Chapter 75. Surface Rivals

ARDEN

Cade didn’t come back the next day.

Or the day after that.

And now—on the eve of the Academy Wars Finale, the match that would ultimately decide which Academy would claim victory for the year—I still hadn’t seen him. His seat in class remained conspicuously empty. He didn’t respond during the roll call. Even his friends didn’t seem to know where he was.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

I tried to shake it off. I attempted to focus on the big match ahead, but everything around me became nothing more than noise in the absence of Cade.

As I rounded the corner of the east hall, lost in distraction, I collided with someone tall and cold.

“Oh—sorry,” I muttered, instinctively pulling back.

But the scent that came from him froze me in place.

Mr. Winters.

He looked down at me, a polite cruelty dancing in his smile. “Arden Stone,” he said smoothly. “I remember your name this time.”

“Good job at the eliminations la