Aiva hadn't moved.
The room felt too quiet.
Bryce's words still hung in the air like a shockwave that had not finished rippling through the space.
I think we should break up.
The sentence had landed so suddenly that her mind hadn't fully caught up yet. She stood beside the bed where he had left her, her shirt now pulled back over her torso, her fingers lightly gripping the fabric near the hem as if grounding herself in something physical.
The door had closed behind him minutes ago.
Or maybe longer.
Time had become slippery.
Aiva slowly sat down on the edge of the mattress.
The bed creaked faintly beneath her weight.
Her mind replayed the moment again.
Bryce standing by the window.
The moonlight cutting across his face.
The calmness in his voice.
That was the part that bothered her the most.
There had been no hesitation.
No visible regret.
No struggle.
Just a quiet certainty.
I think we should break up.
She stared down at the floor.
Her thoughts began running in circles.
Was he planning that?
The question surfaced immediately.
Her jaw tightened slightly.
Because if he had just decided in that moment, there would have been hesitation. People hesitated when they made decisions that big. People stuttered, changed wording, softened the blow.
Bryce hadn't done any of that.
He had said it cleanly.
Directly.
Like someone who had already made peace with the decision.
Aiva leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she pressed her fingers lightly against her temples.
So how long?
Her thoughts spiraled quickly now.
Had he been thinking about it earlier that day?
Yesterday?
Her mind jumped to the beach.
That moment surfaced vividly in her memory.
Bryce had been quieter then too.
Not distant.
But different.
She had brushed it off at the time.
Now it replayed in her mind with uncomfortable clarity.
His distracted gaze toward the horizon.
The way his answers had been shorter than usual.
The small pauses before he spoke.
Aiva swallowed slowly.
Was that when he decided?
Or worse.
Had he already decided before that?
The thought made her chest tighten.
Because if that was true, it meant something even worse.
It meant he had been carrying the decision around while still acting normal.
Still laughing.
Still spending time with her.
Still kissing her.
Her stomach twisted slightly.
The confusion built inside her chest like pressure.
She stood up abruptly and began pacing the room.
Her bare feet moved softly across the wooden floor as she tried to piece the situation together.
Why tonight?
That question bothered her most of all.
Of all nights.
Why tonight?
They had been fine earlier.
Even during the festival.
Sure, Bryce had been quieter than usual, but that alone didn't explain this kind of decision.
And then…
The moment on the bed.
Aiva stopped pacing.
Her eyes drifted toward the mattress.
They had been kissing.
Things had been escalating.
He had been fully into it.
She was sure of that.
There had been no hesitation then.
No sign of withdrawal.
If anything, the chemistry between them had been stronger than ever.
Which made the sudden shift even more confusing.
Aiva folded her arms.
Her mind continued racing.
Did I do something wrong?
The question came quietly.
But once it appeared, it refused to leave.
She thought back to the moment again.
Had she moved too fast?
Said something wrong?
Done something that made him uncomfortable?
Her chest tightened further.
Did he regret it halfway through?
Her jaw clenched.
That thought hurt more than she expected.
Because if that was the case, then the breakup hadn't been about some long-planned decision.
It had been about her.
Something she had done.
Something she hadn't noticed.
Aiva rubbed her arms slowly as the room suddenly felt colder.
The music from the festival drifted faintly through the window.
Distant.
Muted.
Life was continuing outside.
But inside this room, everything felt frozen.
Her mind refused to settle.
Every possible explanation clashed with the others.
Nothing lined up.
Nothing made sense.
And the more she tried to understand it, the more tangled her thoughts became.
Why didn't he explain it?
That was another problem.
Bryce hadn't offered any reason.
Not even a vague one.
Just the statement.
Clear.
Final.
I think we should break up.
Aiva sank back down onto the bed again.
This time she leaned backward, staring up at the ceiling as frustration and confusion swirled inside her chest.
What the hell just happened?
The throne room of Moonstone Academy had transformed into something else entirely.
The ancient hall, normally filled with quiet dignity and historical artifacts, now pulsed with bright lights and thunderous music.
The disco was in full chaos.
Colored lights flashed across the high vaulted ceilings, reflecting off the polished stone floors while students packed the center of the room in a swirling mass of movement and laughter.
