I didn't sleep that night.
Every creak in the walls sounded like breath. Every shadow near my bed felt like claws. But I didn't show fear. I never do.
By morning, the bruise on my ribs had bloomed deep purple. The scratches on my arm were almost gone. Fast healing was just one of the many things I wasn't supposed to have. Not as a normal student.
Which… I wasn't.
Halfway through breakfast, a student with a crow pin on his collar appeared beside me. Tall. Pale. Quiet. The kind who never blinked.
"The Headmaster wants to see you," he said, voice low.
Juno raised an eyebrow. I didn't look at her. I simply stood and followed.
The halls changed as we walked. No students. No noise. Just silence and polished black stone. Like walking into the mouth of something ancient.
The Headmaster's office sat behind a door carved with the Academy's crest—a cracked sun over a bleeding moon.
The crow-boy knocked once. The door opened on its own.
I stepped in.
The Headmaster sat in a high-backed chair that looked like a throne stolen from a grave. Silver eyes. White hair slicked back. He wore all black, and when he smiled, it didn't touch his eyes.
"Miss Black," he said, voice soft and cold. "Or should I call you Eira Valen?"
I didn't move. Didn't blink. My body said calm but my brain screamed who told him?
"I don't know that name," I replied flatly.
He chuckled. "You're not the first student to come here under a false name. But you are… unique."
I said nothing. Silence was safer than lies.
"You handled the rogue last night with surprising skill. Most students would've died. You didn't even report it."
"I didn't think it was worth the paperwork."
That made him smile wider. "Very well. Then let's stop pretending."
He stood and walked toward the tall window, hands clasped behind his back.
"Nocturne Academy is more than just a school for the gifted. It is a place of balance. Vampires. Werewolves. Half-bloods. Each has their place. Each follows their House. You belong to none. That makes you… interesting."
"Interesting is one word for it."
"Dangerous is another."
He turned back to me.
"Join a House, Miss Valen. Make allies. Choose a side. Because soon, you'll have to."
I met his eyes and said nothing.
He nodded as if I'd answered anyway.
"Oh, and one more thing," he added, walking back to his desk. "Kael has requested you be assigned to House Umbra. The vampire House."
I frowned. "I thought you said I had to choose."
"I did. Consider this a… nudge."
I turned to leave.
Just before the door closed behind me, he said something quiet:
"You remind me of your father."
I froze.
But only for a second.
Then I kept walking.
The moment I stepped outside, the rain started. Light. Cold. Cleansing.
Kael was waiting under the stone arch, arms crossed.
"You told him," I said.
He didn't deny it.
"I told him you were strong. He found the rest himself."
"Why?"
He looked at me with that unreadable expression. "Because Nocturne plays games. I thought you deserved to know what board you're standing on."
"And House Umbra?"
"You don't belong to any House," he said quietly. "But if you must wear a mask… ours is sharpest."
Then he was gone.
I stood in the rain, heart pounding.
So much for staying invisible.
The game had begun.
And if Nocturne wanted to play with monsters—they were about to meet one.