Chapter 5 Chapter 5
The walk back to the Obsidian Heights penthouse was a blur of absolute silence. Caspian's grip on my waist didn't loosen until the private elevator doors slid shut behind us, cutting off the gaping stares of the Elite track students. They were like Vultures on my case.
The moment the elevator clicked into place, I violently wrenched myself out of his hold.
"Show me your wrist," I demanded, turning on him. My breath was ragged, my heart still hammering against my ribs from the adrenaline of the duel.
Caspian didn't move. He stood under the harsh fluorescent lights of the elevator, his aristocratic face pulled into a cold, unreadable mask. "Go to your quarters, Aurora. The demonstration was a success. You've secured your place."
"Don't lie to me, Caspian!" I stepped directly into his space, anger overriding my fear. "I saw it. When you grabbed my hand to suppress the shadow serpent, your glove shifted. Your veins are pulsing with dark green ether. You've been poisoned."
A dangerous, suffocating stillness settled over the elevator. Caspian slowly tilted his head, his icy gray eyes narrowing into razor-sharp slits. "You see entirely too much for a scholarship mouse."
"It's called survival," I snapped, crossing my arms. "Dark ether poison eats away at a mage's elemental core from the inside out. It's an assassin's drug. If anyone else in that arena had noticed your pulse, the Vance family’s stock would have crashed before lunch, and your rivals would be lining up to challenge you to a lethal duel."
Caspian took a slow, predatory step forward, trapping me against the mirrored wall of the elevator. The unnatural cold of his shadow magic flared, but it was weak flickering like a dying candle.
"And what do you plan to do with that information, little mouse?" he whispered, his voice dropping into a lethal baritone. "Run to the High Enforcers? Blackmail me like i blackmailed you?"
"I'm trying to figure out how to keep myself alive!" I yelled back, refusing to back down. "Our contract says you are my shield. If your core explodes from poison in the middle of a hallway, my shield is gone, and Tiffany Valerius will incinerate me! I need you alive so I can stay alive. Dont you get? Damn it."
Caspian stared at me, his chest heaving slightly as a sudden tremor ran through his broad shoulders. He winced, a brief flash of genuine agony breaking through his flawless facade. He reached up, gripping the handrail to steady himself.
He didn't say a word. He didn't have to.
Before I could think, my body moved on instinct. I reached out and grabbed his bare wrist, pulling his hand away from the rail.
"Don't touch me little mouse.." he started to growl, but the words died in his throat.
The moment my bare skin made contact with his skin, the platinum ring on my finger didn't flare with his shadow magic. Instead, deep within my chest, my hidden Cosmic Starlight reacted. It didn't explode outward like it had in the vault; it purred, sending a gentle, soothing wave of iridescent silver warmth straight through my palm and into his pulsing, toxic veins.
Caspian violently gasped.
His eyes, which had been rimmed with bloodshot veins of dark green, instantly cleared into solid, striking gray. The volatile static in his aura went entirely still. The agonized tension in his jaw melted away as my forbidden magic acted like a universal purifier, greedily consuming the dark poison in his arm.
He stared down at our joined hands, his breath coming in short, shocked pants.
"What... what..what did you just do?" he whispered, his voice completely stripped of its usual arrogance. He flipped his hand over, his fingers violently wrapping around my wrist, pinning my palm against his chest. "The pain. It's completely gone."
"My magic," I breathed, trying to pull my hand back, but his grip was iron. "Cosmic starlight is a universal solvent. It cleanses curses and poisons. I only gave you a micro-dose, but... it temporarily stabilized your core."
Caspian looked up from our hands, his eyes blazing with a sudden, dark, and terrifying intensity. It wasn't the look of a predator trying to kill me anymore. It was the look of a drowning man who had just found his only oxygen tank.
"How long?" he demanded, his fingers tightening around my wrist until it bruised. "How long does a dose last?"
"A day. Maybe two, depending on how much shadow magic you expend," I stammered, my heart racing from the sheer, overwhelming physical proximity. His chest was rising and falling rapidly against my palms. "But Caspian, someone is actively feeding you this stuff. It's in your food, or your wine. If you don't find the source, it will eventually kill you, no matter how much I cleanse it."
A dark, dangerous smile slowly spread across Caspian’s lips. He leaned down, his face inches from mine, his grip on my wrist transferring to my waist, pulling me so close I could feel the rapid rhythm of his heartbeat.
"Then it's a good thing we are engaged, Aurora," he murmured, his thumb brushing against the fabric of my crimson blazer. "Because you aren't just my fake fiancée anymore. You are my antidote. And I am never letting you go."
Before I could reply, the elevator doors chimed and slid open, revealing the grand entrance of the penthouse.
But we weren't alone.
Sitting on the velvet sofa, surrounded by three heavily armored High Enforcers holding golden magic-suppressing cuffs, was Lord Vance Caspian’s father. He looked up, his cold, merciless eyes locking onto where Caspian’s hand was tightly wrapped around my waist.
"So," Lord Vance said, his voice echoing like thunder through the penthouse. "The rumors from the arena were true. You've bonded yourself to a piece of scholarship filth." He stood up, gesturing to the Enforcers. "Arrest the girl. We are stripping her core to see what lies she used to bewitch my heir."
