Free Web NovelChapter 40: Chapter 40: First Night
The results board stayed crowded for an hour.
Students pushed and shoved to check their names, their departments, their tracks. Some celebrated. Some stared in silence. A few cried — the ones who’d failed the combat exam and were being escorted off the academy grounds by security, their academy dreams ending before they’d begun.
Rose stood at the back, arms crossed, watching the crowd from a distance. Her name was on the board. Support Department, Standard Track, Rank #134 out of 160. She’d passed, but barely.
Lucian appeared beside her.
"You know," he said quietly, "your father’s influence could have gotten you in without the exam."
Rose didn’t look at him. "I know."
"Then why take it?"
"Because I wanted to prove I could." Her voice was flat. "Even if I barely passed. Even if I’m ranked one hundred thirty-four out of one hundred sixty." She swallowed. "I didn’t want to be the Chevalier who got in through the back door. I wanted to earn it."
Lucian said nothing for a moment.
"You did earn it," he said. "Fourteen of those kills were yours. No one helped you with the crushing. That was all you."
Rose finally looked at him. Her eyes were wet.
"Doesn’t feel like I earned it when I’m ranked below people who can barely hold a sword."
"Rankings change. You know that."
"Not fast enough."
"Then change them faster."
Rose stared at him. Then she laughed — a short, wet, surprised sound.
"When did you become a motivational speaker?"
"About thirty seconds ago. Don’t get used to it."
Clara appeared and linked her arm through Rose’s, pulling her away from the board. "Come on. Let’s go find Ryan."
The department assignments had an immediate practical impact: housing.
The academy dormitories could accommodate roughly three hundred Year 1 students. With over five hundred applicants accepted this cycle, that left more than two hundred students without academy housing. The solution was simple — rent in Havenford, the town outside the walls.
Ryan’s situation was different.
The Research Department had fewer students than Combat, and their dormitory wing had space. When Ryan arrived at the housing office, a bored clerk handed him a key without looking up from her tablet.
"Room 217. East wing. Second floor. Meal hall is in the main building. Any questions?" freeweɓnøvel.com
"No."
"Next."
Ryan looked at the key. A single room. His own space. No roommates. No noise.
Finally.
He turned to find Lucian and Clara in the hallway.
"So you two are off-campus?" Ryan asked.
Lucian nodded. "We found a place in Havenford. Three bedrooms. Close to the east gate. Come see it."
The house was on a quiet street in Havenford’s middle district — a two-story building with white walls, a small front garden, and a blue door that stuck when you opened it.
Clara immediately claimed the largest bedroom.
"This one’s mine," she announced, dropping her bag on the bed.
Rose took the second bedroom without complaint. Lucian took the smallest room — barely big enough for a bed and a dresser — and stood in the doorway for a moment, looking at the bare walls.
Well, home. For now.
Ryan checked out the kitchen, the bathroom, the locks on the doors. "It’s not bad. Better than I expected for Havenford prices."
"A thousand credits a month," Lucian said. "We have enough for over a year if we’re careful."
Ryan nodded slowly. "I’ll eat at the academy. Save money." He paused at the door. "See you tomorrow."
He left.
Clara appeared in the hallway, stretching. "We should eat. I’m starving."
The main street was lined with shops and restaurants that catered to the academy’s student body — cheap noodle stands next to expensive potion shops, weapon stores next to scroll copy centers. Students in white uniforms wandered the sidewalks in groups, laughing, arguing, comparing department placements.
Lucian and Clara found a small restaurant with outdoor seating. Fairy lights hung from the awning, casting a warm glow over the tables. The smell of grilled meat and fresh bread filled the air.
Clara’s stomach turned.
She ordered a lot of meat. Steaks. Chops. Sausages. A mountain of protein that made the waiter raise an eyebrow.
"Big appetite," he said.
"Growing boy," Clara deadpanned.
Lucian ordered a small pasta dish he couldn’t taste and picked at it while Clara demolished her plate with an intensity that would have been alarming if anyone understood what she actually was. The meat was the only thing that still tasted normal.
"This is the first meal in two weeks that hasn’t made me want to die," she said between bites.
"Glad it lived up to expectations."
She glared at him. Then stole a piece of his pasta just to be petty about it.
The walk home was cool and quiet.
Havenford’s streets had emptied as evening settled in. A few students wandered past in pairs and groups, but mostly it was just them and the sound of their footsteps on cobblestone.
Clara’s hand found Lucian’s. Their fingers interlaced naturally, her cool vampire skin pressing against his warmer palm. Neither of them mentioned it. Neither of them let go.
This is nice.
Lucian had never had anything nice. The Du Maurier estate was a cage. The orphanage was a waystation. Even with Clara, everything was shadows and secrets and the constant pressure of hiding what they were.
But right now, holding hands on a quiet street, with a full stomach and a house waiting for them...
This is nice.
The house was dark when they entered. Clara locked the front door behind them and leaned against it, pulling Lucian toward her by the collar of his jacket.
"Bedroom," she whispered. "Now."
"Rose—"
"Is in her room with the door closed. She can’t hear us. I think."
She kissed him.
Lucian kissed her back, and her hands were already working at the buttons of his jacket, pushing it off his shoulders, sliding it down his arms. His hands found the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head.
Clara stepped back and unclasped her bra, letting it fall. Then her pants. Then her panties. She stood in the moonlight filtering through the window, pale skin glowing faintly, crimson eyes dark with want.
Lucian pulled off his shirt. His pants followed.
They stood facing each other in the dark bedroom — two vampires, silver hair and blonde, crimson eyes meeting crimson eyes.
Clara smiled.
Lucian smiled back.
And then she was pulling him toward the bed.
