The Human Among Wolves (Aurora) novel Chapter 20

Aurora

I gave him a flat look. “Two minutes. Go.”

“This academy,” he said slowly, “is bigger than it looks.”

I frowned. “That’s your big revelation?”

“There’s a part no one talks about anymore. The Tower.” His voice dropped, as if even saying the name was a fick. “It used to be Now it’s where they keep the books that aren’t supposed to exist.”

A shiver slid down my spine. “And how exactly do you know this?”

He gave a faint, dangerous smile. “Let’s just say I’ve seen the inside. And it’s not somewhere you wander into by accident.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Right. Because you’re a prince, and you ‘know everything“?”

“That,” he said, “and I’ve been places in this academy you couldn’t imagine.”

I ignored the flicker of unease in my chest. “If it’s abandoned, I assume it’s locked up.”

“Oh, it is. But locked doors have never been a problem for me.” He stepped a fraction closer. “Midnight. Main doors.”

“No. I can do it alone.”

He didn’t blink. “I wasn’t asking.”

1 let out a sharp sigh. “Fine. But you’re only helping me get in. We’re not friends.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” he murmured.

I didn’t answer him again. I just turned on my heel and walked away before he could say anything smug.

But the problem with walking away from Zayn was that his words didn’t stay behind.

They followed me.

The Tower.

A hidden library.

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0:08 Thu, Jan 29

Chapter 20

Books no one was allowed to read.

685

By the time I got back to my dorm, I’d convinced myself I wasn’t going. I didn’t need him. I didn’t need whatever little scraps of royal information he thought would impress me. And I definitely didn’t need to get caught sneaking into some forbidden part of the Academy

with him of all people.

I changed into my pajamas. Brushed my teeth. Crawled into bed.

But the more I tried to shove it aside, the more my mind kept circling back to the way his voice had dropped when he’d said it. The way his eyes had stayed locked on mine, like he knew I’d never be able to resist.

I hated that he might be right.

What if the answers were in there? What if I didn’t go, and he found something without me? He could destroy it. Hide it. Use it. Twist it into something that will hurt me later.

I turned over in bed. Then again. Then again.

When I checked the clock, it was 11:37 pm.

I sat up, swore under my breath, and got dressed.

If I was going, it wasn’t because of him.

It was because I wasn’t going to let some arrogant prince hold information over my head.

Still… as I tied my boots and pulled on my coat, I couldn’t ignore the tight coil of anticipation in my stomach.

I told myself it was just nerves.

But part of me knew better.

My roommates were already asleep when I sneaked out of the room.

The courtyard was quiet at night, the kind of quiet that pressed in on you.

Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

I kept to the shadows, boots crunching softly over frost–stiff grass, eyes flicking to every darkened window.

If I got caught, I’d have to explain what I was doing out after curfew.

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0:09 Thu, Jan 29

Chapter 20

And I didn’t have an explanation that wouldn’t

He was already there.

Leaning against the main doors like he owned them.

Of course he was.

or worse.

“You’re late,” Zayn said, straightening. His voice was low, almost too casual.

“I wasn’t aware we’d set a specific time,” I muttered, brushing past him toward the doors.

“I said midnight. It’s 12:03.”

“Cry about it.”

He smirked, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Still as charming as ever.”

“And you’re still here. I thought princes had better things to do.”

“Trust me,” he said, stepping closer, “if I did, I wouldn’t be wasting my time with you.”

I arched a brow. “Then leave.”

His gaze locked with mine for a heartbeat too long. “Not a chance.”

We opened the main door and stepped out. We cut across the courtyard, the moon catching in his hair and turning it silver at the edges. He didn’t speak again until we reached the side of the Tower–a looming, narrow silhouette against the stars. Its windows were nothing but black hollows, its stone walls swallowed by ivy.

“So,” I said finally, “how exactly do you plan to get us in? Or is this just another one of your t

Zayn’s mouth curved, just slightly. “Watch and learn

Zayn knelt by the door, his fingers tracing the carved runes like he was reading a secret language.

They pulsed faintly under his touch–slow, steady, like a heartbeat.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, glancing over my shoulder.

“Opening it.”

“Obviously,” I hissed. “But how?”

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0:09 Thu, Jan 20 n

Chapter 20

He didn’t look up. “Let’s just say… I know a few

“That’s comforting.”

The runes flared brighter, the light spilling over his skin in thin silver veins. Then, with a sound like stone sighing, the heavy doors

clicked.

Not a normal click–this one sank into my bones.

The doors cased open on their own, revealing nothing but blackness beyond.

Cold air spilled out, sharp and metallic, like the scent of old iron and something long sealed away.

I hesitated.

This was a bad idea. I knew it.

Every instinct I had screamed to turn around.

Zayn glanced back at me, one eyebrow raised. “Are you coming, or should I go have all the fun without you?”

I forced my feet forward, the darkness swallowing me whole.

The Tower’s entrance hall was huge, its walls lined with shelves that climbed impossibly high, vanishing into shadow. Dust floated in the

air like slow–falling snow.

“It’s bigger inside,” I murmured before I could stop myself.

“Yeah,” Zayn said quietly. “It’s not supposed to exist anymore.”

The way he said it made my skin prickle.

Something shifted in the shadows above us.

Soft. Slow. Like movement, but not human.

I froze. “Did you hear that?”

Zayn’s gaze lifted toward the blackness overhead.

His jaw tightened.

“Yeah,” he said. “We’re not alone.

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0:09 Thủ, Jan 29

The Human Among Wolves