Chapter 206 — Pillow Talk

Chapter 206: Chapter 206 — Pillow Talk

~ Raven ~

For several seconds, nobody said anything.

Brielle was the first to recover, staring at Raven as though she’d just announced something completely impossible.

"Wait, you’re talking about Isolde Marchmont?"

Raven nodded, already beginning to regret how casually she’d delivered the news.

"The First Seat?" Tessa asked, looking equally bewildered. "The Dreamwalker has been going after her too?"

"Yes, Tessa. How many Isoldes do we know?"

"That wasn’t what I meant!"

Raven sighed, but before she could explain herself, Cassian interrupted.

"What happened to her?"

Something about his voice made Raven turn toward him. The amusement he’d been wearing only moments earlier had disappeared, replaced by an expression that made her suddenly remember just how long he and Isolde had known each other.

"She came to me because she was having nightmares," Raven explained. "She hadn’t been sleeping properly for several nights, and whatever was happening inside those dreams was getting worse."

Cassian remained silent, waiting for her to continue, so Raven told him about Isolde’s suspicions and how they’d eventually decided to confront the intruder together.

She explained what happened inside the nightmare, how everything had gone wrong, and how Dante had intervened when she could no longer escape on her own.

By the time she finished, Cassian’s expression had become frighteningly cold.

"And Isolde?" he asked.

Raven hesitated, suddenly finding it difficult to meet his eyes.

"She hasn’t woken up."

A tremendous pressure swept through the bedroom before Raven could say anything else.

Her breath caught as Cassian’s Dominant aura filled the room, the sudden weight of his essence making the air feel almost impossible to breathe.

Brielle stumbled backward, her hand flying toward her chest as she struggled to steady herself. Thalia stiffened beside the nearest bed, while Tessa grabbed the bedpost for support.

Even Raven felt the pressure, although her newly strengthened essence and her bond with him allowed her to withstand it considerably better than the others.

"Cassian, what the fuck!" she snapped, glaring at him. "Control yourself! Are you trying to crush everyone in here?"

His eyes shifted toward her.

"And the whole bloody Wing will know you’re here if you keep this up!"

Cassian glanced toward her roommates, finally seeming to realize what he’d done. The pressure disappeared almost immediately, leaving Brielle taking several irritated breaths as she straightened.

"Fuck," he muttered, dragging a hand through his white hair. "Sorry."

Brielle pressed a hand against her chest before looking at him in disbelief.

"Goddess, is that what you Cardinals do whenever something upsets you?"

Cassian barely acknowledged the question. His attention had already returned to Raven, and when he asked how long Isolde had been unconscious, she reluctantly told him it had been three days.

His jaw tightened.

"I need to check on her."

Raven nodded. She’d expected as much, considering their history, although she couldn’t help feeling a little worried about the expression on his face.

Cassian turned toward the window, but just before reaching it, he stopped and looked back at her.

For a moment, Raven thought he wanted to ask another question. Then warmth spread through the mark near her collarbone, accompanied by a sudden rush of affection that caught her completely off guard.

Her eyes widened.

Just what the–-

The feeling grew stronger, carrying an unmistakable desire that made her remember what had happened between them earlier that evening.

Was this dude seriously thinking about kissing her?

Here? In front of her roommates?

Raven stared at him in horror, silently rejecting the idea with every ounce of embarrassment she could muster.

Cassian’s expression changed almost immediately.

The corner of his mouth lifted, and the amusement returning to his eyes told Raven that he’d sensed her reaction through their strengthened bond.

The infuriating man actually looked pleased with himself.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only person who’d noticed.

When Raven glanced toward her roommates, she discovered Brielle watching with a raised eyebrow, while Tessa looked between them with growing interest.

Thalia was already smiling.

Oh, Goddess. These idiots.

