OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE: OF UNSPOKEN JEALOUSIES, FRACTURED TRUTHS, AND

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE: OF UNSPOKEN JEALOUSIES, FRACTURED TRUTHS, AND THE WEIGHT OF LOVE

Riyee's POV

Friday came. Supposedly my therapy session with Dr. Elara, but she had an emergency, so my schedule was pushed to next week.

Being back at Supreme Allievo Academy was both blessing and curse.
A blessing—I was no longer a prisoner of that hollow chamber.
A curse—I had to pretend I cared about classes and people while still recovering from the mental torture of Lucian Ortega.

Lucian Ortega was dead. Xythe killed him.
We didn't tell everyone the truth. Only the Ardent Court and KD knew. To the rest of SAA, Headmaster Antonio's version stood: Lucian was expelled, then handed over to the police.

And me? I was back in the Scholarium Wing's lecture hall, feigning interest in algebra while drowning in stares and whispers.

Yes, I'm that girl. The girl who saved you during a hostage crisis—and the same girl who got kidnapped. Don't look so confused. Same face, same heartbeat, same nightmares. I can be both the hero and the victim.

"You look like you're about to murder everyone," KD whispered beside me.

"I'm about to. If they don't stop staring." I kept my eyes forward. "The teacher's right there, and they still won't stop glancing at me."

KD chuckled low. "Let them. This is SAA. Everyone feeds on drama."

I cut him a glare. "And why are you in class? Shouldn't you be drowning in council work at the Imperial Wing?"

We were currently trapped in Algebra—an hour devoted to the obsessive pursuit of X and Y, like love letters from ghosts. Honestly, why hunt for variables that won't matter in real life?

"Ditching council, for now," KD said casually, then added softer, "I want to spend more time with you. I was too busy last week, and the next thing I knew—you were kidnapped."

I didn't answer. Because he was right. He had been busy. But even if he wasn't, what difference would it have made? I was trained my whole life as Ardent Court and still got captured. What could someone like him—someone who still thought he was normal—have done?

The teacher droned on about X and Y when KD leaned closer again, eyes still on his notes.

"I don't get it," he murmured. "Why do we solve problems just to find the value of X?"

"And why do we always have to ask Y?" I whispered back.

He grinned, finally looking at me. "Because maybe X always think he still has a special place"

I frowned. "Excuse me?"

He didn't answer—but his eyes flicked across the room. My gaze followed and landed on Xythe.

"Seriously, KD?"

He looked back at me, feigning innocence. "What?"

"Did you and Xythe fight while I was kidnapped?" I asked. "You've been on edge with him. Weird, since you didn't care before."

His brow rose, mouth tugging into that casual line. "Still unbothered."

"Yeah, right." I narrowed my eyes. "You're jealous."

"Again, Riyee. I'm not."

"You are."

"Nope."

"Admit it."

"Got nothing to admit."

I groaned. "Then why keep bringing him up?"

He smirked, maddeningly casual. "Maybe because you keep denying it's an issue."