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But no. Mydusia had tacked on her own last name, officiating the command.

And little girlfriend… if Rayna and I had become vigates or even if I’d just fucking married her while I had the chance, the term wouldn’t have applied.

That left the next time you see her.

I simply couldn’t see Rayna. Ever again.

Leaning over the balcony, I retched and retched and retched even though I had nothing left. She’d probably been waiting for me all night, expecting me to show up at the Element Wielder ball for a dance. But I hadn’t showed.

And now we’d never dance again.

I was just about to retch again when the disjointed flapping of a bird cut through the blurriness in my vision. No, not a bird—a piece of paper.

One handedly, I plucked it out of midair before it could flutter straight into my face. The scent of orchid and bamboo washed over me immediately, and I unraveled the parchment with shaking fingers.

Coen,

The Esholian Institute is growing restless. They think the ‘king’ is killing the elites. Dyonisia might be losing a bit of loyalty among the pre-elites, too. They say the red dots in the center of the Good Council brands grant them immunity to her antipower.

And I want to go to the temple with you, too. Neh vi otla niemperra.

-Little Hurricane

Fuck. I clutched the paper to my chest, hardly processing the first part of the letter, only repeating that last part over and over.

She wanted to go to the temple with me too. She loved me forever, and I wished more than anything I could tell her the same one more time.

A sudden BOOM shook the ground down below. The sound didn’t rattle me—there was always chaos unfolding at the original Esholian Institute—but it sent a flock of birds bursting from a nearby tree.

If only I had Wild Whispering, I’d ask one of them to gouge out my eyes with their talons to eliminate the possibility of me actually seeing Rayna ever again. Maybe then I’d still get to hold her, to tell her I loved her…

My head snapped up. What the fuck was I thinking? I didn’t need to gouge out my own eyeballs just to talk to Rayna. We’d spent so long only communicating mind-to-mind that doing so again would be just like old times.

And she’d never want to be kept in the dark, to always wonder why I’d never showed up at that Element Wielder ball. She’d want to know what was going on even if I couldn’t say it directly to her face. Even if it broke her heart too.

As soon as the thought solidified, I was gone.

My darkness gathered me up and spit me out on the outskirts of the island’s campus, where I kept my gaze downcast on the off-chance Rayna was traipsing among the trees beyond the pentaball field.

Only for a few heartbeats, though. From across the field, screams and sobs punctured what should have been a peaceful morning, and every mind in the vicinity buzzed with anxiety. Trepidation. Distress.

When I tried to pinpoint Rayna among them, my Mind Manipulating scrabbled at nothing. Like she wasn’t even here.

Dread coiled in my chest. Within the span of a blink, I was landing on the edge of Bascite Boulevard, taking in the scene before me.

What looked like everyone at the Institute was crammed between the mansions, circled around some kind of commotion by the Wild Whisperer house. Amid those screams and sobs and the absence of Rayna’s presence that rattled through me like the most thunderous of silences, the unmistakable voice of Mr. Gleekle rose in waves amplified by magic-induced wind.

“—know you’re all a little upset, but it’s okay. This is just what happens when we don’t uphold our duties as citizens. The Good Council is only here to help protect us, and if we try to interfere then it is only understandable that some casualties…”

Casualties?

My dread sprung out, snapping like a serpent. I didn’t care who the hell saw me without a mask as I began to shove my way through the crowd, hardly noticing that I didn’t need to shove at all. Everyone simply moved out of my way with gapes and gasps.

When they’d carved a path for me to see Mr. Gleekle and what lay around him, my vision went bloodred.

The body of a girl was sprawled on the ground, where several other students were on their knees, screaming and sobbing and shaking her as if to wake her up.

Not Rayna. Someone I vaguely recognized as one of her roommates, though, with Emelle and other friends and housemates around her.