Chapter 18: A dangerous game
1591 Words
Atlas
The squeak of rubber soles echoed down the hallway, the late afternoon sun casting long stripes of gold across the marble floor. I spun my basketball between my palms, needing the burn in my muscles and the smack of the ball against the court to shut out the static in my head.
But then I heard it.
“…Zara Blackwood. What’s her record before Blackwood Academy?”
I slowed, one foot dragging, the ball stopping in my hand mid-spin.
That was Jace.
I tucked myself behind the wall near the staff corridor, peering just enough to see the shapes, Jace, all calculated stillness, speaking to Professor Delrin who clutched a folder close like it might shield him from whatever question came next.
“She was transferred after that Mira girl’s disappearance, right?” Jace pressed, voice mild but lined with tension. “No written evaluations? No reports from her previous pack school?”
Delrin shifted uneasily. “I’m not at liberty to disclose everything.”
Jace smiled that razor-sharp grin he’d perfected. “I’m not asking for classified files. I’m just wondering why there’s… so little known about her.”
I felt it like a slap to the chest. He wasn’t curious. He was digging.
I backed away before I was noticed, jaw locked. The ball clutched under one arm felt like a weight now. I stormed down the stairs, every step landing harder than it needed to. I didn’t head to the court. I couldn’t, not when my head was burning with questions I didn’t want to ask myself.
Why the hell is Jace so obsessed with her?
And why did the thought of him sniffing around her like that make me want to break something?
I found Zara outside near the east garden later that day. She was sitting on one of the stone benches, legs crossed, head down over a thick leather-bound textbook. Her hoodie was zipped up to her chin despite the sun. She looked… tired, pale even. Like something was quietly draining her.
Not that I cared. I should walk the other way.
But I didn’t.
“You skipped lunch,” I said instead, tone flat.
She looked up slowly, eyes narrowing the second she saw me. “Didn’t feel like a group hang.”
I stepped closer, shoving my hands into my pockets. “Jace is asking around about you.”
That made her go still. Her fingers curled around the book spine, knuckles white. “What kind of asking?”
“Teachers. Staff. Alex.”
“Of course,” she muttered, a hard breath slipping out. “Why wouldn’t he?”
Why wouldn’t he?
I sat on the edge of the bench, even though she clearly didn’t want me to. “You should be careful.”
She stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “You’re warning me now?”
I shrugged. “Don’t trust him.”
She laughed once, a humorless sound. “I don’t trust you either.”
“Good,” I said tightly. “Keep it that way.”
She closed the book with a thump and stood. “I’m not some secret for the King brothers to solve. I didn’t come here to play your spy games.”
“Did you come here to lie low?” I asked before I could stop myself.
She froze. “What did you just say?”
I stood too, matching her height now. “I’m just saying people who run don’t usually do it without a reason.”
Her mouth parted, something breaking behind her eyes, hurt or rage or both, but she turned without another word and walked away, shoulders stiff.
I watched her go. I didn’t follow.
I told myself I didn’t care.
….
Later that evening, I met up with Kael, Niko, and Thorne, my gym friends. We met behind the gym building where we usually cooled off after training. Niko was flicking fire from fingertip to fingertip, trying to impress the twins from Glasshill Academy who were “visiting” for the week.
Kael clapped a hand on my shoulder as I approached. “Look who decided to grace us with his handsome face.”
I rolled my eyes and stole a water bottle from his crate.
Thorne grinned, sharp teeth glinting. “So… rumor has it you and Zara were working on your project.”
“We were assigned to work together,” I muttered.
Kael raised a brow. “Right, but you haven’t expelled her yet.”
“Because that’s not how this works,” I snapped.
Niko smirked, flame flickering between his hands. “Yeah? ‘Cause I swear last week you were ready to throw her out of the tower window.”
“I still might,” I said, though it sounded weak even to me.
Thorne laughed. “Oh yeah. You’re real convincing.”
“I’m serious.”
Kael leaned in, his face mocking . “You want to expel her, but… you can’t. Because your wolf’s acting like she’s already yours.”
I flinched.
Niko noticed. “See? Right there. You like her.”
I threw the water bottle at him. He caught it mid-air, laughing.
“I don’t like her.”
“Then what is it?” Kael pressed.
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know. She’s just, She’s chaotic. She messes everything up. She doesn’t follow the rules, doesn’t flinch when she should. She talks back. And yet—”
“Yet?” Thorne asked.
I exhaled. “I keep thinking about her anyway.”
Silence.
Niko gave a low whistle. “Damn. He’s in denial and in trouble.”
“Shut up,” I muttered, but the words held no fire.
Kael grinned. “This is better than watching you try to flirt with Nova.”
“I never flirted with Nova,” I groaned.
“Right. And I’m a unicorn.”
That night, I stayed later than I should’ve in the strategy library. The moonlight cast silver lines across the stacks. I was meant to review our assigned segment on vampire alliance treaties but all I could think about was Jace’s expression, curious, too curious, and Zara’s eyes when I said people who run have something to hide.
Maybe I’d pushed too hard. But I couldn’t take it back.
….
The next morning, she was already seated in the reserved classroom when I walked in. Her face was unreadable, her eyes cold. She didn’t even glance my way.
Alex and Jace followed behind me. They took opposite seats. Alex immediately launched into ideas, her voice too chipper, too bright.
Jace didn’t say much. Just observed.
But when Alex leaned toward him, he leaned back, resting a hand on her shoulder.
My jaw tightened.
“Zara,” Jace said suddenly, eyes flicking to her. “What do you think of exploring lycan shift trauma for the ritual section?”
She didn’t even look at him. “Sure.”
He frowned. “Do you have experience with it?”
“I said sure.”
Alex’s gaze darted between them, uneasy. “We can all handle different parts. Zara’s good with archival research, I think.”
Jace smiled at her. “I’ll help you with that part then.”
Zara’s pen snapped in her grip.
She stood. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
I caught her arm as she passed. “Skipping another meal?”
“Let go of me,” she said without looking at me.
Jace raised a brow. “Is everything okay?”
“Mind your business,” I snapped, not bothering to look at him.
He stood slowly, that unreadable calm settling over him. “Maybe you should tell me what this really is, Atlas.”
Alex’s voice cracked in between us. “Stop it. Both of you.”
Zara tugged free. “Don’t fight over me. I’m not worth it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Jace said smoothly.
I watched Zara, she didn’t even smile. She just walked out.
.
By the time our next meeting started, she was quieter than usual. She answered questions when pressed but her tone was cold, robotic. I hated it. Hated that she wasn’t sparring with me. Hated that Jace kept watching her.
I pulled her aside afterward.
“I was trying to protect you.”
Zara blinked up at me, guarded. “By insulting me? By telling me not to trust your brother like I’m too stupid to decide that myself?”
I winced. “That’s not what I meant.”
She crossed her arms. “Then what do you mean?”
I looked at her, really looked. The tension in her jaw. The exhaustion in her shoulders. The storm bottled inside her.
“I mean I don’t trust him. And you shouldn’t either.”
Her gaze softened, just slightly.
“Then maybe you should try to mind your business,” she whispered.
Before I could answer, she was gone again.
Later, when I crossed the common courtyard, Jace was already waiting. Leaning against the stone archway like he’d known I’d come this way.
“You’re overly protective of her,” he said without preamble.
I didn’t respond.
“You don’t even know why.”
I turned toward him. “Neither do you.”
He smiled thinly. “You think I’m the threat.”
“Am I wrong?”
Jace shrugged. “You’ve always been reactive. Emotional.”
“Better than pretending to feel nothing while planning your next move.”
- Writer
