The sun stabbed through Kael's window far too quickly. His body was heavy, his mind heavier. Every flicker of last night replayed without mercy, Selira's smirk, her heat, her words, the damn mark burning under his skin.
He pressed a palm against his forehead and hissed, "Shit…"
The clock mocked him. He was already late.
Kael scrambled up, pulling on clothes with shaky hands, half-expecting Selira to still be there. She wasn't. Just her scent lingered sweet, sharp, impossible to scrub from the air.
His wrist tingled where the sirgíl mark hid beneath his sleeve.
He forced it down, shoved his bag over his shoulder, and stormed out before his thoughts ate him alive.
.....
The school gates were already buzzing, voices clashing, footsteps echoing off the walls. Kael walked in with his head low, heart thumping as if every laugh and chatter carried Selira's voice.
"Kael!"
The shout cracked his trance. Jacob's voice, sharp and too familiar. Kael jerked his head up.
Jacob stood there, grinning like he'd caught him red-handed, slapping a hand against his shoulder. "Yo, man. You look like you pulled an all-nighter on something dangerous."
Kael stiffened. His throat went dry.
Jacob leaned closer, eyebrows raised, smirk teasing. "Don't tell me you were gaming, huh? Or—" he eyed Kael's face, noticing the restless, guilty twitch in his expression, " something else?"
Kael swallowed hard, words catching in his chest. He forced a laugh, shaking his head. "Nah, just… couldn't sleep."
Jacob narrowed his eyes, but the grin never left his face. "Right. Couldn't sleep. Sure."
The hall roared around them, students filling in, footsteps slamming lockers shut. Kael walked stiffly beside Jacob, trying to drown out the heat crawling up his neck, trying to kill the thought of Selira's voice and the whispering inside his skull.
Claim. Redeem.
He clenched his fists.
Jacob snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Yo, Kael! Earth to you, bro. You seriously look like you're in another damn world."
Kael flinched. His heart lurched. For a second, he wondered if Jacob could see it all... the bed, Selira's smirk, the crimson flicker.
He forced another breath, faking calm. "Yeah. Just tired, man."
Jacob's grin widened. "Tired? Nah. You're hiding something."
The corridors rattled with noise, chatter bouncing off every wall. Kael walked beside Jacob, trying to look normal, trying not to let the weight of last night crush him in broad daylight. His wrist still tingled beneath his sleeve like the mark wouldn't let him forget.
Jacob shoved him with a grin. "Yo, bro, you're still zoning out. You got a fever, or is it love sickness?"
Kael muttered, "Shut up," though the edge in his voice didn't fool Jacob one bit.
Then like the air shifted Kael froze.
Selira.
She moved down the hallway like she owned it. White blouse fitted sharp, skirt swaying with every step. Her hair caught the light, but it wasn't the shine that locked Kael in place it was her eyes.
That smirk. Low. Dangerous. Directed only at him.
Kael's throat tightened. His pulse hammered as she leaned just slightly when she reached him, close enough for her perfume to wrap around his neck like a trap. Her lips parted in the faintest curve, gaze burning through him. No one else could feel it, but Kael knew. He felt it.
Jacob blinked, jaw nearly falling. "Bro… you see that? She knows you?"
Kael didn't answer. Couldn't. His body refused to move.
Jacob slapped his shoulder with both hands now, trying not to laugh. "Yo, don't tell me… don't tell me you still got hot girls lingering from other classes too? Damn, Kael! How many you hiding?"
Kael finally forced his eyes away, trying to break the invisible chain Selira's smirk had wrapped around him. His laugh came out cracked, fake. "You're imagining things."
Jacob's grin widened like a wolf's. "Nah, man. She looked at you like she's already got your number." He shook his head, chuckling. "What the hell, Kael? You don't even tell me, your boy? Shame, bro. Shame."
But Kael's blood ran cold, because he wasn't imagining. He wasn't hiding girls.
He was hiding a secret he didn't even understand himself.
The moment Kael pushed open the classroom door, his chest tightened.
Aimee.
She was there already seated, head tilted just slightly as her half-lidded eyes lifted toward him. It wasn't a long look, not sharp, but enough to freeze him mid-step. For a second, Kael forgot how to breathe.
But it wasn't just her.
He felt the sting of another gaze Mia's.
Her stare clung to him with something heavier, unreadable. Kael tried not to flinch, but it was impossible not to feel it like the weight of both pairs of eyes chained him where he stood.
He didn't notice it himself, but the others did. Every step he took toward his seat carried something new, something different. His aura had shifted, subtle but magnetic, like the aftershock of that flicker from his wrist. To them, he looked composed, even model-like, but to him?
It was torture.
Kael rushed for his desk as if the floor burned beneath his shoes. His heart was a drumline, his thoughts chaos. The sight of Aimee. The echo of Mia's stare. And behind it all Selira. The night. The touch. The claim.
