Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 200

Chapter 200

Cassian

50

Allison’s voice cracks-actually cracks-and something inside my chest goes very, very still. Her walls go down. Not just lowered. Not cracked. They’re completely gone, her mind left open to me, and the shift is so sudden, so profound, that for a heartbeat I forget how to breathe. Her mind brushes mine

without fear. Without barriers. Without that instinctive flinch, she always has whenever someone reaches for a part of her she’s not ready to show. It is quiet in here. Not empty-never empty-but quiet in a way she has never allowed herself to be and gods… it undoes me. She is sitting on the edge of the bed.

shoulders trembling, breath unsteady. Kael leans into her from one side. Evander has one hand pressed to the back of her neck, thumb stroking, grounding.

Rhaziel’s shadows curve protectively around her waist, anchoring her like he’s afraid she might fall apart if he stops touching her for even a second. I kneel

beside Rhaziel without thinking. I need to be close to her. I need to be… near this version of her. The one who is fragile and exhausted and grieving and still

somehow trusting us enough to let us see it. The one who has never existed outside of her own mind until this moment.

She says again, softer- “I had a real family.”

Her grief pours through the bond, not in violent flashes or shielded spikes, but in quiet waves. Slow. Heavy. Devastating. Her memories swirl faintly-hunger,

cold, fear, nights she thought she wouldn’t live through-but now there is something else woven through them: Belonging. The knowledge that someone

once fought for her. Loved her. Named her. It breaks her open. It breaks me open. She doesn’t close the link. She doesn’t retreat from me. She lets me feel it

-everything she’s too tired to hold by herself. I don’t deserve the honour of it. My fingers find her knee. I touch her gently, barely there, terrified of doing

anything wrong. Terrified of being one more thing that hurts. Rhaziel murmurs something soft against her shoulder. Evander leans closer. Kael presses his

forehead to her temple. They’re all touching her…But she’s touching me. Her mind drifts toward mine again-seeking warmth, seeking quiet, seeking me—

and I swallow hard because I don’t know if she realises she’s doing it. But I do. I feel her trust like a hand around my throat.

I tilt my head, leaning closer, letting her feel my steadiness, my calm, my silent promise: You are not alone. Not anymore. Not ever again.

Her breath breaks on a shaky exhale. Evander wraps both arms around her from behind. Kael shifts until his knees bracket her leg. Rhaziel rises enough to

pull her forward into his chest, shadows curling over her shoulders like a blanket. She doesn’t resist. She lets them hold her. She lets us hold her. Her

shields remain down, she remains soft, open, exposed, and I sit there, overwhelmed by the quiet ache of it. By the magnitude of this moment. By the fact

that the strongest woman I’ve ever known is allowing herself to be breakable in front of us. A rare, impossible gift. A trust I have no words for.

Her voice trembles again, barely a whisper. “They… they loved me.”

And something in me fractures, like a crack in ice when sunlight touches it for the first time in years. I don’t speak. I don’t dare. If I do, I will tell her everything-every thought I’ve had since the night she stormed into my classroom and ruined my life in the best, worst way possible. So I stay where I am,

kneeling beside her, hand on her knee, my mind open, steady, waiting for her to lean as much as she needs. She does. Her consciousness presses against mine-soft, uncertain, small in a way Allison never is outwardly. A tremble of emotion, a flicker of old loneliness, a child’s voice whispering “why didn’t they

want me, even though she knows now the truth. I let her feel my answer. You were wanted. You were loved. You are still loved. And you are not alone. Het breath shudders, and still she doesn’t pull away. Kael tightens his hold. Evander presses his forehead to the back of her head. Rhaziel curls around her, a

shield made of shadows and devotion.

And me? I kneel at her side, heart breaking and healing at the same time, letting her mind rest against mine, letting her trust me in the one way that

matters most: She doesn’t hide. Not from me. Not tonight. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the honour of it.

For a long while, no one speaks. We simply breathe with her. Hold her. Let her fall apart in the safety of our hands. Then Evander moves, carefully shifting his weight as he slides out from behind her. His palm trails down her spine as he rises, a silent promise that he isn’t stepping away, only stepping forward. He crosses the room to the enormous bath tucked into the corner made of carved stone, warmed by runes built beneath the floor. I watch him turn one dial, then another, steam curling upward as water begins to fill it. He finds a basket of bath oils beside it, uncorks a floral scent, and pours it gently beneath the stream. The scent blooms through the air, soft and calming, something like lavender and forest rain. Bubbles rise, and tiny floating flowers appear on the surface, responding to the magic woven into the bath. Evander doesn’t look at us. Doesn’t need to. Kael rises next, as if pulled by an invisible thread, slipping off the bed and helping Evander adjust the temperature. His movements are softer than usual, more controlled. His usual chaos simmered into something quiet and reverent.

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17:44 Thu, Jan 1 M

Chapter 200

FITA

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