****************
Chapter 114
~Valerie’s POV~
I reached for my phone, snapped a picture, and a text ca through before I could even type anything.
Unknown Number [9:34 PM]: Hey, library partner. Gotten to your room safely?
I blinked, then realized. Ash.
Still using that encrypted texting line. I didn’t even save the number. I replied quickly with the picture attached.
: Look. The symbol’s gone. Sa runes as before. Was it just us or a trick of the light? Magic? I don’t know what to think right now.
The dots on the screen blinked for a mont, then ca his response.
Ash [9:35 PM]: Relax. It’s okay. Magic doesn’t always behave. Sotis it reacts, sotis it hides. It’ll show itself again. Maybe tomorrow, that’s if what we saw was real. If not, perhaps we were both too engrossed, and it played a trick of light on us.
: On both of us? Can’t be right?
Ash: It can. Just breathe, Nightshade. Sleep first.
I hesitated.
Then typed:
: Alright. Good night, Ash.
I was about to close the chat when his reply ca in, almost instantly.
Ash [9:36 PM]: Sweet dreams, magic girl. Don’t dream of too much.
I rolled my eyes. Typical. There was no reply for him this ti.
Instead, I forwarded the scroll photo and everything I’d written to Solstice, just in case. She needed to see this, too. If anyone could decode it, it’d be her—and maybe her archives.
I shut off the lights, curled under my blanket, and watched the screen until Solstice’s "Delivered" tick finally ca through.
Then, I let sleep take .
But not before thinking one last thing—
If the scroll really was magical and watching, then, had it already chosen ? Or was soone behind the scenes playing a trick on ?
If they were, doesn’t that an they were either trying to steer off course or that it was all really nothing?
Still, I couldn’t shake the fact that I needed to visit two places to get my answer.
The club I entered upon my arrival in Star City and...The club I traced the thief to.
Either way, there was no going back, and I knew what I had to do—sneak out and not be caught.
****************
~Valerie’s POV~
If there was one thing Prestige Supernatural Academy had in abundance—other than overpowered heirs and fae with superiority complexes—it was drama.
And apparently, a gossip network.
I’d heard whispers about it since my first week here. Nothing specific, just murmurs in the halls, giggles in locker rooms, sudden wide eyes glued to glowing screens, love confessions, school couple, cheer squad, na it.
But I never bothered to check it out. I figured after the stunt I pulled during my first scuffle with the Alpha heirs, I’d go viral for a hot minute and be forgotten by the week or two.
Spoiler: I wasn’t.
At least, not until today. The na of the site?
Whispr.
One word: the logo was a wisp hovering in front of pink, sexy lips. There were no nas. It was just a fire-fueled scandal dressed as daily tea.
And sohow this morning, my na had managed to claw its way back to the top of the trending list.
I didn’t realise it right away.
Not when I stepped onto school grounds and everyone froze mid-step. Not when the courtyard fell silent like a curse had been cast.
But I noticed it when the whispers began, softly, then louder. Then sharpened to full-on side-eyes and low gasps as I passed.
"That’s her."
"Check the update on Whispr—she’s everywhere."
"Ugh, lucky. I want a storm-born mate, too."
"Do you think it’s true?"
"Did he really say that... about her?"
I blinked, resisting the urge to whip around and demand answers. Instead, I pulled out my phone, scrolled past my school alerts, and there it was.
Whispr Trending
🔥 Spicy Sauce Alert: PSA’s coldest Alpha King shows his thunderous soft side?
"Prince of Lightning goes full knight mode for the academy’s most mysterious girl. Who is Valerie Nightshade, and why did Dristan Alexander risk breaking combat formation for her?"
The post had screenshots.
Grainy stills from the training simulation—, bruised and catching my breath. Dristan’s hand stretched forward, smoke still curling from his fingers. A quote beneath it:
"I didn’t co for the target. I ca for you."
—D. Alexander, caught mid-rescue.
I nearly choked on my own air.
"This is not happening," I muttered, stuffing my phone back into my bag as if that could make it go away.
That was when I felt my phone vibrate again. I checked it with the kind of dread reserved for hex results and magical duels.
Ash [7:34 AM]: The sun envies your light, yet still dares to rise.
If only it knew the moon had eyes."
—Morning, flaheart.
I blinked. My face flushed.
I barely had ti to respond when another text pinged in.
Isla [7:35 AM]: [LINK: WHISPR/VAL-D-LIGHTNING]
"YOU’RE A FREAKING LEGEND, VAL. HOW DARE YOU NOT TELL YOU STARRED IN A ROMANCE NOVEL THIS WEEK?"
P.S. I am framing that screenshot.
: Isla behaves. You are not framing anything. And wait until Dristan sees this. He’d go ballistic and get it taken down.
Isla: You sure about that pumpkin?
I frowned. What did she an by that? Wasn’t this the sa Dristan who tried so hard to hide the fact that we were mates from the others?
Of course, he would use his stoic presence to end such rumours.
"But you and I both know it is no rumour and soon the news of them being mates with you will go viral."
"Astra, not now."
I ignored Astra and typed back
: Very sure.
Isla: I’d rethink that again cause Dristan had already seen the news and guess his reaction.
I paused and inhaled deeply, ready to type my guest when y phone buzzed and with it was a picture.
I froze completely.
Dristan Alexander sat, looking at a phoen and possibly reading sothing but what was shocking was that pleased smile on his face.
: Shit.
Isla: Yeah baby. You’re going viral.
I groaned and kept walking, past the courtyard, past the stares, because apparently, I’d gone viral.
Again.
Only this ti, I wasn’t just the new girl with a temper. Now I was "the girl the lightning prince ca for," urgh!
Reviews
All reviews (0)