Heart of Glass [manxman]

Chapter Eight

"Professor Rivian?"

"Yes, Alyssa," I said, looking up from the lecture notes. Everyone had filed into the classroom, and the door was closed. It was my fifth-years' shooting course. The beginning of the semester was always slow, but once they had their guns chosen, things began to pick up as the drills and training sequences became more thorough and strenuous.

"It's not exactly on topic, but it's relevant... Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

I blinked. "Ask away," I said. If she'd been a third-year, I would've answered differently. By that time, they knew to choose questions carefully. If it didn't pertain to class, I typically wouldn't take the question. However, there were exceptions to every rule, and I was trusting that she didn't lie when she said it was relevant.

"Professor Blanc was telling us about the history of the Glass Hunter and the Aquireign attacks today. I thought you might be able to tell us more about it since you're more into history than he is," she said. The students looked half worried I'd deem the question unworthy, while the other half appeared genuinely curious.

While they usually chatted until I got my shit together, everyone had fallen silent, all sets of eyes at the front, watching Alyssa and I, awaiting an answer.

Well, she wasn't wrong. I knew my history better than Louis, but what she didn't know was that both of us lived it. We'd be able to tell her the same amount... Of course, there was a lot of things that neither of us could reveal without fucking ourselves over. She also wasn't wrong about its relevance. I wasn't sure how far rumors of the Aquireign attacks had spread to the students, but there was nothing wrong with answering some basic history questions.

"Of course," I said, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose. "Anything in particular you were wanting to know more about?"

"Professor Blanc said the two Division 01 survivors were soulmates. Is that true?"

Fucking hell. Why didn't Louis just scream it from the goddamn rooftop? "Well, it was never officially confirmed, but the speculation seems to point to them being soulmates. Sources close to them at the time had letters sent back to loved ones talking about the leaders of their units being soulmates. Others also mentioned the designs on their dog tags."

"Dog tags?" Chelsea, one of my brighter students in the back, said, a frown etched on her face.

I nodded. "Hunters wear dog tags, so their bodies can be identified. Anyone without a soulmate has a second blank tag. If a Hunter meets their soulmate in the field, that tag will be filled in with a design that will match their soulmates dog tag. 1274 and the Glass Hunter had matching designs on their tags. This is another piece of evidence alluding to them being soulmates."

"What was the design?"

A compass and a clock, something that I had yet to solve. Usually the marks and designs looked like flowers or something special to the couple. I had no idea what time or place had to do with Louis and I, though. "No clue," I said instead. "There wasn't any elaboration in the letters. When 1274 and the Glass Hunter vanished, they took their tags, so no one has been able to recover them."

"Professor Blanc found his soulmate." Grayson Akers... He was a bright kid, there was no denying it, but that little shit always knew how to push my buttons.

"I thought he got a tattoo." Chelsea frowned, glancing back up to me and cocking a brow, as if asking for my input.

"Professor Blanc's personal life is of no concern to you. Besides, he goes to bed before sunrise, so it's hard to imagine him finding the time to have a personal life." Almost as soon as the words were out of my mouth, a silhouette appeared at my door. It came closer and the light of the classroom spilled out, revealing Louis standing in the threshold of the room.