Raven felt her cheeks growing warmer, which only seemed to amuse Cassian further. She was seriously considering telling him to get the hell out when a sudden rush of wind swept through the bedroom, disturbing the curtains and sending a few loose papers fluttering across the floor.

She turned toward the window.

Cassian was gone.

"What the hell?" Brielle exclaimed, hurrying toward the open window.

Tessa joined her, peering outside before looking back at the spot where Cassian had been standing moments earlier.

"He just disappeared," Thalia said in disbelief.

"Obviously!" Brielle replied. "But how the hell did he move that quickly?"

"Air Lattice," Raven explained, still looking toward the window.

"I know it’s his Air Lattice!"

"Then why are you asking me?"

"Because I didn’t even see him move!"

Raven couldn’t deny that it had been impressive. Even after everything she’d witnessed Cassian do, the ease with which he used his abilities still managed to surprise her.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t given much time to appreciate it.

"Raven."

Something about Thalia’s voice made her suspicious.

She turned to find her friend grinning at her.

"Oh, no," Raven muttered.

"You kissed him!"

Raven stared at her. "What?"

"You and Cassian!" Thalia exclaimed, looking positively delighted. "You two kissed!"

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"Oh, please." Brielle turned away from the window, smiling now. "Did you see the way he was looking at you?"

"He was just looking at me!"

"Raven," Tessa said, removing her glasses to clean them, "you turned red enough to make it rather obvious."

"I did not!"

Thalia laughed, clearly enjoying herself far too much.

"You absolutely did, and he was smiling at you like he knew something we didn’t."

Raven folded her arms, glancing between the three women with increasing irritation.

"You seriously need to find something better to do."

"She’s denying it," Brielle observed.

"That means it happened," Thalia agreed.

Raven opened her mouth to argue, but quickly realized that defending herself was only making them more suspicious.

Then an idea occurred to her.

"Fine," she said, turning toward Brielle. "Just like you kissed Lucien Marchmont tonight, right?"

Brielle froze.

The change was so immediate that Raven nearly laughed, although she wasn’t entirely certain why the other woman had reacted like that.

For a moment, Brielle simply stared at her. Then she turned sharply toward Tessa, who had been quietly moving toward her own bed.

"You told her?!"

Tessa stopped.

"What?"

"Don’t you dare pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about!"

"I didn’t tell her shit!" Tessa protested, looking genuinely offended. "Why would you even think that?"

Raven blinked.

Then she slowly began to smile.

"Wait a fucking moment."

Brielle turned toward her, and Raven could barely contain herself when she realized what had happened.

"I was bluffing!"

Thalia burst out laughing.

"What!"

"I was completely bluffing!" Raven continued, pointing at Brielle. "You actually kissed him?"

Brielle’s expression changed as the realization settled in.

"You little bitch."

Raven doubled over, laughing so hard that she barely noticed Brielle reaching toward the nearest pillow.

Unfortunately, she noticed when it smacked her across the shoulder.

"Hey!"

"That’ll teach you!"

Raven snatched another pillow from her bed, grinning despite herself.

"Oh, you’re fucking asking for it!"

She swung at Brielle, who ducked with a laugh before retaliating. Raven managed to catch her across the back with her second attempt, but Brielle responded with a blow that nearly knocked the pillow out of Raven’s hands.

"Goddess, you two are ridiculous," Tessa muttered, watching them.

Thalia considered the fight for a moment before reaching toward her own bed.

"Well, I might as well join."

Tessa turned toward her.

"Don’t you—"

The pillow struck her shoulder.

Her glasses slipped crookedly across her nose, and for a moment, she stood perfectly still while Thalia laughed at her expression.

Then Tessa slowly pushed her glasses back into place.

"Thalia Wren, you’re fucking dead."

She grabbed her own pillow, and within seconds, all four women were fighting.

Raven narrowly avoided another attack from Brielle, stumbled against the edge of Thalia’s bed and nearly lost her balance laughing. Tessa had abandoned all attempts at dignity and was pursuing Thalia around the room, while Thalia kept squealing whenever she managed to escape.

