The Harbinger's Forbidden Mate

POV: Rory Hale

I dropped my luggage on the empty bed and sat down cautiously, the mattress squeaking beneath me. "I didn't ask to be here."

"None of us did," Maya answered swiftly, a flicker of something unpleasant in her voice. "But you'd better get used to it. Because once you walk through those gates, you don't get to leave unless they want you gone."

Her remarks stabbed deeper than I wanted to admit.

I murmured, "So I'm trapped."

Maya leaned forward, eyes keen, her voice softening to almost a whisper. "Call it what you want. Prison. Academy. Hell clothed as a palace. Doesn't matter. Just learn soon, Rory, or someone else will teach you the hard way."

Silence stretched, heavy and stifling.

I attempted to push back, to sound braver than I felt. "Why do you care what happens to me?"

For a moment she didn't answer. Then she smirked again, but it didn't reach her eyes this time. "Because I like having roommates who survive."

Her gaze flicked to the door just as it opened without warning.

Kael stepped inside.

My chest locked quickly. His storm-gray eyes found me, unblinking, and my heart smashed against my ribs. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, shadows carved under his eyes, jaw stiff.

Maya's smirk widened as she arose. "Well, this is fun. I'll give you two some privacy."

Before I could stop her, she was gone, the door clicking shut behind her.

Kael didn't move closer at first. He merely stood there, the air in the room crackling with his presence.

Finally, he continued, "You shouldn't have come here."

I was tense. "You think I had a choice? They dragged me."

His jaw clinched. "You don't understand what this place is. What it does."

"Then explain," I snapped, the frustration flowing out before I could stop it. "Because all I've gotten are riddles and whispers and people looking at me like I'm" My voice cracked. "Like I'm prey."

Kael's gaze flashed, something sinister in his demeanour. "That's because you are."

The words hit like a razor.

I muttered, "Why me?"

He took a step closer, his voice dipping low. "Because you're different. Because something in you calls to every creature in these halls. And if you don't figure out what it is, one of them will kill you before you can."

My throat clenched, but I forced the words out. "And what about you? Are you going to kill me too?"

For the first time, his eyes softened, storm clouds splitting with something I couldn't define.

"No," he muttered. "I'm trying to save you."

The air between us grew heavier, pushing us closer even though my body shouted to run.

I shook my head, asking, "Why should I trust you? You won't even tell me what you are."

His jaw stiffened. "Because if you don't trust me, you'll trust someone worse."

We stood in silence, the candles flickering as if sensing the stress. I wanted to detest him, to toss him out and slam the door, but the truth was written in his voicefear. Not for himself. For me.

I muttered, almost breaking, "I just want a normal life."

He drew closer, his eyes seeking mine. "That life is gone. The sooner you embrace that, the sooner you'll survive."

My chest heaving, my hands trembling. Without thinking, I reached out to balance myself on the nightstand, but my fingers brushed his hand instead.

The moment our skin met, his body jolted fiercely.

His eyes opened, searing pain blazing across his face, and he staggered back like I'd burned him.

I gasped, bringing my hand to my chest. "What just happened?"

Kael's breathing went ragged, his hands squeezed so hard I thought his knuckles may crack.

He shook his head, backing toward the door. "Don'tdon't touch me again."

"Why?" My voice shattered. "What are you hiding?"

He halted at the door, shoulders stiff, his voice low and gruff.

"Because if you touch me again, Rory... you might kill me."

Rory looks in disbelief as Kael slams the door behind him, leaving her shaking in the flickering candlelight, the echo of his warning hanging in the air:

Why would my touch pain him... unless I'm something far more dangerous than I ever knew?

The first thing I noticed was the smellsmoke.

It clung to the gym walls before anything had even started, faint but acute, like the air was warning me. I swallowed hard, standing at the outside of the circle as students filled the room. Their eyes sparkled too brightly, their smirks too keen, their gestures too inhuman.

"First combat training," Maya muttered near me. "Don't faint. They'll eat you alive."

I attempted to laugh, but it came out cracked. "Thanks for the pep talk."

Her grin was evil. "You'll thank me later. Or not."

The Headmistress entered long black robes, eyes like shards of obsidian. Every voice is quiet.

"Today," she stated, "you will test your strength. Power is the only language Obsidian Academy understands. If you cannot speak it..." She let the silence extend, her lips curling. "You do not belong here."

My throat clenched. The words weren't for everyone. They were for me.

The bouts began. Students clashed with flashes of magic and strength sparks, claws, shadows streaming across the gym floor. I could barely breathe watching it.

Then his name was called.

"Darius Draven."

He stepped forward, towering and golden-skinned, muscles coiled with lethal ease. His eyes burnt molten amber. The voices around me were electric.