Chapter 161 — You Said Second

Chapter 161: Chapter 161 — You Said Second

~ Raven ~

Raven did not move.

Dante stood on the other side of the instructor looking entirely too comfortable for someone who had just walked into the middle of a lesson and announced that he intended to take one of the students with him.

Raven turned slowly toward the instructor.

Surely there were rules about this.

The man had spent the lesson ordering everyone around like the court belonged to him, and only moments ago he had informed Raven that she was not allowed to so much as look aggressively at another student until the healers cleared her.

Surely this was where all that authority became useful.

Their eyes met.

Raven stared at him.

The instructor stared back.

She did not say anything, but she was fairly certain her expression communicated You just told him no. Keep doing that.

For one promising second, she thought he understood.

Then the bastard turned away.

"Pairs on the eastern marks," he called, raising his voice over the court. "If I see anyone using their aura before I say so, you’re running laps until dinner."

Raven continued staring at the back of his head.

He did not turn around again.

Apparently Dante Prymont had ceased to exist.

Fucking coward.

Raven looked back at Dante.

He was waiting.

She planted both feet more firmly against the floor.

No.

His mouth curved.

Absolutely not.

~~~

Two minutes later, Raven was walking beside him through the academy.

Her face had still not cooled down.

She had managed to leave the court without looking back, which she considered an achievement considering she could practically feel everyone watching her go. Somewhere behind her, Thalia had made a sound Raven intended to punish her for later.

Dante, naturally, looked delighted.

Raven glared sideways at him. "Why did you drag me out of class?"

"I didn’t drag you."

"You walked in, interrupted my instructor and told me to follow you in front of everyone."

"And then you followed me."

Raven exhaled hard through her nose. "Where are we going?"

Dante glanced at her. "You said you wanted Second place."

She frowned. "You know what happened this morning."

"I do."

"You sat at my table, made everything worse and then asked me to the Ball in front of half the academy."

His expression did not contain even the smallest trace of remorse.

"That’s exactly why I came for you."

Raven slowed slightly.

That sounded suspicious.

"What does the Ball have to do with Second Seat?"

"Not the Ball."

He looked ahead again.

"Second."

Raven waited.

Dante let her wait long enough to become irritating.

Then he asked, "Do you actually know what happens if you get it?"

"Obviously."

His eyebrows lifted.

Raven opened her mouth.

Second Seat meant she would be directly beneath Isolde. It meant status, access, more attention than she particularly wanted and, according to Thalia, enough formal responsibility to make people behave strangely around her.

That was—

Well.

Raven frowned.

Dante looked at her.

She hated that look.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You’re smiling."

"I’m not."

"You—"

Before Raven could decide whether kicking him would violate the healer’s instructions, Dante reached over and ruffled her hair.

Raven jerked away a second too late.

"Stop doing that."

Her wolf practically rolled over beneath her ribs.

Warm approval moved through Raven so eagerly that her irritation doubled.

You are supposed to be on my side.

Her wolf did not appear interested in hearing the complaint.

Dante’s hand dropped, his smile deepening when Raven glared at him.

"You really don’t know."

"I know enough."

He laughed softly and kept walking.

"The first four Seats aren’t just the women sitting highest on the Court board. They’re the senior end of it. When Valerius needs Court representatives for major functions, House events or anything involving the other races, those four are the ones everyone looks at first."

Raven listened more carefully.

"First Seat leads the delegation. Second stands beneath her. Third and Fourth complete it. They get access the others don’t, but they also get responsibilities the others can avoid."

"That sounds inconvenient."

"It is."

"Wonderful."

Dante glanced at her. "Still want Second?"

"Yes."

The answer came too quickly for Raven to reconsider it.

Dante smiled as though he had expected that too.

"There’s also the Concord."

Raven’s expression changed.

"What about it?"

"The Cardinal heirs represent Valerius against the vampire Cardinals."

She knew that much.

Dante continued before she could say so.

"The women have their own side. Their highest four against ours."

Raven took another step.

Then stopped.

Dante made it several paces before noticing and looking back.

Raven stared at him.

"The highest four what?"

"Court women."

"Doing what?"

His face told her before his mouth did.

Raven’s stomach sank.

"Combat?"

"Among other things."

"No."

Dante laughed.

"I’m serious."

Raven started walking again, faster now. "You’re telling me First through Fourth actually fight the vampire women?"

"They compete against them. The Concord changes from Renewal to Renewal, but combat is always part of it."

Raven looked at him in disbelief.

She had imagined ceremonies. Negotiations. Important people standing around in expensive clothes pretending not to hate one another.

Apparently somewhere in the middle of that, people started hitting each other.

"And these vampire girls are what? Their version of our Court?"

"Close enough. Their four highest-ranked women."

Raven tried to picture it.

Then, for no sensible reason, Adelaide appeared in her head standing in the middle of a combat court opposite a vampire.

Raven frowned.

No.

She tried again.

It somehow became worse.

