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“Why don’t we go out?” her ma said. “That way, you don’t have to cook for everyone.”

“We can go home,” Riley said, sitting up, causing Molly to jump off her lap with an irritated tail swish.

“Nope,” her ma said. “You’re not going anywhere. We haven’t seen you kids in a while, and you’re about to be monopolizing my girl’s time for a long while to come.”

Riley pursed her lips and nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Charlotte laughed. It amused her to see her boisterous friend turn sheepish in the face of her ma’s assertive ways.

“Fine.” Her mom tugged the hem of her peasant blouse. “If we’re going out, I still want seafood. Let me get my purse.”

“That woman could eat your body weight in clam strips if you let her,” her ma said to Aiden.

He chuckled and put an arm around Charlotte. She settled into his embrace, content to enjoy the moment.

While she couldn’t openly discuss what it meant to be at Blackthorn Academy, she felt settled in the knowledge that her mothers likely understood things weren’t as they seemed to the outside world. It eased the burden on her mind to know she didn’t have to lie to them, because they wouldn’t put her in the position to do so or they would risk not only themselves, but her.

Birdsong rang out around where they sat at the center of the hedge maze.

It was the first time Charlotte had entered the sprawling labyrinth of greenery filled with statues of winged creatures in black marble, ivy leaves clinging to their bodies. She avoided it because a part of her questioned if she entered, would she end up stepping into a weird world like that old movie her mom was obsessed with from the eighties about a goblin king who kidnapped a teenage girl’s baby brother because of his obsession with her.

Considering all the other peculiar things she discovered about this new world, and that yet another world existed that she knew nothing about, that Blaire only knew from her dreams, she didn’t want to take any chances.

Turned out, the hedge maze was nothing more than a simple maze made of hedges. Nothing more, nothing less. Imagine that.

A bubbling fountain sat at the heart of the hedge maze, much smaller than the one in the courtyard, surrounded by marble benches and small tables.

She stretched out on the blanket Riley brought out for them all to sit on next to Aiden. Her belly felt as full as her heart.

Few could see them here; their only view was of the upper floors of the dorms and the school buildings. The entire area provided a sense of peace and privacy, the noise beyond deadened by the layers of hedges between them and the rest of the campus.

Riley sat perched in Seth’s lap between his crossed legs, babbling to Layla about a new pair of boots she saw when she looked online last night. Blaire sat with her back to the fountain base, shoveling forkfuls of pasta salad into her mouth while Lukas spoke to her about something his parents asked about his study program.

Charlotte wouldn’t mind having other students around, but it was nice to get away from the stares and background chatter surrounding her bonding with Aiden.

Piper and Lindsay volleyed questions at her after they heard the news, wanting to know what it felt like to have a sealed Korrena bond, how the emotional tug-of-war felt, and other questions that even bordered on too much. They spoke to her like she belonged in their world—like she was one of them. Alex still cut her dirty looks when they passed each other in the cafeteria or courtyard, but they never engaged in conversation, so she took it as a win.

She gazed at the fluffy white clouds overhead.

Whenever they went to the cafeteria in the days following the seal of their bond, at least one brave student approached with questions for her, Aiden, or even Blaire and Lukas. Aiden said with another human on campus, curiosity won out, and students took the chance to ask questions. Lukas said they never got approached before.

Even after classes started, they would continue being a hot topic of conversation, but things would settle down eventually. There were only so many questions someone could ask.

Not everyone embraced the idea of two humans on campus. It didn’t escape her notice that some students gave them a wide berth, while others talked in hushed tones as they passed—wary, if not downright hostile in the things she overheard. Most of it came from fear of another rogue attack on campus.

She sighed. She couldn’t blame them for being afraid. Still, she hoped one day those who hesitated to accept her and Blaire would eventually find peace with their presence.

At least no one tried to bully them.

Charlotte looked up as Dominic rounded the corner of a hedge. Sunlight from the midday sun dappled across his face where it streamed through the bits of foliage hanging over a particularly beautiful statue next to him of a creature she didn’t recognize.

“I have news,” he said, taking a seat on the edge of the blanket and grabbing the only unopened container of grilled chicken and pasta salad remaining. His eyebrow piercing caught the light, stealing her attention. She wondered if it had hurt.

Everyone stopped talking and focused on him.

“They’ve found your father,” he said, looking at her. “Like we suspected, he returned to Florida to recoup his losses and formulate another plan.”

“Where is he now?”