The Messenger( Iva) novel Chapter 230

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another around her hair, then walked back into her room.

She hadn’t even had a chance to dry her hair before the knock came again.

*Probably Iva,* Lori thought. *She probably forgot to tell me something

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She crossed the room, still dripping, her hair plastered to her head beneath the towel. She pulled open the door without looking through the peephole.

And froze.

Headmaster Attia stood in the doorway.

He was not in his usual formal attire. No crisp button-down. No tailored jacket. He wore dark trousers and

a simple sweater that somehow made him look even larger, even more imposing. His dark hair was

slightly disheveled, as if he had been running his hands through it

His eyes-those deep brown eyes framed by impossibly long lashes-were fixed on her face.

Lori couldn’t move.

Couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t think.

They stood there for what felt like an eternity-the headmaster and the scholarship student, the broken warrior and the trembling girl, two strangers bound by a thread only the Goddess could see.

Attia spoke first.

His voice was low, rough, almost hesitant.

“You are not planning to invite me inside?”

Lori’s face erupted in flames.

She had been standing there, dripping wet, with a towel on her head, staring at him like a deer caught in headlights. For how long? A minute? Five? An hour?

“Of-of-of course,” she stammered, stepping back so quickly she nearly tripped over her own feet. “Please. Come in.”

Attia stepped over the threshold.

The door closed behind him.

And Lori realized, with dawning horror, that she was alone in a small room with her fated mate.

Lori’s face burned like she had been standing too close to a fire.

“Give me two minutes, please,” she blurted out, her voice high and breathless. “Two minutes. I just need- I’ll be right back-”

She didn’t wait for his reply.

23

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