"WHAT?" Daphne throws her hands in the air. "You’re making it very hard to help diagnose a mystical dying Luna, Isolde."
Isolde pinches her nose. She loves her sister. She really does. But Daphne’s medical theories are straight out of a kindergarten science fair.
"We’ll find out later," Isolde mutters. "Once the healer updates the Alpha... or once Amias stops crying long enough to text someone."
Daphne winces. "Yeah. Poor guy."
Silence fills the car at that. There’s not a single soul in the mansion that doesn’t know about Amias’s miseries. It has gotten to the point where seeing him smile and be happy, even for a second, seems super weird. That paints a picture of how he’s had to grow up and what kind of damage it’s done to him.
Every time she thinks about it, it breaks Isolde’s heart, and she just wants to hold him tightly and assure him that everything will be fine. Hopefully, Lira gives him the happy home he’s never had.
The trees blur past as they drive away. The morning light feels too bright. Isolde tries not to think of the blood on the floor, of Clarissa’s limp body, and the way Amias looked like someone being torn apart inside.
She presses her forehead to the cold window. And then, a new tension crawls into her stomach. Nash. Right.
She still has to talk to Nash.
Her whole body groans in dread.
Daphne notices immediately. "Uh-oh," she says. "You’re doing that thing where your eyebrows try to run away from your face. Why?"
Isolde groans. "I... need to talk to Nash."
Daphne freezes. "About what?"
"You know what."
Daphne’s jaw drops. "ISSY! Don’t tell me you’re having double thoughts about it."
"Trying not to."
"ISOLDE."
"I said I’m trying!"
"You’re going to talk to him TODAY. It’s undeniable."
Isolde sinks lower in her seat like the leather can swallow her whole. "Yes. I have to. It’s gonna haunt me if I don’t."
Daphne squeals like a dramatized banshee. "Girl, I support you, but also? Good luck because I might pass out for you."
"Thanks for the moral support."
"You’re welcome. I am nothing if not emotionally useless."
Isolde chuckles in spite of herself.
Daphne nudges her knee. "Hey—seriously. You’re gonna be fine. You’ll tell Nash whatever you need to say, and if he acts stupid, I’ll smack him."
"Thanks."
"And if you act stupid, I’ll smack you too."
"Wow. Sister of the year."
"I try."
The girls exchange a small smile. Still, Isolde feels nausea curling in her stomach. Talking to Nash terrifies her. Talking to Nash after overhearing his friends mock her? After hearing him say it was Daphne he actually liked? After accepting that she is not elegant enough, not the right kind of girl for a male like him?
Yeah. It’s going to be torture. She exhales slowly, pressing a palm to her chest.
Auro brushes against her thoughts gently. "You’re strong. You’ll handle it."
She hopes so. Gods, she really hopes so. Because the car is already slowing at the school gates, and whatever peace she had in the last minute evaporates instantly.
Her day is about to get a thousand times worse.
Maro barely put the SUV into park before Daphne shoved the door open like the car was on fire. Isolde followed more slowly, bracing herself. Her hand hovered over her bag strap, knuckles white. The school looked the same as it always did; sprawling brick buildings, glass windows catching the sun, banners fluttering in the breeze.
However, the vibe is completely poisoned.
The moment their shoes hit the pavement, the air changes. Isolde feels the prickle at the back of her neck first. It’s like dozens of little daggers grazing her skin. Eyes... too many eyes are turning, tracking, narrowing.
Then came the whispers like a thousand venomous bees.
"That’s them."
"Did you hear what happened at their house?"
"Disgraceful."
"Imagine their brothers accepting one fated mate — and in front of the whole pack..."
"Isn’t Amias’s mother dying? Someone put it on the website just now but it was taken down. What a mess."
Daphne stopped mid-step. She froze. Her ponytail swayed behind her like a shocked exclamation mark.
"...No," she breathed. "No way. No freaking way."
Isolde didn’t look up. She just exhaled through her nose. "Just keep walking."
But Daphne was not built for that. Oh no. She whipped around so fast her hair almost took out a freshman.
"ARE YOU JOKING?" she barked at nobody and everybody.
Half the courtyard flinched. Eyes darted away. Bodies turned. Conversations instantly dissolved into fake coughing and forced phone-checking.
"Oh, so now everybody suddenly remembers how to mind their business?" Daphne snapped, hands slicing the air like aggressive punctuation marks. "Yeah? You can all choke actually."
"Daph..." Isolde murmured.
"No! Because I know I’m not hallucinating. I know these same clowns were drooling over us yesterday. Acting like they want to inhale our perfume bottles. And now? Pointing? Whispering? Giving us scandal-episode-of-the-year energy?"
She mimed slashing her own throat. "Hypocrites."
A girl nearby winced and scurried off like Daphne might bite.
Isolde gently grabbed her sister’s elbow. "Let’s not cause a scene."
"I live in the scene," Daphne hissed, but allowed Isolde to guide her forward.
Students parted for them the way they usually did... except now, instead of awe, it was more like everyone feared catching a contagious disease. Or maybe drama was contagious. Honestly, at this school? It probably was.
A boy from the basketball team whispered to his friend, far too loudly: "Bro, I heard Darien talked back at the Alpha."
"Which one is Darien?"
"Luna Ines’s son."
The friend whistled. "Damn."
Isolde’s jaw clenched. She wanted to sink into the ground.
Daphne crossed her arms, grumbling like a gremlin. "They’re all acting brand new because our brothers chose their mates. And? And? What did they expect? That the Goddess just accept apps? Bro, it’s a bond. A divine BOND. Of course, they claimed their mates."
Isolde pressed her lips together. "People love gossip more than common sense."
"Facts," Daphne snapped. "Honestly, half these people wish the Goddess marked them out of pity. You know I’m right."
Isolde couldn’t help the laugh. And that sound? That tiny snort? It helped. It loosened the suffocating knot of anxiety in her chest. Briefly. Very briefly. Because then they rounded the walkway corner and she saw them.
Nash and Ace.