Jaxon retreated a dozen feet back to the table, where he packed up his things.

Zavien sighed. "I care about you, but right now, things are complicated."

Wow. He was doing great until the "but." "What does that mean?"

"It means I'm beholden to Nola and her family. It means I can't necessarily do what I want. It means I-"

"Sorry I'm late." Onyx strode down the aisle with a determined look on his face. "Bryn, will you excuse us? Zavien and I have business to attend to."

Bryn grabbed Zavien's arm. "Finish what you were going to say."

"We don't have time for this. Zavien, come with me." Onyx turned back the way he'd come.

"I have to go." Zavien pulled away from her.

"Seriously?" He was going to leave her hanging like this, again?

He hurried after Onyx without looking back. She stood there, dumbfounded.

Chapter Eighteen.

On the walk back to her dorm, she tried to make sense of the information she'd gained. Alec had wanted to end both the Westgate and Sinclair lines by murdering Jaxon, Lillith, and her in order to steal Ferrin's and her grandfather's future-just like they'd stolen his future with a.n.a.lise, first by denying the marriage pet.i.tion, and then by arranging her death in a car accident. That was one mystery solved.

Then there was the revelation about her dad's parents' suspicious deaths right after he ran off with her mom. The scariest part was, she could imagine her grandfather orchestrating the whole thing as revenge. What was she supposed to do with that information? As usual, she was left with more questions than answers. Funny how Zavien was the least of her concerns right now.

Could she do anything to help Rhianna? Who would Jaxon be paired with now that Rhianna was undesirable?

The last question brought her to a screeching halt. She prayed that her grandmother and Lillith wouldn't have any influence over who Jaxon would be paired with.

"There you are." Ivy's voice brought her out of her nightmare haze.

"Hi, guys."

Clint and Ivy walked toward her hand in hand.

"Where've you been?" Clint asked.

She should keep them out of the loop, but she wasn't that strong. "I asked Jaxon to help me investigate some Directorate business."

Ivy opened her mouth to speak.

"The reason I didn't ask you guys was because I knew it could land us in trouble. And it did. Two of the Directorate's goons showed up to threaten us."

Clint's brows drew together. "Threatened how?"

"They tried to intimidate Jaxon, but he went all Westgate on them."

Ivy snorted. "You mean he went all superior and obnoxious?"

"It was kind of funny." Bryn shoved her hands in her pockets. "And then it wasn't." She told them about Zavien showing up and his stupid claim that she'd broken their deal. "He griped about how much trouble he was in with Nola."

"He needs to grow a pair," Clint said.

"Jaxon said the same thing. In a more upper-cla.s.s way, of course."

"And?" Ivy asked.

"Zavien said he cares about me, but things are complicated. Like I don't know that already. Idiot. He didn't even stay, he just ran off with Onyx." She kicked at a rock on the sidewalk. "So here I am, p.i.s.sed off at Zavien, and the Directorate, and pretty much any male who isn't Clint or Jaxon." She knew what she needed to do. "It's time for me to focus on something else. If Zavien wants to talk to me, he can come find me. I'm done with all this drama."

Clint scratched his chin. "Speaking of moving on to something new, you don't think your grandmother will-"

"Don't say it." Bryn clapped her hands over her ears.

Ivy laughed. "Come on. It's almost curfew."

After parting ways with her friends, Bryn paced her dorm room. Before tonight, she hadn't loved the idea that the Directorate kept watch over everyone. But now, it was super creepy.

News of Rhianna's change in station spread across campus by dinner the next day. Jaxon growled, literally, at anyone who mentioned it. Outside the dining hall, she witnessed him arguing with another Blue.

"If you ever refer to Rhianna as 'damaged' again, I'll make sure your marriage contract is denied."

"You don't have that kind of power," the other Blue shot back.

Not smart.

Jaxon's eyes went flat and hard. The lines of his face seemed to sharpen. He moved to stand toe to toe with the other Blue, who no longer seemed so sure of himself.

"If you cross me, I will do all within my power to make your life a living h.e.l.l." Frost shot from Jaxon's lips with every word.

The other Blue's gaze darted back and forth, checking to see if anyone planned on stepping in. All the other students in the vicinity seemed to find their shoes or the sky interesting. None returned the boy's gaze. Shoulders slumped, the Blue kept his gaze down. "I apologize for my rude comment."

"And?" Jaxon leaned in forcing the boy to retreat a step.

"And it will never happen again." Apology complete, the young man bolted down the sidewalk, shifted, and took to the air.

Jaxon glanced around at the students who'd witnessed the incident. "Feel free to share this with your friends."

The other students scattered like leaves in the wind. When his gaze landed on Bryn, she grinned at him. "I never thought I'd say these words, but I'm proud of you."

He rolled his eyes. "Now my life is complete."

Bryn entered the dining hall and almost tripped over her own feet because Zavien stood last in line at the buffet. It was almost like fate was mocking her. She walked up and stood in line behind him, just to see what would happen.

No response.

Un-freaking-believable.

He didn't even know she was there. If you'd asked her a month ago, she would have said she could've felt his presence as soon as he walked into a room. She'd a.s.sumed he felt the same way. Apparently not.