Someone knocked a cushion onto the floor, and Brielle tried using the mattress as cover, only for Raven to reach across it and smack her anyway.

"You cheating little—"

A furious banging interrupted her.

All four women froze.

"Will you lot shut the hell up?" someone demanded from outside. "People are trying to sleep!"

"It’s the middle of the bloody night!" another voice added.

"Some of us have classes tomorrow!"

Raven closed her eyes.

Fuck.

"Sorry!" she called toward the door, quickly dropping her pillow. "We’re sorry! We’ll keep it down!"

"You’d better!"

The footsteps gradually retreated, accompanied by several irritated complaints from the corridor.

For a few seconds, the room remained completely silent.

Raven stood beside her bed with her hair falling across her face, while Brielle looked as though she’d just survived an actual battle. Thalia was struggling to catch her breath, and Tessa’s glasses were sitting crookedly on her face again.

They looked at one another.

Thalia snorted.

Raven pressed her lips together, desperately trying not to laugh, but the moment Brielle began giggling, whatever restraint she’d managed to gather disappeared.

Within seconds, all four women were laughing again, this time doing their best to keep the noise down.

"Oh, Goddess," Tessa whispered, straightening her glasses. "We’re going to get ourselves thrown out."

"Worth it," Brielle managed between giggles.

Raven lowered herself onto the edge of the nearest bed, still smiling.

For the first time in what felt like forever, she wasn’t thinking about rankings, the Dreamwalker or the ridiculous number of people apparently determined to make her life miserable.

She was simply enjoying herself.

Unfortunately, Brielle had other ideas.

"Now," she said, recovering enough to look at Raven, "where were we?"

Raven groaned.

"Oh, fuck off."

"No, no. You started this."

"You attacked me with a pillow!"

"Because you tricked me!"

Raven grinned at her.

"So you admit you kissed Lucien?"

Brielle looked away, clearly regretting every decision that had brought her to this conversation.

"Fine," she muttered. "Yes, we kissed. Happy?"

"Very."

"And that’s all you’re getting."

"Fair enough," Tessa remarked from her bed.

Raven turned toward her, suddenly remembering that Brielle wasn’t the only one who’d attended the Ball with a date.

"And what about you, Tessa? Don’t think you’re escaping."

Tessa shrugged as she adjusted her pillow.

"I kissed Julian."

Raven stared at her.

Brielle turned so quickly that she nearly knocked another pillow off the bed.

"You what?"

Tessa looked mildly puzzled by their reactions.

"What? I thought we were confessing."

Thalia covered her mouth, laughing again.

"Goddess, Tessa!"

"Honestly, I don’t see why everyone’s so surprised," Tessa replied. "It’s not as though I disappeared with him for the entire evening."

Raven shook her head, thoroughly amused.

"It’s always the quiet ones."

Tessa smiled innocently before turning her attention toward Thalia.

"Well, that makes two of us."

Three pairs of eyes followed.

Thalia stopped smiling.

"Oh, don’t look at me like that."

Brielle leaned forward with renewed interest.

"Thalia?"

"Nothing happened."

Raven immediately looked away.

She knew exactly what had happened, but she’d already promised herself that Thalia’s relationship was hers to explain. After everything they’d been through earlier, she had no intention of betraying that trust again.

Unfortunately, Brielle wasn’t particularly easy to discourage.

"Everyone else has admitted something," she pointed out. "Why are you suddenly acting suspicious?"

"That’s hardly a reason to interrogate me!"

"Then stop looking so guilty!"

Thalia glanced toward Raven, who pretended to be examining the pillow in her lap.

After a moment, her friend sighed.

"Fine. I’ve been seeing someone."

Brielle’s expression brightened immediately.

"Who?"

Thalia hesitated, looking considerably more nervous than she had a moment earlier.

"A girl."