Jace
The moment I stepped into the hall, I knew something was off. Whispers clung to the walls like smoke, curling through clusters of students who quickly scattered when my gaze swept over them. They had that guilty look, the one they always wore when my name was tied to a rumor. I didn’t even need to ask to know who it was about.
Zara.
The tightening in my chest was immediate, visceral. She was always the subject. Always the center of their gossip, their stares, their curses and their longing. But today, the whispers had a sharper edge, and my instincts told me why.
Atlas.
By the time I made it to the main building, I’d already heard enough half-formed sentences to piece the story together: Atlas and Zara. Argument. Heated. At the gates.
My fists clenched at my sides, nails digging
