Every pair of eyes on the rooftop locked onto the newcomer. But Isla’s reaction was the strongest—pure shock rooted her to the spot, her breath catching in her throat.
Rowan.
He had finally left the vault.
The entire school whispered legends about him: the eldest of the triplets—Rowan, Soran, and Cauro—kept chained in the deep underground vault beneath the academy. Some said it was punishment. Others said it was protection—for everyone else. No one really knew why he’d been locked away for so long. All they knew was that when Rowan was free, things changed. Fast.
Rowan’s piercing gaze found Isla right away. It moved over her slowly, methodically: the ripped uniform barely clinging to her shoulders, the angry red handprints on her cheek, the dark bruises spreading across her arms and co
