Chapter 112 Adira
DAISY
The sun is way too bright for someone like me, whose morning started with three hours of homework, a burnt piece of toast, and a caffeine crash halfway to school. I drag myself into the courtyard, my bag slung over one shoulder, clutching a book that definitely isn’t for class.
Of course, Adrian McAlister is exactly where I expect him, sprawled out on the stone ledge near the fountains, looking like he walked straight out of a YA fantasy novel. Lazy smirk, perfectly messy hair, and a phone in his hand like it’s his lifeline.
“Look who finally decided to show up,” he says, barely glancing up. “I was starting to think you’d joined some cult or something.”
“I did,” I say, dropping my bag with a thud. “We worship books and drink iced coffee instead of Kool-Aid.”
He raises an eyebrow. “I think I’ve read that book.”
“Probably didn’t finish it.”
“You wound me.”
I sit down beside him, careful not to get too close, and hold up the book for him to see; A Court of Fang and Foolish Decisions. He tilts his head, looking unimpressed.
“Again?” he says. “Isn’t this like your fourth reread?”
“Seventh,” I correct him, flipping a page. “Don’t judge me. Some of us actually have healthy coping mechanisms.”
“Some of us,” he echoes, grabbing the book and flipping it upside down, “should maybe try reading something that doesn’t have glowing-eyed men on the cover.”
“Jealous because you don’t have glowing eyes?” I tease.
“I have glowing eyes, Daisy.”
“Humor me,” I roll my eyes. Hard.
“But it only glows when I want to mate…” he drawled slightly, biting his bottom lips in a seductive way? I scrunch up my nose in disgust and she lets out a Whig of laughter.
“Iris told me I didn’t have the attention span to finish a book like this,” he says, pretending to be offended.
“She was right,” I say immediately. “You’d be a full-on crackhead without Iris tutoring you. No offense.”
He laughs, that deep, easy laugh that always makes me think the world’s a little less serious than it actually is. “Offense taken. I’ll have you know I’ve improved drastically. I even remembered how to structure an essay last week.”
“Miracles do happen.”
“And I only used, like, three commas.”
“Progress.”
We settle into this rhythm that feels rare these days, easy, comfortable, the kind of friendship I didn’t think we’d still have given everything that’s happened. Being friends with Iris means being knee-deep in a mess I still don’t fully understand: rogue wolves, Lycan politics, and secrets darker than anything in these books.
Still, here with Adrian, it almost feels normal.
Almost.
“You know,” I say, stretching my legs out in front of me, “things have been so weird lately I’m starting to miss boring. Remember when our biggest problem was the cafeteria running out of fries?”
“Those were the dark days,” Adrian says, deadpan. “But yeah. Weird is an understatement.”
I glance sideways at him. “Iris hasn’t said much about Darian lately.”
His expression shifts, just for a second, but I catch it. “Yeah. He’s… dealing with things.”
“Don’t you guys have some super intense family therapy or something?”
“Oh, definitely not,” he replies. “We bottle everything up and then explode dramatically at dinner.”
“Healthy.”
“I know, right?” He tosses my book back to me gently. “Speaking of dinner, you’ll never guess what happened two nights ago.”
I raise an eyebrow. “If it’s more rogue attacks or shady family politics, I might actually cry.”
“Worse,” he says, leaning in like he’s about to spill the biggest secret of the century. “Zeus is getting married soon.”
I freeze, fingers tightening on my book. “What?”
Adrian blinks, clearly not expecting that reaction. “Oh. Uh. Did I not mention? Yeah. Apparently he’s got a new… thing. Officially, I mean.”
I try to keep my voice light, but it’s shaky. “Zeus doesn’t do official.”
“Tell that to the girl he’s suddenly all smiley and weirdly domestic with,” Adrian says, smirking. “Though to be fair, smiley for Zeus is like a two-degree increase in smirk intensity.”
I force out a laugh that sounds brittle even to me. My stomach twists in that cold, sharp way it always does when I think about Zeus, about how he ghosted me, how everything between us was a lie.
“You’re joking,” I say.
“Nope,” Adrian says, picking invisible lint off his jacket like he doesn’t care. “He even sat next to her. At the table. Like a real person. Eye contact and everything.”
I try to keep my breathing steady. “So who’s the lucky girl?”
Adrian pauses, and my heart tightens. This isn’t a joke.
He doesn’t meet my eyes when he says it. “Adira.”
My heart stutters.
“What?” I whisper.
Adrian shrugs like it’s no big deal. “She stood up in front of everyone, middle of dinner, and announced she’s no longer marrying Darian, she’s choosing Zeus.”
The world feels like it tilts sideways.
I blink, trying to figure out if this is some prank or one of those McAlister jokes that ends with him laughing and saying gotcha.
But Adrian isn’t laughing.
“Adira?” I say slowly. “The girl that was promised to Darian?”
He nods once and says nothing else.