The immortal's queen

Chapter 15: By chance

By the third time Carl appeared in the same hallway as me, even my denial started getting suspicious.

The first time could have been coincidence. Morning rush, crowded corridor, everyone moving toward class. He passed with two people I didn’t recognize, glanced once in my direction, and kept walking.

Fine.

The second time was outside the training wing. I had just finished a short suppression session with Darian and was still shaking out the pressure in my hands when Carl showed up near the water station, as if he had always been there. He didn’t approach. He only looked, thoughtful and mildly interested, then left when someone called his name.

Still fine.

Probably.

The third time was not fine.

I was cutting through the side path behind the academic building, trying to reach the library before it filled up, when he fell into step beside me like the route had been designed for him.

“You’re hard to miss,” Carl said.

I didn’t stop walking. “Yet people keep managing it.”

He smiled at that, small and controlled. “You’re recovering well.”

My shoulders tensed. “From what?”

“From the Beast Den.” He said it casually, as if discussing weather. “Word moves fast here.”

Of course it does. This school has better information networks than most governments.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“You scrubbed floors with a toothbrush until midnight and you’re fine?”

I shot him a look. “Is there a public newsletter I didn’t subscribe to?”

“No.” His eyes flicked toward me, assessing. “Just people who enjoy talking. And I enjoy listening.”

That was the problem with Carl. He never pushed too hard at first. He arrived, made a clean observation, and waited to see what cracked open.

We passed under the archway toward the library steps. Students streamed around us. From the outside, it probably looked ordinary: a well-known graduate walking beside a first-year for a minute. Nothing worth staring at.

My instincts disagreed.

“What do you want?” I asked.

Carl’s answer came without rush. “You’re interesting.”

“That’s not a personality.”

“It’s a position.” He glanced ahead, voice lowering just enough. “Theo doesn’t waste time on ordinary troublemakers. Yet here you are, collecting his attention like it’s free.”

I stopped at the base of the stairs. “If this is the part where you warn me for my own good, skip it.”

“I’m not warning you.” He turned to face me fully then, handsome features arranged into something almost polite. “I’m noticing you.”

There it was. Not charm heavy enough to drown in. Not open threat either. Just a careful placement of interest, like a piece moved onto a board.

Great. Another powerful man has decided I’m a puzzle. I should start charging observation fees.

“Notice someone else,” I said. “I’m at capacity.”

Carl studied me for a second longer, as if filing away the refusal rather than accepting it. “Capacity changes.”

Before I could answer, Noemi’s voice cut in from the top of the stairs.

“Celine.”

She came down fast, eyes moving from me to Carl with immediate dislike she didn’t bother hiding. “We’re going to be late.”

Carl’s expression didn’t change much, but something in it cooled.

“Noemi,” he said.

“Carl.” Her tone made his name sound like a stain.

I took the opening and stepped up toward her. “Good talk. Let’s never have it again.”

Carl’s quiet laugh followed me, not loud enough to be friendly. “I’ll see you around.”

Not a question.

A prediction.

Noemi waited until we were inside the library doors before hissing, “Why was he next to you?”

“He appeared. Like mold.”

“That’s not funny.”

“It is a little funny.”

“Celine.” She grabbed my sleeve. “Carl doesn’t appear. He selects. If a graduate like him is showing up near you more than once, it means he already decided you’re useful.”

Useful.

There was that word again, the same one he had practically worn on his face the first time we spoke.

I forced a shrug, even though my skin still felt tight from the conversation. “Then he’s going to be disappointed.”

Noemi did not look comforted.

Neither was I, if I was being honest.

Because coincidence had a pattern now. Hallway. Training wing. Side path. Always close enough to be seen, never close enough to be accused.

And the worst part wasn’t that Carl was watching.

It was that he wanted me to know it.