Chapter 79: The New Students

Astrid

Ivy turned away from the window. "We’re going."

"Where?" I asked.

"Downstairs."

"They’re just students."

"Astrid." She pointed again. "Students who arrived in the middle of the night in six black vehicles."

I hesitated, tired and only half unpacked, but Ivy was already pulling clothes out of her wardrobe.

"What are you doing?"

"Changing."

"I can see that."

"Then help me pick something."

I rolled my eyes and changed too, nothing elaborate, just something I could throw on quickly. As we left the room, I felt something through the bond. Xander’s curiosity. Reed’s alertness.

"What?" Ivy asked, noticing me pause.

"Nothing," I said, though I already knew. The twins were awake too.

The corridors were already crowded, students crowding the stairwells, leaning over railings, trading rumors back and forth.

"I heard one of them can control people’s bodies," someone said.

"That’s ridiculous," another voice shot back.

"My cousin knows someone who went there."

"Your cousin knows everyone."

"No, seriously!"

"See? Everyone’s terrified," Ivy said.

"They’re also gossiping."

"Same thing."

I snorted. Outside, the crowd thickened further, Moonshade students gathered at a distance from the vehicles while Aldrich stood near the gates with several professors, clearly keeping the newcomers contained until proper introductions could happen.

Watching the students climb out, I noticed there were more of them than I’d expected. Bags, boxes, suitcases. Some looked exhausted. One girl slept against another’s shoulder. Someone argued with a driver about a missing bag. A boy stood frozen beside a vehicle, just staring up at Moonshade like he wasn’t sure it was real.

Everyone had been whispering about how strange and dangerous these students were. Right now, they just looked displaced. Tired. Like people who’d had to leave home without warning.

I understood that better than most.

"What?" Ivy asked, catching my expression.

"Nothing," I said. "I just thought they’d look scarier."

"Give them time," she said, and I laughed.

One boy stumbled off a vehicle carrying far too much, suitcase in one hand, bag over his shoulder, another wedged awkwardly against his side. A few steps in, one bag slipped and something rolled out onto the ground. He stared down at it, and Ivy covered a laugh while I failed entirely to hide mine.

He looked up and grinned instead of scowling. "Good. At least someone finds my suffering entertaining."

"You packed all of that yourself?" I asked.

"I was told we were moving." He glanced around at the buildings. "Nobody mentioned mountains."

"There aren’t mountains," I said.

"Then why does everything look like it’s trying to intimidate me?"

Ivy laughed now too. He finally managed to gather his things. "Josh," he said. "Josh Night."

I introduced myself, then Ivy. He looked genuinely relieved. "Nice. Three minutes here and already two acquaintances."

"You’re very optimistic," Ivy said.

"It’s either that or cry."

I liked him immediately, not deeply, but he felt normal in a way that was oddly comforting. Someone called his name from behind, and he glanced back. "That’s my cue." He started walking, then turned. "Try not to judge the rest of us based on my luggage situation."

"I like him," Ivy said, watching him go.

"You met him for thirty seconds."

"I know what I said."

The mood shifted subtly a moment later. Students began moving away from a particular vehicle without anyone saying why. A girl stepped out, calm and composed, seemingly untouched by the chaos around her. She carried one bag and an old book tucked under her arm, small charms hanging from her wrist.

"That’s one of them," Ivy said quietly.

"One of who?"

She looked like she immediately regretted saying it, then lowered her voice further. "The witches."

"There are more?"

"I don’t know!"

"That’s not what you said."

She nudged me, but I was still watching the girl, who suddenly lifted her head, eyes moving through the crowd until they landed on me.

I froze. She didn’t smile, didn’t react at all, just studied me for a long second before looking away and continuing on.

I exhaled. "That was weird."

"Very," Ivy agreed.

I didn’t know her name yet.

The crowd shifted again, and this time Ivy grabbed my arm, firm but not painful. "Don’t look too obvious."

"At what?"

She nodded subtly toward the vehicles. A boy stepped away from one, unbothered, watching everyone around him with slow, deliberate attention.

"That’s him," Ivy whispered.

"Who?"

"Criston Cosle."

I remembered the rumors immediately, my stomach dropping. "The mind reader?"

She nodded. I looked away fast, and immediately made the mistake of thinking, don’t think about the King, which of course meant I could think of nothing else. My mother. The night I ran. My heart started pounding, and I forced myself toward anything else. Food. Books. Ivy.

Potatoes, for some reason.

I closed my eyes, opened them, and found Criston had stopped walking.

He turned. His eyes moved through the crowd and landed directly on me.

"Astrid," Ivy whispered.

He started walking toward us. I considered leaving, but that would look suspicious now, so I stayed. He stopped in front of me, studying me like he was listening for something.

"What?" I asked, folding my arms.

"You’re afraid," he said.

"Of you?" I scoffed.

"No." He tilted his head slightly. "Of something else."

My heart pounded harder. He watched me another beat. "Interesting," he said, and walked away.

"I hate him," I told Ivy.

"You spoke to him for ten seconds."

"Long enough."

Before I could recover fully, someone screamed, "REED!"

I turned, along with half the crowd. A girl ran across the grounds, not away from the vehicles but toward the academy, toward Reed and Xander, who I hadn’t even noticed standing nearby. I felt their curiosity spike through the bond.

The girl threw her arms around Reed first. He froze visibly, surprised, before she pulled away and grabbed Xander next.

"You didn’t tell me you were here!"

Xander laughed. "You didn’t tell us you were transferring."

"I didn’t know! I thought I was going to lose my mind in that vehicle."

"You were always dramatic," Xander said.

"You were worse."

I watched them, something uncomfortable settling in my chest. This girl was clearly comfortable with them, touched them easily, knew things about their history I didn’t. And neither twin seemed bothered by it at all.

She finally noticed me and walked over, Reed and Xander following.

"You’re Astrid," she said.

"How do you know my name?"

Her eyes flicked toward the twins. "I’ve heard it."

I looked at them too. Xander looked amused. Reed offered no explanation, which didn’t help.

"Estelle Raven," she said, offering her hand.

I shook it, and for half a second something shifted, her smile disappearing entirely, eyes going cold and empty, mouth completely still. My breath caught.

Then she was smiling again, exactly as before.

I let go of her hand. "Is something wrong?" she asked, tilting her head.

I didn’t know. Had I imagined it? "No," I said. "Nothing."

My skin prickled anyway.

I stepped back and looked around, and immediately found him again.

Criston, several feet away, watching. Not looking at Estelle at all.

Looking directly at me.

Our eyes met, and he didn’t smile, didn’t look surprised.

"You saw that too," he said.

I froze completely.

Because I’d never said a single word about what I’d seen.