Chapter 16 Excerpt
❀ Heat in the Hollow ❀
They talked late into the evening, flowing from laughter to quiet confessions to comfortable silence. And when they kissed again, it was warm and unhurried, the kind of embrace that came simply because they could now. Because neither of them wanted to stop.
Then Monday shattered the spell.
Charms was their first class of the day, and Natty’s absence hit her the moment she stepped through the doorway. An owl had arrived that morning explaining she’d found a lead on an Ashwinder hideout and was cutting class to follow it. Mum’s the word, Natty had written, as if Raven needed the reminder.
The room went still. Too still. Conversations faltered. Heads turned. Then whispers rippled through the air like someone had cracked open a window to a storm.
Raven kept her chin up walking to her usual seat, calmly setting her books and satchel down. She tried to look unbothered, but the hush pressed against her skin. It reminded her of those wealthy parties, how the room changed once the guests learned her story. Or rather, decided she didn’t have one.
Then a chair scraped sharply, making everyone jump.
Sebastian stood from his place beside Ominis. Without hesitation, he crossed the room with a look that could have cut dragon scales and dropped into the seat beside her as if it had always been his.
The whispers died instantly.
He didn’t say a word, just leveled the room with a glare that said, I dare any of you to say something.
Across the aisle, Ominis tilted his head. A small, knowing smile tugged at his mouth with quiet approval. He didn’t need eyes to understand exactly what his friend was doing.
More days had passed, and they continued to keep their newly formed relationship quiet. Not because they were embarrassed, never that, but because it was theirs and no one else had the right to touch it.
In class, their hands found each other beneath the table, first by accident, then not at all by accident. Outside Magical Theory, he waited for her, always pretending he just happened to be there. But when his head lifted hearing her footsteps, it gave him away every time. Then he would fall into step beside her as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Raven kept catching him in these small, disarming moments and each one made her stomach flutter. Even with the Keepers silent and the Third Trial looming somewhere in the distance, none of it seemed to matter when she was with Sebastian.
In the courtyard, he reached out to brush a leaf from her hair, his fingers lingering just a heartbeat too long against her temple.
And during study period, he would slide a folded note across the table. You’re glowing, it said in his sharp handwriting. Not realizing she’d been smiling until she saw the words.
Even now, sitting at lunch with her friends, her gaze kept wandering across the Great Hall before she could stop herself. His eyes kept flicking up as well, pretending to listen to Ominis, giving her that small, crooked half-smile, the one that made her pulse skip.
It became a silent conversation, his raised eyebrow, her shy smile, the way he mouthed later? like a promise. She tried focusing on her soup, and thought they were being subtle.
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