MAEVE POV
The knock is not loud, but in the suffocating silence of my room, it sounds like a hammer striking stone. I hold my breath, trembling with anxiety and alertness. Dark thoughts spread through my mind.
“Reeve?”
I force myself to stand, straighten my clothes, and take a long breath. My hand carefully unlocks the door and opens it slightly.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Reeve.”
The voice is smooth, almost musical, but carries a chill that makes my hair on my neck stand on end.
Dorian Duskborne stands there. He is no longer wearing his laboratory robe; he is only wearing the academy uniform shirt. Like this, Dorian looks exactly like any other student.
His dark purple eyes study me with an intensity different from Alaric’s. The gaze of a hungry scientist who has just d
