs at me, helpless in that way that says *this is just how he is*, and I roll my eyes before disappearing into the bathroom. The sound of Kael complaining about how Evander hogs the good pillows follows me as I turn on the water.

The bathroom filled with steam the moment I turned on the shower, fog curling up the glass, and the air thick with warmth. The water thundered down in a steady, endless rush, real, hot, clean water, and I stepped under it with a sigh that left my bones. It hit my skin like sunlight, sliding through my hair, running down my shoulders, tracing every aching muscle. I tipped my head back and let it soak through me. Every bruise, every cut from the forest, every trace of dried blood and dirt melted away, spinning down the drain like the memories that came with them. My fingers found the little shelf by the wall, soap, shampoo, and conditioner. Simple things, but to me, they were magic. I poured a generous amount of the shampoo into my palm, worked it through my hair until it foamed and slicked against my scalp. The smell was clean and faintly sweet, something like rain and wildflowers. I scrubbed, harder than necessary, until my arms ached and the water turned cloudy with the day’s grime. Then the soap. I lathered it over my arms, my chest, down my stomach and thighs, tracing scars that would never quite fade. Each one had its story, every line carved by someone who thought I wouldn’t survive. But I had. I always had. The warmth sank deeper, easing the ache in my muscles, loosening the tight knot that lived behind my ribs. For once, I didn’t have to rush, didn’t have to glance over my shoulder or worry about who might hear the water running. This was mine, my space, my moment, my silence.

I rested my palms against the tile, closed my eyes, and let the water drum across my back until my thoughts stilled. When I finally shut it off, the room was a soft blur of steam, the mirror completely fogged, and I felt… lighter. Clean. I wrapped myself in one of the thick green towels Tessa and I had picked out and smiled quietly to myself. For all the chaos and pain of this place, for all its secrets and dangers, here, in this little pocket of warmth and running water, I almost felt human.