Chapter 211 — Everything Is Fine

Chapter 211: Chapter 211 — Everything Is Fine

~ Raven ~

"Raven?"

Tessa’s voice barely registered as Raven stared at the familiar figure standing farther along the academy path.

Dante Prymont.

He was speaking with two students near the training grounds, looking perfectly comfortable as he listened to whatever they were telling him. Every so often, he nodded or offered a brief response, his expression giving nothing away.

Raven wasn’t sure why she’d expected him to look different. Perhaps she’d imagined he would be angry, or that something about his appearance would tell her whether he’d really witnessed what happened with Cassian.

Instead, he looked exactly as he always did.

"Raven," Tessa repeated, touching her arm. "Are you alright?"

Raven blinked and turned toward her.

"What?"

Tessa followed her gaze, and her expression changed when she realized whom Raven had been watching.

"Oh."

Raven grimaced.

"Are you going to speak with him?"

Raven looked toward Dante again. One of the students had already left, and the other appeared to be finishing his conversation.

She’d been putting this off since the Ball, telling herself she’d speak with Dante when she knew what to say. Unfortunately, another day hadn’t made the prospect any easier, and now that he was standing right there, she couldn’t think of a single sensible way to approach him.

"I suppose I should," she admitted.

Tessa studied her for a moment before nodding.

"Alright. I’ll see you later."

Raven gave her a grateful smile, watching her friend continue down the path before turning her attention back toward Dante.

By then, the second student had also departed.

Dante was checking something on his Linkslate when Raven began approaching, but he noticed her before she’d covered half the distance.

He looked up, and their eyes met.

Then he smiled.

"Rivers."

Raven slowed, caught off guard by how easily the greeting came.

"Prymont."

His smile widened slightly as he slipped his Linkslate away.

"Survived your morning lessons, I see."

"Barely. Berry apparently considers humiliating her students an essential part of education."

Dante chuckled.

"That sounds like Berry. What did you do this time?"

"Nothing particularly terrible. I nearly ruined an inscription, and she decided that was worth reminding me about for the rest of the lesson."

"Did you fix it?"

"Eventually."

"Then I suppose you learned something."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him.

"Whose side are you on?"

"Yours, obviously."

The answer came so naturally that Raven almost relaxed.

Perhaps she’d been worrying unnecessarily. Dante looked perfectly fine, and apart from the slight tiredness around his eyes, there was nothing about him to suggest anything unusual had happened.

He even asked whether she’d recovered from the excitement of the Ball, and when Raven mentioned that Berry had been discussing the approaching Concord, he nodded with interest.

"Preparations are going to get rather unpleasant soon," he remarked. "The instructors won’t want anyone embarrassing Valerius in front of the Blood Courts."

"How reassuring. I was beginning to think I might actually enjoy myself."

Dante smiled at that, but something about his reaction bothered her.

Normally, he would have taken the opportunity to make another ridiculous comment, probably something about offering to train her personally or ensuring she didn’t embarrass herself in front of the vampires.

Instead, he simply agreed that she had plenty of work ahead of her.

Raven frowned, wondering if she was imagining things.

She tried another remark, this time questioning whether he intended to behave himself during the competition or start another argument with Rowan.

Dante gave a quiet laugh.

"I’ll try to remember your advice."

And that was it.

No teasing response, no exaggerated offense at her questioning his self-control, and certainly none of the familiar arrogance that usually made Raven want to strangle him.

The longer they spoke, the more uncomfortable she became.

Dante wasn’t being cold or deliberately unpleasant. He was listening to her, answering her questions and occasionally smiling, but there was a strange distance between them that hadn’t existed before.

He wasn’t standing quite as close as he normally did, and his gaze no longer lingered on her face whenever she stopped speaking. Most noticeably, he hadn’t made a single attempt to touch her hair.

Raven had spent weeks complaining about that particular habit, yet now that he’d apparently decided to stop, she found herself strangely disappointed.

Goddess, what the hell is wrong with me?

"Well," Dante said eventually, glancing toward the training grounds, "I’d better get going. I’ve got a few things to take care of."

Raven looked at him.

"Oh."

"I’ll see you around, Rivers."

He gave her another small smile before turning to leave, and something inside Raven sank.

She’d become so accustomed to Dante finding reasons to stay beside her that watching him simply walk away felt strangely wrong.

Normally, he would have offered to accompany her somewhere, or at least asked where she was heading before deciding whether he could invent an excuse to follow.

This time, he hadn’t even asked.

"Dante."

He stopped and turned back.

"Yes?"

Raven hesitated, suddenly uncertain how to explain what was bothering her.

"Are you alright?"

His eyebrows rose slightly.

"I’m fine. Why?"

"Because you’re acting strange."

"Am I?"

"Yes, you are."

Dante looked almost amused.

