The moment we stepped onto academy grounds, I bolted.
Didn't even think.
Just ran.
As far away from that unhinged elite as I could get.
From what I understood, Alma had already left earlier without waiting for me—and honestly, that alone made me breathe easier. What felt normal to my drunk brain yesterday was going to turn into a problem today. I didn't want to talk about what happened with Hwon.
Not now.
But I knew I wouldn't be able to avoid her forever.
When I walked into the room, Robert was sprawled across his bed like a dead fish, one arm thrown over his eyes.
I dropped the bag with my uniform jacket, shrugged off the new one, and hung it up.
He didn't move.
"Hey… you alive?" I asked.
"Yeah," he groaned. "Unfortunately."
He dragged his arm off his face and slowly pushed himself up.
"I thought you'd stay in the city till Monday morning. What happened?"
"Nothing dramatic," he muttered. "Ran into people I didn't want to see. Had to bail."
"You in trouble? I can help."
"I doubt you can erase my past, little Al," he snorted weakly. "I'll just be more careful."
"And that's why you're lying there like a corpse?"
"Oh, no," he let out a dry laugh, covering his face again. "Believe it or not—even I get embarrassed."
I sat down on my bed and stared at him.
"Don't drag it out. Now I want to know."
"You remember Koni unlocked another ability?"
"Yeah. Somatic memory."
"You know how rare that is? Kids like that get pulled into individual training."
"Miguel said something like that. We should invite him more often," I said. "Guy's probably losing his mind without Koni around. But what does that have to do with you?"
"I had nothing better to do," Robert groaned. "Miguel asked me to help her train. How the hell was I supposed to know where that would lead?"
"Torrent. Stop stalling."
"Fine. You know how I like to spend my weekends?" I nodded. He'd invited me more than once. "So Koni used somatic link on me."
"And?"
"And she doesn't know how to stop it properly yet."
"…And?"
"And she rolled it back. Far enough to see my entire evening yesterday."
"…Yeah, that's bad. But—"
"The problem," he cut in, dropping his arm and staring at the ceiling, "is that somatic memory doesn't shut down until the information is verbalized."
I went still.
"And guess what?" he added. "I physically can't move more than a couple meters away from her until it fades."
"Oh…" I started. "That's—wait."
It clicked.
"…Oh. Shit."
"Yeah," he muttered, dropping back onto the bed. "If it were just Miguel—fine. But a seven-year-old girl." He covered his face again. "You should've seen her eyes, Holivan. I think I broke her."
"Well… maybe you'll think twice next time," I said, shrugging.
Then added, more seriously:
"I'll check on her."
At breakfast, Miguel refused to sit with us.
Didn't even hide it.
Just threw Robert a cold look and left.
I didn't push.
Alma still hadn't shown up.
In fact, I hadn't seen her since Sunday morning.
And yeah—
I wasn't going to pretend.
That made things easier.
I set my tray down between Robert and Matthew and glanced around.
Carefully.
No sign of her.
"Why are you twitching like that?" Robert asked, stuffing bacon into his mouth.
"I'm not—"
"Morning, everyone!"
Her voice.
Right behind me.
I turned—
Too slow.
She walked up, wrapped her arms around my neck from behind—
and kissed me.
Right on the lips.
I froze.
At the table, even chewing stopped.
"What?" she said, straightening, looking around at everyone. "Robert, move. I'm sitting next to my boyfriend."
I didn't move.
For once, Robert didn't argue. Just shifted over.
Made space.
"What's wrong with you all?" she laughed, cupping my cheek. "Alan, you look like you've seen a ghost. You sick or something?"
"No… I… I…" I tried.
Nothing came out.
"Hold on," Robert said, blinking. "What the hell just happened?"
"What do you mean?" Alma blinked back at him, all innocence.
"You and him—you just—what did I miss?"
"Alan and I are dating now," she said brightly.
Then leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping:
"And if I hear one more word about brothels, I'll kill you."
She shook her fist in his face.
"Alma," I finally managed, "we need to talk—"
"Holivan."
Iveson's voice cut through everything.
"Later," I muttered, standing up.
"Good morning, Instructor."
"We've got a call. We move now."
I hesitated.
Just for a second.
Glanced back—
then followed him.
"What about my classes?"
"Field work comes first."
He didn't even slow down.
We headed down toward the lower levels.
A long corridor.
Voices ahead.
Tall doors—half open.
He pushed them wide and walked in. I followed.
Five people already there.
With us—seven.
Five instructors.
Two students.
One of them—me.
"Seriously, Grek?" one of them said. "Double possession—and you're bringing a green rookie?"
His gaze slid to me.
Open.
Blatant.
"Holivan."
"You want to question my judgment, Paul?" Grek said quietly.
Too quietly.
"No, of course not, I just—"
"Then don't waste time. Open the portal."
"Portal?" I echoed.
"You'll see."
One of them pulled out a small silver object.
Looked like a yo-yo.
"Photo," he said.
Someone handed him a phone.
I caught a glimpse—
Trees.
That's it.
He held the image to the device.
A red beam scanned it.
Then—
he flicked it forward, holding the string.
The thing lit up.
Hovered in midair.
Light poured down like a column.
"Move," Iveson said, nudging me forward.
One by one—
they stepped into the light.
And vanished.
I stepped in.
A faint tingling crawled over my skin—
Then—
drop.
Like falling into a deep well.
No ground.
No control.
Then—
impact.
I stumbled onto solid ground.
Cold air.
Tall trees.
Different place.
"Move," Iveson said again.
No time to think.
We headed toward a lone house in the distance.