Chapter 108 — The Suspect List

Chapter 108: Chapter 108 — The Suspect List

~ Raven ~

"You pushed him out?"

Raven hesitated before giving a small nod.

"Yes."

Cassian went quiet.

His gaze stayed on her, but something in it had shifted. He was thinking now, pulling apart everything she had just thrown at him while Raven stood there wishing she could drag half of it back into her mouth.

You and your mouth.

The dreams. The memories. Someone inside her head.

All of it.

Beautifully done, Raven.

Cassian’s eyes narrowed.

Raven felt her stomach tighten.

Then his attention sharpened fully on her.

"You’ve left something out."

Her expression closed before she could stop it.

She said nothing.

Cassian watched her for a moment, then spoke.

"You weren’t the one who pushed him out."

Raven’s stomach tightened.

He let the silence sit between them for a beat.

"Your wolf did."

Her eyes widened before she could stop them.

Cassian caught it.

A brief smile touched his lips before he gave one small nod.

Raven went still.

Oh, you bastard.

He hadn’t known.

He’d been testing her, feeding the thought out slowly while he watched her face for the answer.

And she had given it to him without saying a word.

Fantastic. One more secret gone.

"Don’t."

"I haven’t said anything."

That somehow made it worse.

Raven waited for the questions about her wolf.

They didn’t come.

Cassian simply looked at her for another moment before moving on.

"How do Prymont and I fit into this?"

Raven frowned.

"Our names were beneath Dreamwalker on your page." He tilted his head slightly. "Do you suspect us?"

She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Because Cassian’s name had not ended up there because she thought he was secretly crawling through her dreams.

Unfortunately, explaining the real reason would require explaining why she had written his name beside Dante’s in the first place.

And there was no version of that conversation Raven intended to have with Cassian Blade in a dark storeroom.

"You tell me," she said. "You’re the smart one."

Cassian paused.

Then the corner of his mouth lifted.

"You suspect us."

Raven nodded.

Close enough.

A quiet laugh left him.

"Considering me was sensible. Suspecting Prymont was stupid."

Raven stared at him.

The laugh had taken some of the coldness out of his face, and for a second she found herself noticing just how unfairly good-looking he was.

"I didn’t suspect Dante."

"No?"

"Rowan."

Cassian’s smile widened.

Raven hated that she noticed that too.

"I’d call you stupid," he said, "but you’ve barely been here a term. I’ll allow it."

Raven glared at him.

Cassian only looked more amused.

"You’ve limited yourself to the four Cardinals," he continued. "If I were doing the same, Prymont and Ashbourne wouldn’t make the list."

"Why?"

"Because they wouldn’t."

Of course that was all she got.

"There are two worth considering," he said. "Me and Hale."

Raven blinked.

Nikolai?

Cassian’s gaze stayed on hers.

"And it isn’t me."

She stared at him.

"You’re crossing yourself off your own suspect list?"

"Yes."

"That’s convenient."

Cassian barely reacted.

"It’s also true."

Unbelievable.

Still, the other name stayed with her.

Nikolai.

Raven frowned.

Could it be him?

She tried to picture Nikolai as the one slipping into her dreams, moving through her memories while she slept. The thought felt wrong somehow, but wrong was not the same as impossible.

"So Hale."

"No."

Raven frowned. "You just said—"

"I said he was worth considering."

Cassian bent, picked up the mask from the floor and turned it once in his hand.

"He isn’t responsible. Not after what happened two years ago."

Raven went still.

There it is again.

Two years ago.

The same gap people kept circling without ever properly explaining.

"What happened?"

Cassian’s gaze flicked up to hers.

"Nikolai lost a great deal because of the Moonless Court. Since then, destroying them has been about the closest thing he has to a life’s purpose."

Raven said nothing.

Moonless Court.

She had heard the name for the first time only hours ago, and now here it was again.

But Cassian’s certainty bothered her more than the name did.

"So Hale is off your list."

"He has been for a long time."

Raven turned that over.

If Cassian was right, Nikolai made even less sense than Dante or Rowan. Whatever had happened two years ago had apparently left him spending the years since trying to destroy these people.

Someone like that hardly seemed likely to invite one into Valerius.

Which left them exactly where they had started.

"Then none of you did it."

Cassian said nothing.

Raven pushed a loose strand of hair away from her face.

"So who did?"

Still nothing.

"Exactly." She exhaled. "Which brings me back to the obvious question. Why are we standing in a cupboard doing this instead of telling the Headmaster there’s a Dreamwalker inside Valerius and letting her tear the academy apart until she finds them?"

Cassian actually scoffed.

Raven’s eyes narrowed.

"Do you know what a Dreamwalker can do?" he asked.

She opened her mouth.

Nothing came out.

After a second, Raven shook her head.

Cassian watched her for a moment, and that small, unhelpful smile returned.

"Follow me."

He turned toward the door.

"That answers absolutely nothing."

He kept walking.

Raven followed after a moment’s pause because, irritatingly, he knew something she didn’t, and she had already wasted most of the afternoon failing to find answers on her own.

As she walked, she started fixing what their little fight had done to her uniform.

Her collar had been pulled crooked when he pinned her arms, one sleeve was still shoved halfway up her forearm, and her jacket had twisted badly enough that she could feel it pulling across her back whenever she moved.

Her hair was beyond saving.

He didn’t even breathe hard.

That thought irritated her all over again.

Raven dragged her sleeve down and straightened her collar as Cassian reached the door.

He opened it.

She stepped into the corridor first, still fastening the front of her jacket.

Then stopped.

Six or seven students stood a few steps away.

Prymont colours marked every one of them.

And at the front of the group stood Dante.

Raven froze.

Dante’s eyes went straight to her.

Then lower.

To her hands still at the front of her jacket. To the collar she had only half straightened. To the loose hair falling around her face.

His gaze slowly shifted past her shoulder.

Cassian stepped out of the dark room behind her and pulled the door shut.

The corridor went quiet.

Raven’s hands stopped.

Dante looked at Cassian, then back at her.

Whatever had been on his face a second ago was gone.

And only then did Raven realize what he was seeing.

Her standing outside a dark room, still putting her uniform back in order.

Cassian Blade directly behind her.

Oh, fuck me sideways.