The DJ stood behind an elaborate sound table near the old throne platform, completely absorbed in his work as he blended one booming track into another.
And Bryce stood right in front of it.
He was already slightly drunk.
Not enough to lose control.
But enough to dull the sharp thoughts bouncing around inside his head.
He leaned forward over the DJ booth.
"Hey!" he shouted over the music.
The DJ glanced down at him.
Bryce grinned widely and pointed toward the speakers.
"Louder!"
The DJ laughed.
Bryce spread his arms dramatically.
"Come on now!"
"Drown us in it!"
A couple of students nearby cheered in agreement.
The DJ shrugged playfully and pushed the volume higher.
The bass immediately intensified.
The music roared through the hall like a living thing.
Bryce laughed.
For a moment the sound felt perfect.
Overwhelming.
Loud enough to push everything else out of his head.
Behind him, Morris and several others were already deep into the celebration.
Morris had one arm thrown around someone's shoulder while shouting the lyrics to a song he clearly didn't know very well.
A couple of students were dancing on the steps leading up to the throne.
Someone else had started a spinning chain of dancers in the middle of the floor.
The atmosphere had turned wild.
And Bryce dove straight into it.
He grabbed another drink from a passing tray and tipped it back quickly before joining the crowd again.
The alcohol burned slightly as it slid down his throat.
He welcomed the sensation.
The louder the music became, the easier it was not to think.
Not to remember.
Not to replay the moment upstairs.
So he danced.
He laughed.
He shouted along with everyone else.
And every time a thought tried to sneak back into his mind, he shoved it away by pulling someone into another ridiculous dance move or dragging Morris into the center of the chaos.
If the music kept going…
If the lights kept flashing…
If the drinks kept coming…
Then maybe the silence in his head would stay buried.
Outside the castle walls, the night felt very different.
The southern shoreline lay in quiet darkness, far away from the festival lights blazing across the northern side of the island.
A small hidden inlet rested between jagged rocks along the coast.
Two narrow boats were docked there.
Their lanterns had been extinguished.
Everything remained deliberately concealed.
Several men moved quietly along the rocky edge, dressed in dark clothing designed to blend with the shadows of the night.
A few meters away, another boat rocked gently against the water.
But this one looked different.
Colorful equipment cases sat inside it.
Boxes marked with fireworks symbols.
The pyrotechnicians' transport.
It had arrived earlier that evening and now waited quietly as its crew worked inside the castle courtyard preparing the show.
Which meant they were nowhere near the boat.
And that had been exactly the point.
Hidden deeper within the shadows near the rocks stood Cassius.
He watched the distant castle walls with patient eyes.
The glow of the festival lights flickered across the stone towers far above them.
Music faintly carried through the night air.
Even from this distance he could hear it.
The celebration had clearly reached its peak.
Footsteps approached.
Two figures emerged from the darkness and stopped before him.
Scouts.
Both wore stealth gear designed for silent movement.
One of them pulled back the hood covering his head.
"We've finished the sweep," he said quietly.
Cassius turned toward them.
"Well?"
The scout nodded toward the distant castle.
"All of the students are inside."
He gestured toward the northern courtyard.
"The fireworks crew is setting up the launch frames now. They're placing some along the courtyard floor and others on top of the walls."
Cassius' gaze sharpened slightly.
"Any guards?"
"Non," the second scout replied. "Only the Pyro's are outside. No visual of the principal."
Cassius folded his arms.
The first scout continued.
"We also confirmed something else."
Cassius waited.
"There's an exterior entrance connected to the castle's storage room."
Cassius' eyes narrowed slightly.
"Outside access?"
"Yes."
The scout pointed toward a darker section of the castle wall further down the cliff.
"It's hidden behind supply crates near the southern loading point."
The second scout added quietly, "If we're lucky… it might connect to the underground storage levels."
A slow smile spread across Cassius' face.
The underground storage facility.
Exactly where the Thornes' kept its rare artifacts.
Its relics.
Its treasures.
Cassius turned back toward the glowing silhouette of the castle.
Inside those ancient walls…
A celebration was raging.
Music.
Lights.
Fireworks preparations.
And hundreds of distracted students.
Perfect cover.
His smile widened slightly.
"Good," he said softly.
Very good.
The night was unfolding exactly as he had hoped.
And the real show…
Hadn't even started yet.