Zara’s POV

  The familiar weight of expectation settled over me as I stood at the front of the lecture hall. My students sat scattered across the tiered seating, notebooks and pens ready, their gazes trained on me. But today, my mind wasn’t entirely on teaching—it was on the knowledge that somewhere within these halls, a murderer could be watching, listening, learning.

  I took a slow breath, pushing that thought aside as I began. “Throughout history, necromancy has been feared, misunderstood, and in many cases, outlawed. Necromancers were hunted, not because of what they had done, but because of what people feared they could do.”

  I paced slightly, my fingers tapping idly against the podium. “Fear is a powerful motivator. Fear of the unknown. Fear of losing control. Fear of magic itself. And more often than not, fear leads to violence.”

  A murmur rippled through the students, some shifting in their seats. I wasn’t just talking about the past, and they knew it. I glanced toward the back of the room where Kage sat, his arms crossed, his dark eyes scanning the room instead of looking at me. He was always watching, always assessing. The thought sent a strange warmth through me—one I quickly buried beneath the weight of the lecture.

  “Necromancy isn’t about power over death. It’s about understanding the balance between life and what comes after. But that balance is fragile. And those who fear it the most will do anything to break it.” My voice tightened slightly, but I forced myself to continue. “Even now, there are those who believe that magic itself is dangerous. That magicals should be controlled—or worse, eliminated.”

  A hush fell over the room. My students knew what I was referring to. They had seen the headlines. They had whispered about The Cleansing in the halls, in the dorms, behind closed doors.

  I took a breath, forcing the weight of my own emotions down. “We study history not just to remember, but to recognize when it begins to repeat itself.”

  Silence. Then, a single hand lifted in the front row. A student with sharp features and wary eyes. “Professor Zara… do you think it will happen again? Another magical purge?”

  I hesitated for only a second before answering. “I think there are people who want it to. And that’s why we can’t ignore it.”

  My words lingered as the students scribbled notes, their faces unreadable. I wondered how many of them felt safe in this room. How many were afraid to walk alone at night. How many had already lost someone to The Cleansing.

  I glanced back at Kage, finding his gaze already on me. He gave a slight nod, barely perceptible, but I understood. You did good, it said.

  I just wished it felt like enough.

  After the lecture, Kage and I left the hall, stepping into the familiar maze of corridors that made up the university. The hum of conversation filled the air—students discussing assignments, professors moving between classes—but beneath it all, there was something else. A tension I couldn’t quite shake.

  Kage walked beside me, his gaze sharp as he scanned the passing faces. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was—somewhere in this school, our killer was hiding in plain sight.

  I clutched the list of twelve names in my hand, the parchment slightly crumpled from how tightly I had been gripping it. “We need to narrow this down.”

  “We will,” Kage murmured, his voice low, his posture relaxed but his muscles tense, ready. “Just watch. See who’s watching you.”

  We moved through the halls, subtly observing faculty and staff, looking for anything—anyone—that felt out of place. I had spent years in this school, surrounded by these people, and yet, for the first time, I felt like a stranger among them.

  As we made our way through the administrative wing, a man in a crisp, dark suit stepped into our path. He was one of the university’s administrative staff, someone I had seen in passing but never spoken to directly. His smile was polite, but something about it felt… forced.

  “Professor Zara,” he greeted, his gaze flicking briefly to Kage before returning to me. “I attended your lecture today. Fascinating work. Necromancy is such a… delicate subject.”

  I forced a tight smile. “It is.”

  “Tell me,” he continued, clasping his hands behind his back, “do you believe there are limits to your magic? Hypothetically speaking, of course. Are there souls that are simply… unreachable?”

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  A cold chill ran down my spine. The question was innocent enough on the surface, but the way he asked it—the precise wording—sent warning bells ringing in my mind.

  Kage shifted beside me, his presence solid and unwavering. “That depends,” I answered carefully. “Why do you ask?”

  “Oh, just academic curiosity,” he said, his smile never wavering. “Given recent events, people are bound to wonder about the possibilities of your craft.”

  I studied him, but he gave nothing away. “Necromancy isn’t about possibilities,” I said finally. “It’s about understanding the connections between life and death.”

  He nodded, the polite smile still plastered on his face. “Indeed. Well, I won’t keep you. Just wanted to say I enjoyed your lecture.”

  He turned and disappeared down the hall, his presence lingering like a stain in the air.

  Kage leaned in slightly. “That was suspicious as hell.”

  “I know,” I murmured. “Something was off about him.”

