CHAPTER 7 – Lessons After Midnight
464 Words
The academy slept.
Torches dimmed, corridors fell silent, and the wards settled into their night cycle. That was when Raven came for Lila.
Three soft knocks.
A pause.
Then another—deliberate.
She opened the door without speaking. He stood there dressed in black, shadows obedient at his feet.
“Put this on,” he said, handing her a dark cloak. “No symbols. No marks.”
“Midnight lessons?” Lila whispered.
“The safest kind.”
They slipped through the halls like ghosts, descending into the forest beyond the academy walls. Moonlight filtered through the trees, silver and sharp.
“This place feels… familiar,” Lila murmured.
Raven glanced at her. “Royal magic always finds old ground.”
They stopped in a clearing ringed with standing stones. Runes flared to life as Lila stepped inside.
“This is a focusing circle,” Raven explained. “Your power reacts to emotion. If you don’t learn control, the crown will choose for you.”
“And what does the crown want?” she asked.
His eyes darkened. “Rule. Or ruin.”
Lila swallowed. “Let’s avoid the second one.”
A ghost of a smile crossed his face.
“Close your eyes,” Raven said. “Feel the mark—but don’t obey it.”
She did. Power surged, wild and bright. The stones trembled.
“Too much,” he warned. “Breathe. Anchor yourself.”
“To what?”
Raven hesitated, then placed his hand over hers. His touch was warm, steady.
“To me.”
The power steadied instantly.
They both froze.
Raven pulled his hand back, jaw tight. “That shouldn’t have worked.”
Lila’s heart raced. “But it did.”
The air shifted—charged, intimate, dangerous.
Before either could speak, the stones flared crimson.
Raven cursed under his breath. “We’re being watched.”
From the edge of the clearing, eyes glowed in the dark—not wolves, not human. Dark Court scouts.
“Run,” Raven said.
Lila didn’t argue.
They fled through the forest, magic crackling behind them. A bolt of shadow sliced past, missing her by inches.
Raven spun, throwing up a shield. “Go!”
“No,” she shouted, turning back. “I’m not leaving you.”
Power flooded her veins—not panicked this time, but precise. She raised her hand.
“Enough.”
Silver light exploded outward, forcing the scouts back into the trees. Silence followed.
Raven stared at her, breathless. “You’re learning.”
Lila met his gaze, pulse roaring. “So are you.”
As they made their way back toward the academy, one truth lingered between them:
The crown was awakening faster than anyone expected.
And whatever was growing between them might be just as dangerous.
- Writer