He muttered under his breath, too low for anyone else to hear, "No… no, no, no. Damn… what have I done?"
From the corner, Jacob tilted his head, narrowing his eyes at him. His grin was gone, curiosity slipping through instead.
"Yo, Kael…" Jacob leaned across his desk, whispering just enough to cut through Kael's storm. "What's up with you, man? You look like you just seen a ghost."
Kael didn't answer. His hands clenched tight against the table, knuckles pale.
And in that silence, the classroom buzzed on, but for Kael it was already too loud.
Mia didn't waste time. The moment Kael sank into his seat, still trying to hide inside his own skin, she slid closer.
"Hey," she whispered.
Kael's heart slammed so hard against his chest he was sure everyone could hear it. His eyes snapped wide, pupils dilated as though someone just threw him into the middle of a battlefield.
"H… h… hi," he stammered, his voice barely a squeak.
Mia smirked, that dangerous curve of lips she was famous for. She leaned just enough that her blouse opened its secrets, heavy curves pressing against Kael's line of vision. His throat locked. His brain hit restart.
Jacob, watching the whole scene like it was a live comedy special, couldn't help himself. He coughed, loudly, dramatically "Mmm… mm!" with a grin stretching across his face like he'd just hit jackpot.
Kael wanted to throw his shoe at him.
Before he could, the click of heels snapped the air. The classroom door swung open.
And in she walked.
The new lecturer.
Her mini skirt clung to her thighs like a second skin, the hemline dangerously close to illegal territory. The blouse tight, white, unmerciful hugged every curve like it had a personal grudge against modesty. Her glasses sat crooked, threatening to fall, which only added to the unintentional seduction of the whole scene.
Kael's brain simply broke.
He stared. No he gasped quietly, eyes dilating as though oxygen had just left the room. Did I just step into thin air? Did someone set me up?
The entire class went silent at her presence. Every pair of eyes shifted to her.
Except Kael's.
His eyes didn't just shift they locked.
The lecturer cleared her throat. "We… have a test today."
The words stabbed the silence. Half the class groaned.
Kael? He didn't even hear the test part.
Because all he could see was her thighs perfect, distracting, and unfair clinging to the edge of his sanity.
Jacob leaned close to him with a snicker. "Yo, Kael. You're either about to pass out or propose marriage, man. Pick one."
Kael snapped his head down to his desk, muttering, "I hate my life."
Mia smirked again, whispering just enough for only him to hear, "Oh no, Kael… I think you're enjoying it."
And just like that between Mia's chest, the lecturer's thighs, and Jacob's laughter Kael realized this was hell.
....
The paper landed on Kael's desk like a death sentence.
He stared at it. Blank. His brain refused to work.
Oh no. Oh no-no-no.
He hadn't read a single word last night. Not a note, not a page, not even the cover of his textbook. Selira had drained not just his time but his energy, his sanity, and apparently his intelligence.
He rolled his eyes across the room, trying to look anywhere but the test. Everyone else scribbled like their lives depended on it. Jacob was already halfway through, brows furrowed, tongue poking the side of his cheek in concentration. Mia twirled her pen between her fingers like the answers just came to her by birthright, a smug grin tugging her lips.
Kael? His paper was still a snow-white desert.
And then it happened.
His eyes locked with the lecturer's.
She was watching him. Not just watching, staring, with her chin slightly down, her glasses sliding low along the ridge of her nose. That look. That glare.
It hit him like a spear of light straight from the gates of heaven or maybe hell. Kael wasn't even sure anymore.
His chest froze. His throat clamped shut. He couldn't breathe.
It was as if an angel had descended, her gaze holy and terrifying, yet so seductive it made his stomach twist.
Panic. Absolute panic.
His body moved before his brain. He ducked his head so fast it nearly smacked the desk. Pen in hand, he started writing, scribbling nonsense, shapes, letters that didn't even form words. Anything. Just to look busy.
He was sure she could hear the way his heart pounded.
Minutes bled into eternity. His hand cramped, his eyes burned, and still he had no idea what he was writing.
Finally, the bell rang.
The test ended.
Students groaned, stretched, and began walking to the front to submit.
Kael stood up, legs wobbling like he'd just survived a war. He clutched the pathetic excuse of an answer sheet to his chest and shuffled forward, trying to look normal. Calm. Cool. Anything but the disaster he really was.
But then her eyes.
The lecturer's gaze caught him again.
Direct. Unblinking. Sharp as a glorious blade pressed right into his soul.
Kael froze mid-step, breath caught in his throat.
It was just a second, maybe two. But it felt eternal.
He forced himself to drop his paper on her desk, muttering a thank you he wasn't even sure came out right, then bolted for his seat as if he'd been stabbed.
His legs wobbled the whole way down. His heart wouldn't stop hammering. His thoughts wouldn't stop screaming.
And all the while, the image of her stare—glasses low, lips poised, eyes cutting into him burned in his head like fire he couldn't put out.