Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 139

Chapter 139

Allison

I know something’s wrong before I even open my eyes. The bond feels muted and dull. Like someone has turned the volume down on us and left me listening to tatic instead. It’s quieter than it’s ever been, and I already know why. Cassian decided to pull away. I can feel it in his absence, and it makes the air in the attic feel heavier than usual. Kael is sprawled out on the couch, snoring softly, one arm over his face. Evander’s sitting at the table with a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, pretending not to notice that I’m awake. And Rhazeil is propped on one elbow beside me, his hair mussed, the faint morning light catching the edges of his horns. The bracelet on his wrist shimmers in that soft shade of blue that means sorrow. I run my thumb across it and force a smile.

“I’m fine,” I lie.

Evander looks up from his book. “You’re thinking too loud.”

“Am I?”

Kael grumbles something from the couch, rolling over. “She’s always thinking too loud. It’s exhausting.”

I throw a pillow in his direction without sitting up. He groans when it hits him, but doesn’t bother retaliating. Rhazeil watches the exchange with a quiet amusement that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. His tail flicks lazily across the blankets, brushing against my leg, a wordless reminder that he can feel what I’m

feeling.

“You’re worrying again,” he says softly.

“I’m not.” The bracelet glows a shade darker.

“Liar.”

That earns him a small laugh from me, but it’s hollow. He’s just… distant. That’s all.”

Evander closes his book and slides it aside. “Hill?”

I nod. “He didn’t even want to look at me yesterday.”

Kael sits up finally, rubbing a hand through his hair. “Maybe he’s just having a bad week.”

“He’s had worse,” I say quietly. “And he still found a way to make me feel like the centre of it.”

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Chapter 139

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Rhazeil hums under his breath, the sound deep enough to stir the shadows along the walls. “You are both bound and unbound,” he murmurs. “Such a thing will always ache.”

I tilt my head toward him. “What does that even mean?

“It means you care,” Evander says simply, and that shuts me up faster than any explanation ever could.

Classes feel longer that day. Every corridor too bright, every voice too loud. Cassian doesn’t look at me once, not even by accident. His posture is perfect, his tone clinical, his eyes cold. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the bond was gone completely. But it isn’t. It’s still there-humming faintly, restrained, like he’s built walls around it and buried himself behind them. By the time the final bell rings, I’m ready to crawl out of my own skin. Kael catches up with me halfway up the stairs, a grin in place but concern in his eyes. “You’re awfully quiet today, trouble. That usually means something’s either about to explode or you’re planning

something that will.”

“Neither,” I mumble.

Evander appears beside him, as if he’d been waiting. “You didn’t eat lunch.”

I shrug. “Wasn’t hungry.”

Kael frowns. “You sure? Because I distinctly remember you threatening to murder me for stealing your fries

last week.”

“That was different.”

“How?”

“They were fries.”

He laughs, but Evander doesn’t. “You don’t have to do this alone, you know.”

“Do what?”

“Pretend you’re not hurting.”

That stops me. I meet his gaze for half a heartbeat before looking away. “I’ll be fine.”

When I push open the attic door that evening, the air feels different. It’s dimmer with the candles flickering low. Rhazeil is sitting at the window, half-shrouded in his own shadows, watching the sky fade from gold to deep indigo. He turns his head slightly when I step inside.

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Chapter 139

“You held it together today, hummingbird”, he says sofy.

“Barely.” I drop my bag to the floor. “He didn’t even look at me.”

His expression softens. “He is fighting what he does not understand. It is not you he rejects, but the inevitability of what you are to him.”

“That’s poetic,” I mutter, “and also incredibly unhelpfull”

He smiles faintly. “Then let me be less poetic.” He stands, crossing the room until he’s close enough for his shadow to brush mine. “You ache because he is part of our fate. But he is not the only one who feels your

absence.”

The bracelet glows softly again, the light between us dim but steady. I don’t know what to say, so I reach out and touch his hand instead. His skin is cool and grounding. The shadows around us are still.

“I just wish I knew how to make it stop hurting,” I whisper.

He leans forward, brushing his forehead against mine. “You don’t stop it,” he murmurs. “You survive it.”

Something in me breaks loose at that, quiet and small. I nod once, pulling back enough to see his face.

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It never is,” he says, voice low. “But you will learn.”

Kael’s voice breaks the silence from behind us. “Is Shadow Demon Daddy getting all the comforting moments again? Because I can cry too, you know.”

The laugh that escapes me is real this time. Evander throws a piece of toast at Kael without looking up from the stove, and for a moment, it feels almost normal, this strange, beautiful mess of people I’ve somehow collected. We eat dinner together, and then the guys all argue about whose turn it is to shower with me. I opt to go by myself so no one feels left out, and then I curl up on the couch in Evander’s arms with Rahzeil’s tail curled across my hips and Kael’s head resting on my legs. We watch movies until I start to yawn and decide it’s time for bed. It all feels beautifully normal. But when I catch sight of my reflection in the window, the flicker of blue beneath my skin reminds me that nothing about my life will ever truly be

normal again.

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Thornhill Academy.