When he shifted positions to grab a plate, he caught sight of her and froze. Tension filled the air. Her pulse spiked. If he didn't at least say h.e.l.lo to her, she'd do her d.a.m.nedest to slam his face into the giant serving bowl of mac and cheese.

"h.e.l.lo, Bryn." He moved forward in line.

Okay. He'd spoken to her. He'd spoken to her like he'd speak to any other student or teacher. His tone screamed, You are not special. You mean nothing to me.

She grabbed a plate and followed along. "So we're back to casual small talk? Should I ask how you feel about the weather?"

A muscle in his jaw twitched. He scooped out a helping of mashed potatoes and put it on his plate. "I'm trying to be polite."

She grabbed a spoonful of mac and cheese and smacked it onto her plate. "How does one go from, 'I'll work to change the laws so we can be together' to 'I'm trying to be polite'? Because I'm still stuck in the 'What the h.e.l.l happened to the guy who acted like he loved me?' stage."

Zavien set his plate down and met her gaze. "You want to do this here?"

"No. I don't. Let's go for a walk, and talk somewhere private."

"No point. Let's get this over with." He sighed. "I need you to understand. I never lied to you. The idea of changing the marriage law...maybe I was lying to myself, hoping it was possible." He gave her a sad smile. "I am sorry. I never meant to hurt you, but our relationship was a mistake. There are certain things...things I cannot change. I will always care about you, but it's best if we go our separate ways."

And now she had closure. She'd known it was over, but hearing him say it still made her heart hurt. She'd trusted him. Believed in him. To her horror, angry tears filled her eyes.

Zavien reached for her. "Bryn?"

"Don't." She shoved her plate onto the buffet and backed away from him. She would not do the whole girlie-crying-thing here, in front of everyone. As soon as she cleared the door, she shifted and took to the sky. Pumping her wings, she drove herself upward and broke through the clouds. There was no fire waiting to be released; there was only disillusionment and disappointment. All this time, she'd held out a tiny bit of hope that he'd apologize and come back to her.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. With every downward thrust of her wings, she tried to escape the chant in her head. It wouldn't go away. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She was a stupid girl who'd believed what she wanted to believe.

Her grandmother's warning came screaming back to her. "Only those you love can truly hurt you."

How right she'd been.

Chapter Nineteen.

Escape. She needed to escape this sadness. Taking in great gulps of air, she put as much distance between herself and reality as possible. She pushed her wings harder until her muscles screamed and the sky itself seemed to press down on her. Spots flashed in front of her eyes.

The school was a mere speck below her. She was as high as she could comfortably go. It wasn't far enough to escape her problems.

What should she do now?

No way in h.e.l.l was she going back to school. Dragon's Bluff was off to the right somewhere. Hoping for distraction, she aimed for the town, determined to find the rock formation it was named for.

Would she be punished for leaving school without permission? Probably. Not that it mattered. Right now she just needed some alone time to sort herself out. She descended below the clouds and breathing came easier. It still felt like an elephant sat on her chest, but that had nothing to do with physiology. Off in the distance, the bluffs rose above the town. Pulling her wings in, she dove for the cliffs. From up here, none of the rocks resembled a dragon.

She circled the area and skimmed the ground until she found what she wanted. The pile of rocks took on dragon features the closer she flew. Reducing her speed, she landed, digging her claws into the gra.s.s and ripping up sod. She walked around the formation. It did appear to be a dragon turned to stone. When Ivy had told her the tale of a dragon who had mourned the knight she loved and turned to stone by his graveside, she'd thought it a colorful legend.

Shifting to human form, she traced her fingers over the individual scales carved into the rock. The grave marker next to the dragon added to the realism of the tale. Inscribed on the stone were the words, "My knight. My love. My life."

Could someone die of a broken heart? If the ache in her chest was any indication, it could happen. Angry tears rolled down her face. She attempted to shut down the waterworks. Why bother? If there was ever a good place to cry over love gone wrong, this was it.

She backed up to the stone dragon's flank and slid to the ground. Pulling her knees to her chest, she gave into grief. Losing Zavien meant more than losing a boyfriend. She'd lost her mentor and her best friend.

"There you are."

Her head jerked up at the sound of the familiar masculine voice. "Jaxon? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here because your friends are slow, both in their flying and in their thinking skills." He glanced at the gravestone and pursed his lips. "Why isn't your knight out here searching for you?"

"I guess because he doesn't know I left campus. Why are you here?"

"Your friends accosted me and insisted I chase you, since they had no hope of catching you. Let's go."

"Where?"

"Back to campus."

No freaking way. "I don't want to go back to campus."

"What you want is irrelevant." His eyes narrowed.

Inappropriate laughter bubbled out of her throat. "That's the story of my life."

He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her like she was a dog who'd peed on the carpet. "I was on my way to see Rhianna when your friends sidetracked me. Unlike you, she has real problems."

Now she felt like a dog who had peed on the carpet. Standing up, she dusted off her clothes. "Thanks for throwing that in my face. Now I feel much better."

"I don't know why you're upset about Zavien. You should have seen this coming."

Fire rose in her throat. "Excuse me?"

"You've known from the beginning that his contract was in place."

"He told me they were friends. I believed him when he said he'd work to change the law."

Jaxon shook his head. "Nice line. Most guys stick to 'Let's take a ride in my Lamborghini,' or 'We should spend the weekend on my family's yacht.'"