Chapter 18: Bonfire

Isla was bouncing around their dorm room by the time Roxanne sat down on her bed, staring at the two outfits laid out beside her.

"I don’t even know why I’m choosing," Roxanne said. "I’m only staying for a little while."

"Sure," Isla said, not looking up from her mirror.

Roxanne finally picked the simpler of the two, something soft and pretty without trying too hard. The second she pulled it on, Isla turned around and smiled.

"Interesting."

"What?"

"You remembered what Liam said."

"I did not."

"I didn’t say you did."

Roxanne realized, a beat too late, that she’d just confirmed exactly what Isla was implying. She grabbed her bag. "Can we just go?"

Isla laughed and followed her out.

It wasn’t about Liam, Roxanne told herself. She just wanted to look nice for a school event. That was all.

His comment stayed somewhere in the back of her mind anyway.

The lake area looked nothing like the rest of the academy grounds. A massive bonfire burned at the center, string lights strung between the trees, tables loaded with food, blankets scattered across the grass where students sat talking and laughing. Music drifted from a small stage near the water.

Roxanne paused for a moment, half expecting to feel out of place.

Instead, she smiled.

Isla grabbed her hand and pulled her into the crowd, and for the first time in what felt like forever, nobody brought up the hearing. Nobody whispered about Arabella. Nobody asked how she’d survived the fall.

She was just another student.

Then Liam spotted her, and his expression shifted the second their eyes met. He crossed the grass toward her, looking her over—not disrespectfully, just clearly impressed.

"I told you to wear something pretty."

"And I told you you’re annoying."

"You still came."

"Unfortunately."

"That’s not what your face says."

"Don’t push it."

He laughed, and when the music shifted into something livelier, he held out his hand. "Dance with me."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I said no."

He kept his hand there, patient and unbothered. "You’re not going to give up, are you?"

"No."

"Fine."

She took his hand mostly to make him stop asking, and he pulled her straight into the crowd, playful rather than serious, throwing in ridiculous moves that made her laugh despite herself. When he spun her too fast, she stumbled and grabbed his arm, and he caught her easily.

For a second, the joking stopped. They were close, and he was looking at her in a way that made the noise around them fade slightly.

Then he grinned. "See? You needed me."

"I absolutely did not." She let go immediately, but the dancing continued, and she noticed she hadn’t laughed like this in longer than she could remember.

When the song ended, Roxanne stepped away for a drink. A guy from one of her other classes approached, friendly, asking if she wanted to dance.

Before she could answer, she noticed Kai a few feet away, watching. Not glaring. Just watching, his expression unreadable.

The student asked again. Roxanne opened her mouth to answer, and Kai walked past, his shoulder brushing hers.

"Kai?"

He stopped. "What?"

"Nothing."

He studied her for a second. "Good."

Then he walked off, and Roxanne stared after him, completely unsure what had just happened.

Later, she caught him watching her again and walked over.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You keep saying that."

"Because there’s nothing to say."

She narrowed her eyes. He looked away, and his silence told her more than words would have.

For the first time, it occurred to her that Kai might actually be jealous.

The thought should have bothered her. Instead, her heart beat a little faster, and she dismissed the feeling before it could go anywhere.

Back near their blanket, Roxanne found a drink sitting beside her bag. Her favorite. Exactly the one she always chose, without fail. A folded note sat beneath it.

You said you liked this.

She looked around the crowd. Liam was arguing with someone by the food table. Kai stood near the water. Lucien was talking to another student.

Roshan sat alone nearby, watching the fire.

She looked at him. He noticed and immediately looked away.

She smiled to herself, picked up the drink, and didn’t say a word. It was exactly what she wanted. He hadn’t grabbed something random. He’d remembered.

As the night grew louder, Roxanne slipped away toward the water, sitting near the edge where the music softened into background noise. A few minutes later, Lucien joined her, keeping a respectful distance, looking out over the lake instead of at her.

"You’re not going to ask why I’m hiding?" she said.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you’re not hiding."

"I’m not?"

"You’re taking a break."

That made her smile.

They sat quietly for a while before she admitted, "I didn’t think I’d enjoy tonight."

"Why not?"

"After everything—" She didn’t finish.

Lucien didn’t push. Instead, he said, "You don’t have to prove you’re okay every day."

"What if I’m not?"

"Then you’re not."

No pity. No lecture. No attempt to fix her.

Roxanne looked back at the water, surprised at how easy it felt to sit beside him in silence.

Across the fire, Dorian watched her. He’d expected misery. Instead, she was laughing—first with Liam, then with Kai, then accepting something from Roshan, now sitting beside Lucien like it was effortless.

"Are you jealous?" Arabella asked, following his gaze.

"No."

"You’ve been staring at her all night."

"I was just surprised."

"By what?"

He didn’t answer, because he didn’t have one. Roxanne was supposed to be devastated. Instead she looked happy, surrounded by four royal Lycans, and something about that sat wrong in his chest.

When Liam made her laugh again, Dorian’s jaw tightened.

Isla eventually dragged Roxanne back into the group for a ridiculous academy game, teams competing in a relay around the fire. Liam claimed her for his team instantly. Kai complained about the strategy. Roshan calculated the fastest route. Lucien took charge without asking.

Roxanne got swept into the middle of it and, for once, didn’t mind.

They won. Liam celebrated like they’d taken a championship. Roxanne laughed at the brothers ribbing each other, Isla laughing right along with them, and for a few minutes she forgot everything — the rejection, Arabella, the hearing, the fall, the whispers that had followed her since she arrived.

She just felt normal.

By the time the night started winding down, students drifting back toward their dorms, Liam walked alongside her and Isla.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Did you have fun?"

She pretended to think about it. "A little."

He looked offended. "A little?"

"Maybe more than a little."

He looked thoroughly victorious.

Kai passed by. "You smiled."

She turned. "What?"

"You smiled a lot tonight."

"You did," Roshan added quietly.

She looked between them, then at Lucien.

"You’ll come next time," he said simply.

She laughed. "You four are very confident."

"You like us," Liam said.

"Don’t push your luck."

He laughed, and she turned to head back toward the dorms.

Then Kai’s voice stopped her.

"Too late."

She looked back. He was watching her with something calm but almost playful behind his eyes.

Roxanne didn’t know what to make of it.

She turned away before any of them could catch her smiling.