Chapter 89 : Shadows Lurking
The festival had ended, but its echoes lingered in the quiet.
Colorful lanterns still swung on their strings, half-burned and sleepy in the midnight wind. The scent of candied plum and roasted nuts clung to the stones of the academy courtyard, where only a few stragglers wandered home with tired feet and confetti in their hair.
Elias shut their dorm door behind him with a sigh of satisfaction. He tossed his coat onto the back of a chair, missed entirely, and didn't bother correcting it. "Okay. I'm declaring it. Best night since we got to the capital."
Revantra was already curled on the couch, her braid undone, her cheeks still faintly flushed from her performance. She was sipping what looked suspiciously like Theo's abandoned festival drink—a violently pink sugar monstrosity—and pretending it didn't taste like liquified regret.
"I'm not saying it was good," she said, glancing at him from over the cup. "But it didn't make me want to incinerate myself onstage."
Elias chuckled. "High praise."
She sipped again, then added with deadpan delivery, "Also, no one threw shoes this time. Progress."
They were settling into something warm, something that felt almost normal—until Revantra suddenly stilled.
Her eyes darkened. Not with fear, but with recognition. Her entire posture changed, as if the air had stiffened around her bones.
Elias frowned. "What is it?"
She stood slowly, setting the drink down without looking. "Someone's calling me," she murmured. "With the same blood."