Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 44

“So,” she said brightly, eyes darting between us all, “the Moonlight Festival! Only a few weeks away. Can you believe it?” She pressed her hands together like she was about to pray. “I swear, if I don’t find my mate this year, I’ll just die.”

Kael snorted into his food. “Dramatic, rabbit.”

Tessa ignored him, leaning toward Allison. “I already know what dress I’m getting. Midnight blue, with gold threads through the skirt, like

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A Casual Lunch.

stars.” She sighed dreamily. “What about you, Ally?”

Allison stiffened beside me, the faintest hesitation in her breath. I saw it even if Tessa didn’t. My dragon pressed against me, restless, wanting to hear her answer.

But she didn’t get the chance. Kael leaned forward, grinning sharply. “Doesn’t matter what she wears, whoever she ends up with won’t be

able to take their eyes off her.”

Tessa squealed, smacking his arm. “Kael!”

Allison rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath, but I couldn’t stop the flicker of satisfaction that curled low in my chest,

imagining her all dressed up when the bond is revealed between us.

Tessa’s words still hung in the air when her wide eyes landed on Allison. “Do you think you’ll find yours?”

The girl stiffened beside me, so quick and subtle most would miss it. But I didn’t. My dragon didn’t.

She forced a laugh, dismissive, waving her hand as if she were brushing cobwebs off the ceiling. “Please. Me? Find a mate? Not a chance.

I’ll be the one spiking the punch and hiding under the tables while everyone else swoons.”

Tessa squeaked, half-scandalised, half-delighted. “Allison Rivers, you would not!”

“Oh, I would,” she said, dry as bone, lifting her cup for a slow drink. “The Moonlight Festival sounds like a headache dressed up in fairy

lights.”

Kael leaned forward with that grin of his, sharp as always. “You’re just scared someone might actually want you, Rivers.”

She shot him a glare sharp enough to cut glass. “Or I just don’t believe in fairy tales.”

Tessa giggled. Kael groaned theatrically. The table shifted back into easy banter. But I couldn’t laugh. I sat still, silent, watching the defiance in her posture. The way she held herself like armour, shoulders squared, chin tilted. She wanted us to believe she didn’t care. That she didn’t want. But I could hear it in her breath, see it in the flicker of her eyes, the lie.

My dragon rumbled low, deep in my chest, restless. She lies because she is afraid,

Maybe. Or maybe she just didn’t know yet. Either way, when she pushed another bite of food into her mouth like it was some shield, I wanted to tear it away and demand the truth. Demand she look me in the eye and admit she felt it too, that same pull burning holes through me. Instead, I stayed quiet. Watching her pretend, and wanting her all the more for it.

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Thornhill Academy.

Autopilot

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The bell rang and bodies spilled into the corridors, noisy as hell. I leaned toward her before she could get swallowed in the tide.

“Mind if I walk you?”

She gave me a look like she wanted to argue, but then she nodded. Small victories. Tessa peeled off down another hall, leaving me alone

with her. Perfect.

We walked in silence for a while, her steps steady but cautious, like she was carrying weight no one else could see. I shoved my hands into my pockets and asked, “Do you want a mate?”

Her sigh told me I’d hit a nerve. “I just don’t think that’s in my future. My fate or whatever.”

That stung more than I wanted to admit. “Why not?”

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