Cassian paused for a beat, startled by what he''d just heard. Then, the smile in his eyes deepened, and something sharper shed across them.


    "Let''s go," he said simply.


    Before Raven could even react, he had already grabbed her hand and was leading her away with such purpose and speed it was as if the rest of the academy had ceased to exist.


    He didn''t slow, didn''t hesitate, heading straight for the one ce few students dared to venture near-the ancient Archive Hall beside the president''s office.


    Raven raised a brow in mild amusement, letting herself be led without resistance. Her gaze drifted to his back, and a faint, knowing smile began to curl at her lips.


    Momentster, they stood before the grand double doors of the Archive Hall. Cassian pushed them open without hesitation, and as the doors creaked inward, warm golden light spilled out across the stone steps.


    The moment they stepped inside, the heavy doors swung shut behind them with a dull boom, locking out anyone who might''ve been foolish enough to follow.


    Just as the room fell silent again, Raven turned.


    Without warning, her hand came up and pressed firmly against the stone wall beside Cassian''s head-ssic kabedon position, clean and practiced.


    Cassian blinked. Something about this felt... off.


    But before he could put his finger on it, Raven leaned in, her lips tilted in a chill, teasing smile, and her voice brushed his ear like silk over steel.


    "Going through so much trouble just to seduce me?" she said softly. "Go on- what''s your endgame?"


    Cassian was speechless.


    Raven watched the flicker of confusion pass over his face and couldn''t stop the slight gleam of amusement that lit up her eyes. Still, her tone dropped a few degrees colder as she added, "Not talking? Trying to y the shy game with me now? Or are you going to say you''re just madly in love with me?"


    Now he got it.


    He''d been... cast in the role of the flustered little love interest?


    For a brief second, he hesitated. But then, instead of resisting, his lips curled into that familiar, wickedly seductive smirk. "And what if I do want something from you? You''d give it to me if I asked?"


    Raven narrowed her eyes, unimpressed. "You?" she scoffed. "You''re just a pretty face with no real weight. You''re nowhere near the level to be making demands."


    Her gaze swept over his features, slow and deliberate, before she added coolly, "Thirty dors. I''ll buy you for a night."


    Cassian''s smirk froze.


    She''d said it so casually, with the air of someone bestowing a favor. Thirty dors? That was all?


    Raven caught the change in his expression and smirked faintly. "Not happy?" she asked. "Fine. Thirty-five."


    13-04 Mon, 21 Apr


    Cassian said nothing, his jaw tightening.


    "Forty," Raven said, clearly pushing his buttons now. "And don''t ask for more-l don''t like materialistic men."


    Cassian''s face finally darkenedpletely, but before he could fire back, Raven''s fingers lifted to grip his chin-firmly.


    And then her lips were on his.


    Cool, soft, and terrifyingly direct.


    65%


    5


    His eyes fluttered shut on instinct, his mind nking for a moment as his body reacted before he could think better of it. He found himself responding-against his better judgment.


    One of her hands slid around his waist, tracingzy, suggestive lines.


    Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was still grappling with the indignity of


    being bought for forty bucks-but Raven''s hand was moving now, and his outrage began to slip away with every calcted touch.


    Fine, he thought, just before hepletely gave in. ''Forty dors... is still a positive number.


    Just as things began to escte, the temperature in the hall shifted.


    Sharp. Sudden. Cold. Raven''s movements stilled.


    She lifted her head and nced upward.


    The Archive Hall was built like a cathedral-its interior hollow and spiraling upward in gold-lined staircases that wrapped around the walls. And now, from the vaulted


    ceiling high above, snow-pure white and unnaturally pristine-began to fall.


    Raven''s eyes sharpened instantly. The air shifted around her, dangerous and icy. With a flick of her wrist, a card materialized between her fingers.


    A deep brown Earth Starcard.


    As it spun slowly in her grip, a heavy, grounded force began to fill the hall.


    And as that force spread, the falling snowkes shimmered, melted, and vanished before they could ever touch the ground.


    "Hm?"


    The curious hum came from above-a man''s voice, smooth and clear, with a


    melody that seemed just a bit too pleased.


    Footsteps followed. Slow. Unhurried. Purposeful.


    Whoever it was, they were descending.


    Raven didn''t speak. Her gaze locked onto the upper level of the spiral staircase, where the sound was growing louder.


    Anc


    erged


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