  Before Kage could respond, another professor—a man who had always seemed indifferent to my work—stepped into our path.

  “Professor Zara,” he said, a hint of something almost eager in his tone. “I’ve been meaning to speak with you about your research.”

  I blinked. He had never shown the slightest interest in necromancy before.

  “Of course,” I said cautiously. “What about it?”

  “I was wondering—” He hesitated, glancing at Kage, then back at me. “—how precisely do you retrieve a soul? Do you believe there’s a way to permanently sever one’s connection to the body before death?”

  Every hair on my arms stood on end.

  Kage’s entire posture shifted, his body going still like a predator locking onto prey.

  I kept my voice even. “That’s… an unusual question.”

  The professor chuckled lightly. “Just academic curiosity, I assure you.”

  The same phrase. Almost word for word.

  My stomach twisted. “I see. Well, necromantic theory is complex, but the connection between the soul and body is resilient. Severing it permanently is not easy.”

  The professor nodded slowly, his gaze unreadable. “Fascinating. Well, I won’t take up more of your time.”

  As he walked away, I felt the weight of Kage’s stare.

  “That’s two,” he muttered. “Two people asking eerily specific questions about your magic right after your lecture on soul connections.”

  I nodded, my heart hammering. “They’re watching me, Kage. They know we’re looking.”

  He exhaled, glancing around the hall before his eyes landed on something—or someone—across the quad.

  “We’re being watched,” he said under his breath.

  I followed his gaze, catching the glimpse of a figure at the far end of the quad. A man, standing still, watching us. The moment Kage moved toward him, he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

  “Damn it,” Kage hissed. “He knew we saw him.”

  I swallowed hard, my hands tightening around the list in my grip. “We need to narrow this down. Fast.”

  Kage nodded, his expression dark. “We’re running out of time.”

  I took a deep breath, forcing my thoughts to clear. “None of them were him.”

  Kage frowned. “What?”

  “None of them had those eyes, Kage.” I met his gaze, my own conviction strengthening. “I saw them in the visions. The cold, lifeless blue eyes. The kind of emptiness you don’t forget. And none of the people we spoke to today had them.”

  Kage was silent for a moment, digesting what I said. Then, he exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. “So we’re looking for someone else. Someone we haven’t seen yet.”

  I nodded. “But we’re close. I can feel it. He’s here, somewhere. Watching us, staying hidden. But he’ll slip up.”

  Kage’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Then we’ll be ready when he does.”

  Back in Zara’s office, she and Kage compared notes. The list of suspects had shrunk, but not enough. Too many people had access to student records, and too many of them had been acting strangely.

  “He’s too careful,” Kage muttered, leaning over the desk as he studied the names. “Too precise. He knew exactly when to strike and how to stay ahead of us. What if he’s not acting alone?”

  I felt a shiver run down my spine. The thought had been lingering at the back of my mind, but hearing it out loud made it feel real. “You think there’s more than one?”

  “Not necessarily more than one killer, but someone helping him. Someone giving him the information he needs.” He tapped a name on the list. “A network, maybe. Someone who has access to these records and is feeding him targets.”

  The realization settled like a stone in my stomach. “Which means even if we find him, we might not be stopping everything.”

  Kage exhaled sharply, rubbing his jaw. “Exactly.”

  A heavy silence filled the room, the weight of the investigation pressing down on us. The exhaustion from the last few days was catching up to me, a dull ache forming behind my eyes. I lifted a hand to rub my temples, but before I could, Kage’s fingers closed gently around my wrist.

  “You need a break,” he said firmly.

  I started to protest, but the look he gave me silenced me. “Five minutes, Zara. Just sit down.”

  With a sigh, I let him guide me to the couch in my office. He sat beside me, close enough that I could feel the warmth of him even without touching. I let my head rest against the back of the couch, closing my eyes for just a moment.

  “We’re going to find him,” Kage said quietly. “We’re not letting him win.”

  I turned my head slightly, opening my eyes to find him watching me. His expression was softer than usual, the usual guarded edge dulled by something else. Something I wasn’t ready to name.

  “I know,” I murmured.

  The silence stretched between us, thick with something unspoken. My pulse quickened slightly, and I could see the same hesitation flicker through Kage’s gaze. For a moment, I thought he might say something, that maybe I would too. But neither of us did.

  Finally, I exhaled and pushed myself up. “Back to work?”

  Kage’s lips twitched in a small, almost knowing smile. “Back to work.”

  But as we turned back to the list, the tension between us didn’t fade. It lingered, unspoken, waiting for a moment we weren’t ready to face just yet.