Elowyn walked into class the next morning, her eyes dull from restless sleep. The incident with Baron still clung to her like invisible smoke—burning in her lungs, making her senses edgy.
Her head? It wasn't helping at all.
She remembered him.
Baron.
His sharp green eyes and those moist lips that stayed soft between all the hard places.
Her heart was aching. Her tummy was churning with excitement that she tried to fight.
He hadn’t looked her way since.
Not once.
Not in the mess hall, not in the corridor.
But today, the seat beside her was empty.
Riven Thorney was absent.
She blinked. That never happened.
She had not seen him during morning runs, too.
The boy was almost too punctual. Always at the academy’s front line like he was made for war.
The instructor walked in without
