(Nova POV)
The rumor didn't spread like wildfire.
It spread like smoke—slow, insidious, seeping into every corner of the academy until you couldn't breathe without tasting it.
I first heard it in the dining hall at lunch.
Two third-years at the table behind me, voices low but not low enough.
"…Serena said Nova's powers are unstable. She resurrected Tessa without the Eye, but what if she can't control it next time?"
"Serena said she saw her light flare in the council chamber. Almost burned the place down."
"If she loses it again, we're all dead. The goddess reincarnation thing is a curse, not a blessing."
I froze with my fork halfway to my mouth.
The mashed potatoes turned to ash on my tongue.
I set the fork down.
Didn't look back.
Just sat there, hands clenched under the table, feeling the bond tug—distant, faint, aching. Damien was somewhere on the estate grounds. Training. Meeting. Avoiding me. I didn't know. Didn't care.
Or told myself I didn't.
