The academy never really slept — not truly. Even at midnight, when students drifted into uneasy dreams and guards moved in quiet patrols, there was a rhythm beneath the stone that hummed like a heartbeat.
Glosh sensed it the moment she opened her eyes.
Not the ordinary hum of wards or echo of history, but something older — a pulse that recognized her presence. Like a lock turning in a forgotten door.
Her senses were already sharp. Now, they thrummed.
She sat up slowly, scanning the shadows in her room. No noise. No footsteps. Just the hum — like a distant whisper curling through the walls.
Cael still slept in the chair across from her — alert even in rest, jaw relaxed, breath steady. Glosh watched him for a moment, her wolf in the back of her mind whispering raw emotions she didn’t fu