Dante noticed. "What?"

"I’m trying to imagine Adelaide fighting."

He laughed loudly enough that two students farther ahead looked back.

Raven ignored them.

"I can’t do it."

"She can fight."

Raven turned toward him. "Adelaide?"

"You think women from Great Houses spend their entire childhood learning which fork to use?"

"I have seen some evidence suggesting exactly that."

Dante was still laughing when he shook his head. "The Court has plenty of politics in it, but nobody stays near the top with nothing behind them. Most of those women have been training since they could walk."

His eyes moved over Raven.

"Some of them considerably longer than you."

The amusement drained out of her.

Right.

That part was less funny.

Raven had survived fights. She had run when she needed to, copied what she could and learned very quickly that getting back up mattered when somebody stronger wanted her to stay down.

None of that meant she knew how to fight properly.

She looked ahead.

"This is very useful information considering I’m Ninth."

"You won’t stay Ninth."

Raven glanced at him.

"Well..." She hesitated, annoyed by herself for doing it. "If I even get there."

Dante stopped.

Raven took another step before realizing he had.

She turned.

"What?"

He looked genuinely confused.

"What do you mean, if?"

"There are seven women between me and Second."

"I’m aware."

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because there’s no way you don’t make the top two."

Raven stared at him.

He said it without hesitation.

Not like someone trying to make her feel better. Not like Thalia telling her she could do something because that was what friends were supposed to say.

Dante simply looked certain.

"Why?"

Something shifted in his expression.

For a moment, the easy amusement disappeared and he studied her with an attention that made Raven uncomfortable in a completely different way.

Then his smile returned.

"You do things you shouldn’t be able to do."

Raven’s brows drew together. "What does that mean?"

"It means I trust your craziness."

She stared at him.

"That may be the least reassuring thing anyone has said to me this week."

"That’s impressive considering your week."

Raven rolled her eyes and started walking again.

He followed, still amused.

A few minutes later, the academy paths began to thin out. Raven noticed it gradually as fewer students crossed their way and the larger academic buildings gave way to smaller training structures separated by high walls and narrow passages.

Dante eventually turned through an archway, and Raven followed him for all of two steps before stopping.

The court beyond was completely empty. High walls enclosed three sides, with a covered equipment area built into the fourth, but there were no students, no instructors and nobody wandering past outside.

Raven looked around before turning back to him. "Where is everyone?"

"They don’t train here."

"Why?"

Dante kept walking as though the answer should have been obvious. "Because it’s mine."

Raven stared at his back. "Your what?"

"My training court." He finally turned to face her. "Nobody uses it unless I allow them."

She looked around again, taking in the empty space properly this time, then looked back at him.

"No."

His brows lifted. "No?"

"We are not training here."

"Why?"

Raven gestured around them. "There’s nobody here."

Dante glanced across the court as though that were precisely what made it useful. "That’s generally the advantage."

"No."

Something shifted in his expression then. His eyes narrowed slightly, and Raven watched the understanding settle in before a slow smile followed it.

Oh, fuck off.

"Are you uncomfortable being alone with me, Rivers?"

"No."

The answer came far too quickly.

His smile widened, and Raven immediately wished she could take the word back and deliver it with considerably more dignity.

Dante folded his arms. "My intentions were completely pure Raven."

Heat rushed straight into her face. "I did not say anything about your intentions."

"No," he said, still looking far too pleased with himself. "You just walked into an empty training court, looked at me and decided we absolutely could not be here alone."

Raven opened her mouth, then closed it again.

For one awful second, she wondered whether she really had been the only one making the situation strange. Then she looked properly at his face and caught the amusement he was doing a terrible job of hiding.

Maybe not.

"Shut up."

Dante laughed.

"And find another court."

To her surprise, he agreed without arguing. "Fine."

They headed back toward the busier training buildings, where voices and the muffled impact of bodies against padded floors reached them before they even stepped inside.

Dante spoke briefly with the attendant at the front desk and secured one of the enclosed rooms along the main corridor, private enough for them to train without interruption but still surrounded by students, instructors and several other occupied courts.

Raven relaxed almost immediately.

Much better.

She stepped into the room while Dante went toward the equipment rack, but before he reached it, something clicked into place.

Bellringer had spent the morning turning her and Dante into academy gossip. Half her combat class had just watched Dante walk in, interrupt their instructor and take Raven away with him, and now Dante Prymont had very publicly reserved a training room with her in one of the busiest training buildings at Valerius.

Raven slowly smiled.

Dante looked over his shoulder. "What?"

"Nothing."

His eyes narrowed, but Raven’s smile only widened. For the first time since Bellringer had opened his mouth that morning, her mood improved considerably.

If she was right, they would not be alone for very long.