The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 213

Your Fated Mate Is…-3

“I’m putting together a study group,” Daren continued. “A few of us are meeting in the west reading room tomorrow afternoon. I was wondering if you’d like to join.”

Iva’s heart sank.

Lori’s face lit up like the sun breaking through clouds.

“I would love to,” she said, and the words came out breathless, eager, hopeful.

Daren’s smile widened. “Great. It’s a date. I mean-” He stumbled, his own cheeks flushing. “A study date. I

mean-”

“I know what you meant,” Lori said softly.

They looked at each other for a moment longer than necessary. The air between them seemed to shimmer with something unspoken-something that made Iva’s chest ache with dread.

Then Daren stepped back. “Tomorrow, then. West reading room. Three o’clock.”

“I’ll be there.”

Daren nodded at Iva-a quick, polite acknowledgment-and walked away. His footsteps faded into the library’s ambient noise, swallowed by the rustle of pages and the whisper of moving feet.

The moment he was out of earshot, Lori grabbed Iva’s arm.

Her grip was iron. Her eyes were wild.

“Did you see that?” Lori hissed, her voice barely contained. “Did you see what just happened?”

Iva’s throat was dry. “I saw.”

“He talked to me. He actually talked to me. And he invited me to study with him. With him, Iva!”

Lori released Iva’s arm and pressed both hands to her cheeks, which were now the color of ripe strawberries. She let out a silent scream-mouth open, eyes wide, body vibrating with barely suppressed joy.

୮

“And is all thanks to you. I listened to your speech,” Lori said, her words tumbling out in a rush. “From the last few days. And I realized…” She took a shaky breath. “I realized I had nothing to lose. So today, I gathered my courage and I spoke to him. Just a few words. Just ‘hello’ and ‘how did you find the test. And now…” She gestured toward the aisle where Daren had disappeared. “Now he invited me to study together.”

Iva was speechless.

Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.

No words came.

Lori was still glowing, still radiant, still completely unaware that the boy she was falling for was not the one the Goddess had chosen for her.

1.3

Your Fated Mine lo

“Iva?” Luri’s smile faltered. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Iva shook her head, forcing her expression into something neutral. “Nothing.”

Lori studied her for a moment, her eyes narrowing. Then she seemed to remember something.

“Oh-you said you wanted to talk to me about something. What was it?”

Clas

Iva glanced around the library. Students sat at nearby tables. Professors walked between the shelves. Too many ears. Too many witnesses.

“Not here,” Iva said, standing and gathering her things. “Too many ears. And this is a supernatural academy -you never know who might be listening.”

Lori’s smile faded further, replaced by a flicker of concern. She stood as well, collecting her books.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “Your room, then?”

Iva nodded.

They walked in silence through the corridors, up the stairs, past clusters of students who didn’t look at them twice. Iva’s heart pounded with every step. The secret pressed against her ribs, demanding release.

Lori chattered nervously beside her, filling the silence with observations about the weather, the test, the quality of the food in the canteen. Iva nodded along, not hearing a word.

When they reached the dorm room, Iva closed the door behind them and leaned against it.

Lori dropped onto her bed, pulling her knees up to her chest. Her eyes were wary now, watching Iva with the alertness of a wolf who sensed a coming storm.

“Okay,” Lori said. “We’re alone. No ears. What’s the big secret?”

Iva pushed off from the door and sat on the edge of her own bed, facing her friend.

Her hands were shaking.

She clasped them together in her lap to still them.

“Lori,” she said. “The Goddess showed me something. About you.”

Lori’s brow furrowed. “About me?”

“The Goddess showed me who your fated mate is.”

The words landed in the small room like stones dropped into still water.

Lori stared at her.

Her mouth fell open.

“What?”

Iva nodded, her throat tight. “Yes.”

Lori’s eyes searched Iva’s face, looking for the joke, the prank, the punchline. But Iva’s expression was

23

Your FatedMate is 3

serious-more serious than Lori had ever seen it.

“You’re joking,” Lori said.

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