For one catastrophic second, my brain stopped functioning entirely.
Kael's hand tightened against my waist as he pulled me flush against him, shielding my face from the approaching officers while his other hand tilted my chin upward. Then his mouth crashed against mine.
Not gentle. Not romantic. Absolute strategic.
Which somehow made it worse.
Cold shock ripped through me instantly. My pulse slammed violently against my ribs as the hallway around us blurred into static noise and startled gasps.
I should've pushed him away. Instead, I froze. Because I understood what he was doing the exact moment the security officers slowed nearby.
Cover, Distraction.
Students immediately looked anywhere except directly at us. Campus gossip instincts overpowering federal-investigation instincts apparently. Kael's thumb pressed sharply once against my wrist."":
"Stay still" His lips moved slightly against mine as he muttered quietly enough that only I could hear: "Act natural."
Natural? I was seconds away from cardiac arrest. But somehow my hands still found the front of his hoodie automatically, gripping the fabric hard enough to wrinkle it. Interesting betrayal from my nervous system.
Around us, footsteps slowed. One officer muttered, "Jesus these kids, Nevermind."
Another sighed. "Students."
The radio crackled again. "Found a visual. Continue north corridor sweep."
My heartbeat roared louder because this wasn't north corridor. Kael didn't move immediately.
I'd admit either he is a dimwit or fucking smart. Because his brain is too quick and it wouldn't even look staged.
He stayed close another second longer before finally pulling back slowly.
Very slowly. Big mistake, Because now I could actually look at him properly from this distance.
Rain-dark eyes, sharp breathing, one hand still resting against my waist and for the first time since meeting Kael Mercer he looked affected too. Not much, But enough.
Maya stood beside us staring like she'd just witnessed a live exorcism. "What," she whispered faintly, "the hell was THAT?"
Excellent question maya. Because yes, what the fuck. Kael released me immediately, mask snapping back into place so fast it almost looked painful.
"Just some experiment," he said flatly. Maya blinked twice.
"You experimented by aggressively making out with her?"
He looked at me hearing that comment to which i looked away for no reason.
"Worked, didn't it?"
I crossed my arms tightly, trying to ignore him and the fact my pulse still hadn't stabilized. "You could've warned me first." i whispered to him.
"No time."
"There was absolutely time."
His mouth twitched slightly. Not a smile. Worse. Amusement and I hated that immediately. Maya looked between us again.
"Oh my God."
"What now?" I asked.
"You two have terrifying chemistry."
"No we don't," both Kael and I said instantly.
Maya pointed dramatically. "THAT. That right there."
"Please stop talking," Kael muttered.
Shockingly, Maya did not.
"This is the most emotionally repressed thing I've ever seen and I'm a psychology major."
"Congratulations," Kael replied dryly. "You should study abroad."
I almost laughed. Which was deeply inconvenient timing because the security officers disappeared around the far hallway corner moments later, but tension remained wrapped tightly around my chest. Underneath the chaos, one thought kept repeating, Subject located?
Not student? Not witness? Subject.
The same wording from the Veil files. Kael noticed my expression shift immediately.
"Come on," he said quietly.
"Where?"
"Somewhere without cameras."
Maya raised a hand. "Quick concern: why are you saying things that sound illegal?"
Kael ignored her completely. Which is extremely rude. Consistent, but rude. I hesitated only briefly before following him down the side corridor. Wow ayla you have terrible survival instincts.
The photography lab sat abandoned this late in the afternoon. Rows of old editing equipment lined the dark room while rain streaked softly across blacked-out windows. Kael locked the door behind us immediately. My stomach tightened.
"That feels threatening."
"It's for privacy."
"Those are occasionally the same thing."
He walked straight toward one of the computer terminals before turning toward me. "Now you need to listen carefully."
Something in his tone erased humor instantly. My pulse slowed again. "Okay."
Kael ran a hand through damp dark hair roughly, frustration visibly tightening every movement now. "This lockdown isn't because of archive access."
I frowned. "Then what is it?"
"They're searching for the Veil breach."
"The flash drive?"
"Yes."
I crossed my arms tighter. "And somehow they already know I'm involved."
"They knew the second you opened Noah's file." Cold realization crawled slowly through me.
"All student systems are monitored."
"Not all," Kael corrected quietly. "Priority subjects." Again with that word.
"Stop calling people subjects."
"Its not me that's what Veil calls them." The room felt colder instantly.
I leaned against one of the desks carefully. "Tell me exactly what Project Veil is."
Kael looked toward the rain-covered windows. Silent for too long. "Five years ago, Ravenwell partnered with private behavioral research foundations."
"That still sounds legal."
"It wasn't." My chest tightened.
"They started profiling students psychologically. Monitoring emotional responses, stress patterns, memory retention…" His jaw flexed once. "At some point it stopped being observation."
The phrase settled heavily between us. "At some point?"
Kael looked directly at me now. "They started testing people."
Silence, rain hammered harder against the windows.
"What kind of tests?"
"I don't know all of it." Seems a bit truth this time or close enough.
"But Noah found something." Kael nodded once.
"He accessed archived Veil records three weeks ago." His voice lowered carefully. "After that… he started changing."
"How?"
"He forgot things."
A chill crawled slowly across my skin. "Forgot?"
"At first small things." Kael stared past me now, lost somewhere else entirely. "Conversations. Assignments. Places he'd been."
"And then?"
"He started saying people were following him."
My stomach twisted violently. Because Noah had been right. Kael looked exhausted suddenly. Not physically, Emotionally.
"I thought he was paranoid," he admitted quietly. "I thought stress was messing with him." Guilt sharpened every word.
"The night you saw us…" His voice tightened. "Noah called me saying he remembered something important."
The bridge. Rain. Blood. Fear.
"He kept saying they got inside his head," Kael whispered. "That they erased things." The room fell silent again. I stared at him carefully.
"You believe him now."
"Yes." No hesitation. None. Then another realization struck me suddenly.
"You said Noah remembered something."
Kael's eyes lifted toward mine.
"What if…" My voice slowed carefully. "What if someone did that to other students too?" He didn't answer. Which was answer enough.
I thought about the message again: DO NOT LET HER REMEMBER.
Cold spread violently through my chest. "What if they did it to me?"
Kael went completely still.
And somehow that terrified me more than if he'd answered immediately. "Ayla…"
I cut him completely, "What if I already saw something?" My breathing sharpened. "What if I forgot?"
The silence that followed felt catastrophic.
"You weren't supposed to be at Ravenwell." Every nerve in my body tightened instantly.
"What does that mean?"
Kael looked genuinely conflicted now. Like he was debating whether telling me the truth would help or destroy me. "Your transfer request was denied two months ago." The floor seemed to vanish beneath me.
"What?"
"I checked after Noah died." Kael's voice stayed careful. "Your records were manually reinstated three days before you arrived." Ice flooded my veins.
"That's impossible."
"No." His expression darkened. "At Ravenwell, impossible things happen constantly."
My mind raced violently now. The email. The anonymous summons. The immediate surveillance. Someone wanted me here. Not accidentally, Deliberately.
"Why did you looked into me?" i asked looking at him a bit with suspicious eyes. A soft knock suddenly echoed against the photography lab door.
Three slow taps. Kael froze instantly. Not fear this time, Recognition.
Then a voice came quietly through the door. "You need to leave. Now."
My pulse spiked immediately. I knew that voice.
Professor Marrow?