"Raven, you’ve spent weeks complaining that I tease you too much. I thought you’d appreciate me behaving myself for once."

Ordinarily, that would have made her laugh, but instead, Raven found herself studying him more carefully.

He was smiling, yet there was something different about it, something that made her wish he’d simply returned to being the infuriating bastard she knew.

"I didn’t mean you had to stop being yourself," she muttered.

Dante’s smile faded slightly.

For a moment, he simply watched her, and Raven had the uncomfortable impression that he understood exactly what she was trying to say.

Then he glanced toward the students passing along the path.

"Raven, I really should get going."

"Can we talk first?"

He looked back at her.

"About what?"

Raven held his gaze, deciding there was no point pretending she didn’t know why things had become so uncomfortable between them.

"The Ball."

Whatever amusement remained in Dante’s expression disappeared.

He said nothing for several seconds, his attention briefly shifting toward the students passing nearby before he nodded toward the quieter passage running along the side of the teaching building.

"Not here."

Raven understood immediately.

There were far too many students moving through the grounds, and the last thing either of them needed was half of Valerius discovering they were having some sort of romantic disagreement.

She followed Dante away from the main path, passing beneath a stone archway into a narrow courtyard behind the building.

The sounds of students gradually faded as they moved farther from the entrance. A few windows overlooked the courtyard from the upper floors, but nobody was nearby, and the area was quiet enough that they could speak without attracting attention.

Dante stopped near the far wall and turned toward her.

"Alright. What did you want to say?"

Raven adjusted the books beneath her arm, suddenly wishing she’d thought more carefully about how to begin.

"I wanted to apologize."

Dante’s expression remained neutral.

"For what?"

"For leaving you during the Ball. I know I said I’d come back, but I saw Thalia leaving and thought something was wrong." Raven sighed, remembering how abruptly she’d abandoned their dance. "I went after her without properly explaining anything."

He listened without interrupting, and when she finished, he gave a small nod.

"It’s alright."

Raven frowned.

"That’s it?"

"What else would you like me to say?"

"I don’t know. Something?"

Dante exhaled through his nose, almost smiling.

"Raven, I’m not angry that you went after your friend. You thought she needed help."

"I know, but..." She hesitated, watching him more carefully. "I also know you came looking for me afterward."

His expression changed slightly.

Raven noticed.

When Brielle had told her about Dante searching for her that evening, she’d spent enough time thinking about it to know there was something she needed to understand.

Dante looked toward the courtyard entrance before returning his attention to her.

"Yes," he admitted. "I did."

Raven’s fingers tightened around her books.

He studied her for another moment, and when he spoke again, the familiar ease had disappeared from his voice.

"I saw you with Cassian."

Raven went still.

She’d suspected it. Goddess, she’d practically convinced herself of it after everything her roommates had said, but hearing Dante confirm it was another matter entirely.

For several seconds, she couldn’t think of anything to say.

Dante looked at her, and a humorless smile touched his mouth.

"I suppose that answers a few things."

"Dante..."

"It’s alright."

"No, it isn’t."

He looked away, and Raven lowered her books against her side, struggling to find the words she’d been rehearsing since the previous night.

"I didn’t mean for you to find out like that."

Dante turned back toward her.

"Would it have been better if I hadn’t?"

Raven hesitated.

"That isn’t what I meant."

"I know."

His answer was quiet, but there was something about it that made her chest tighten.

She drew a breath and tried again.

"I’m sorry. I really didn’t want to hurt you."

Dante watched her for a moment before looking down, a faint, humorless laugh escaping him.

"Fuck."

Raven frowned.

"What?"

He shook his head.

"Nothing."

"Dante."

"Raven, you don’t have to keep apologizing."

"But—"

"Did you want to kiss him?"

The question caught her completely off guard.

She stared at Dante, who was watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite read.

For one desperate moment, Raven considered explaining her bond with Cassian, how everything had happened so suddenly and how she’d barely understood what was happening herself.

But none of that would change the truth.

She’d wanted to kiss Cassian, and she wasn’t going to insult Dante by pretending otherwise.

"Yes," she admitted quietly.

Dante nodded, although Raven noticed the way his expression tightened before he looked away.

"Right."

"Dante, please. I don’t want you thinking that what happened between us at the Ball meant nothing."

He gave a small laugh.

"Do you have any idea how happy I was that night?"

Raven blinked, caught off guard by the question.

"What?"

Dante turned toward her fully, and for the first time since she’d approached him, she caught a glimpse of the emotions he’d been trying so hard to conceal.

"You asked me to dance in front of the entire academy, Raven. Do you have any idea how happy that made me?"

Raven couldn’t answer.

"I’d been waiting for you to give me an answer for days, and when you finally called my name in front of everybody..." He stopped, shaking his head with another humorless laugh. "Fuck. I thought we were finally getting somewhere."