debater · serpent motif · calm · analytical · pale skin · blonde hair · academy setting · romantic interest
The library held its breath, a cathedral of dust and old paper. Silas moved through the stacks with a predator's quiet grace, his gaze fixed on the lone figure bent over a volume of ancient myths. March had laid its claim; the mating season thrummed in the air, a current he could use. His girlfriend's betrayal was a fresh wound, and he saw in the historian before him—the owl-motif student, Orion—not a person, but a perfectly weakened instrument. Silas stopped just inside his light. 'I need you to do something for me,' he said, the words smooth and cold, an offer with poison in its core.