🌒 Ashenwell – Pre-Dawn Hours
Lys was already awake. Not because of training. Not because of discipline.
Because she didn't trust Seth Virell.
Wrapped in a dark cloak that shimmered with faint frost, she moved like a shadow through the upper dorm halls—gliding across marble, boots whisper-quiet. Her gloves pulsed with cold Lume, condensation forming where her fingers brushed the walls.
> "I'm not following him," she whispered to herself.
> "I'm protecting Grim."
A gust of winter air followed in her wake as she slid around a corner, just in time to see Seth vanish into one of the abandoned study halls.
She narrowed her eyes.
> "Who studies at 4:00 a.m.?"
🧊 A crackle of frost gathered along her fingertips. Subtle. Controlled.
But present.
---
📡 Elsewhere – Grim's Room
Sparks was glitching again.
Lines of static danced across Grim's vision. Sparks' voice stuttered and echoed.
> "G—Grim. You awake? Something's w-wrong with m-me."
Grim sat up, blinking. "Again?"
> "There's a—frequency. It's not natural. It's not mechanical either. Like an emotional sonar pulse. But coded. It's hitting me in waves."
> "It's coming from Seth."
Grim's jaw clenched.
> "He's probing us?"
> "Worse. He's syncing. Slowly. Like someone trying to find a backdoor into your memories—and maybe mine."
Grim stood, pulled his jacket on, and left his room.
If Seth wanted to play games, Grim could play harder.
---
🧊 Meanwhile – Abandoned Study Hall
Seth knelt before a cracked wall, fingers pressed to a hidden rune. A whisper of violet flickered from his wrist.
He didn't hear Lys enter behind him.
Didn't see her raise her hand—cold mist swirling around her palm like coiled ice serpents.
> "You smile too much for someone without a soul," she said flatly.
Seth turned slowly. His smile never changed.
"Vaen. You're not cleared to be here."
"I'm not here to be cleared. I'm here to freeze your lungs if you keep sniffing around Grim."
Seth laughed softly. "How possessive. Is he yours?"
Lys' eyes glinted.
> "Not yet. But if you touch him again, I'll carve your name into the snow and bury you under it."
> "And no one here will ask where you went. Not even the teachers. That's how forgettable you are."
A gust of frozen air hissed through the room.
Seth didn't answer.
But his smile—just for a second—faltered.