The Shadow Student (Wraithwood Academy Book 1) by Teresa Hann

Author:Teresa Hann [Hann, Teresa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

I blinked slowly awake.

My biological clock told me that it was late—or perhaps early the next day. I sat at the table, sketches and books scattered in front of me. I’d been adding revisions to Darshan’s preliminary drawings.

My neck twinged as I straightened it, and I winced; the backs of these library chairs were not designed for sleeping on.

A warm weight rested against my shoulder. Carefully, I turned my head. Darshan had fallen asleep too, slumping against me, a pencil still caught between his slack fingers.

Darshan. I took in the soft waves of his black hair, the dark sweeps of his brows and eyelashes, the sharpness of his cheekbones seen from an angle that was new to me. As a no-name, he was risking the attention of the Nightfelds to help me, when plenty of Great Houses hadn’t even dared to talk to me. This self-proclaimed nerd had more honor than the lot of them combined.

I sighed, softly, so as not to wake him. I didn’t deserve him.

Maybe, the next time Aegis left us alone, I could tell him who I was.

The thought scared me a little, the vulnerability of giving away a secret that could destroy me. Would he be angry at me? My stomach twisted. By becoming his friend, even as I deceived him, had I taken advantage of him just like Cly had?

I shut my eyes. He had become my friend despite who I was. He deserved better. I wanted, so badly, an end to the lies.

My eyes snapped open again at an exhale of breath from the other side of the room. Aegis had been watching me. His eyes widened, startled, as they met my gaze, blue and vulnerable.

We looked at each other. When he spoke, it burst out a rush, as if confessing a shameful secret. “I wish you were the real Cly Redbriar.”

His eyes turned pleading. “If you were the heir, and Cly were the bastard… it wouldn’t have ended up like this. Cly in danger. You in chains. I wish…”

I looked at him, feeling a bone-deep weariness. Maybe he thought he was building a bridge, but it had only called attention to the chasm between us. “I am the daughter of Kathleen Turner. And if I weren’t, I wouldn’t be me.”

Aegis looked pained. “Cassandra, I—”

I stared back, across a distance that threatened to overwhelm me. “There’s no point in wishful thinking, Aegis. I am, as I’ve been told many times, a half-blood bastard. It’s up to you to decide what you’re going to do about it.”

It hurt to see his expression, but I’d given him the hard facts. He was about to say something else when he stiffened. Against my shoulder, Darshan was stirring.

“Mmph,” Darshan said, and yawned. He jumped a little when he realized he was resting against me, hurriedly scooting his chair a decorous distance away. “Sorry about that! What did I miss?”

I forced a smile, my heart pounding. “Nothing much. Aegis and I were just going to go down to the gym for some combat experiments.

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