Haze's words replayed in my mind over and over again while I weaved through the crowd looking for a snack I now desperately needed.

But you won't. We both know that.

Fine, so he'd called my bluff. I wasn't going to rat him out to the university administration, but that didn't mean I couldn't make him sweat a little bit. Rattle that overconfident demon cage of his. Maybe then he'd rethink just how privileged that information was.

But first...

The smell of roasted almonds led me straight to the food section. Platters of cookies, cupcakes, and freshly caramelized nuts covered the entirety of the black tablecloth. Colorful drops and small wrapped candies filled the spaces in between, reminding me that Halloween truly was the best time of the year.

I was about to snatch a dark brown cupcake with orange frosting off one of the trays when a familiar head of raven hair caught my eye. He walked off to the side, glowering at a group of happy students waiting to go into the annual haunted house—which was more of a makeshift tent with who knew what inside, although judging by both the panicked and excited screams it had to be somewhat good—as he passed them.

As expected, he wasn't wearing a costume tonight. Too bad for him, I was about to change that.

Not bothering to hide the amusement on my face, I skipped over to Danox. The stone table next to him was unoccupied, safe for the multitude of empty cups and crumpled napkins scattered across its top. He swept the remnants of a pumpkin bar onto the grass and looked up just as I was about to tap him on the shoulder.

Silly me for thinking I could surprise a shifter for once in my life.

"It's Halloween," I greeted.

"I noticed," he grumbled, and dropped onto the stone bench.

"I got you something." My fingers pulled the small black object out of the scabbard. Making sure to hide it behind my back, I added, "Can you promise not to hate it?"

He gave me a flat look. "No."

"Fine." I took a seat beside him and followed his gaze to the group of laughing seelies that had just exited the haunted house.

Two were dressed as matching naiads with pale blue hair and long, flowing silver gowns, but their yellow eyes and pointy teeth gave them away. While the tallest of the group threw his head back and laughed, waving a fake spear around with one hand and wiping his eyes with the tip of his black cloak with the other, the girl next to him smiled a tight-lipped smile and ran her shaking hands through her deep green curls.

"Well...what is it?" Danox prompted after a moment.

The words aren't you a curious cat almost left my mouth.

"A costume," I replied instead.

"Let's see it then," he said, although his face looked anything but willing.

I slowly revealed the small headwear, already expecting him to protest. Instead, after a moment of stunned silence, he started laughing. It was deep and throaty, but it was a laugh.

"At least you got the color right," he said.

"Does that mean you'll wear it?"

"No."

"Can you at least try it on?"

"Fine," he breathed and leaned forward begrudgingly.

I placed the fluffy cat ears on his head between dreads of raven hair. They fit perfectly, sticking out just enough that he could undeniably be identified as a cat. Even in this light, his white eyes were practically glowing, and when he reached up to trace one of the fluffy ears, they narrowed.

"Perfect," I said. "Just like I thought."

Still glaring, he lowered his hand and sighed. At that moment he looked just like he had in the forest, covered in Crescetra. He hadn't changed much since then, but I had. When he looked at me with wavering eyes and a slight downward curve of his lips, I felt myself smile.

"If you don't get this thing off my head in the next five seconds, I'm making confetti out of it."

I rolled my eyes but obliged. "Retract the claws, GK."

"GK?"

"Grumpy Ki—"

"You're lucky we're friends," he muttered, staring at the cat ears in my hand like they'd personally offended him.

"Speaking of friends..." I leaned back and tucked my ankles underneath my thighs. "You ever notice anything weird about Haze?"

He blinked at me. "Jaydis was right."

"About?"

"You and Haze."

"I—what? No!" Not him too. "That's not what this is about. And let's get one thing straight, there is no me and Haze."

He gave me a funny look. "Then what?"

"I mean"—I pulled at a loose piece of thread along the seam of the left armguard—"doesn't it seem weird to you that he just magically got you those crystals? Crystals that, mind you, are kept in the ambassador headquarters. Security isn't exactly light around there."

His brows furrowed and he bit his lip. "He didn't tell me. And I didn't pry. Not every day someone practically hands you a ticket home."

Understandable. Still...something didn't add up.

"How did he find out about the, uh, thing you built in the forest?" I asked tentatively.

Danox's shoulders dropped and he smiled sheepishly. "You weren't the first to follow me."

That made a whole lot more sense than Danox willingly telling anyone about what he was trying to achieve. But it also raised an entirely different question.

"You said you didn't want Jaydis to find out... Why?" I mumbled. "He's your best friend, and he sure as hell seems a lot more trustworthy than Haze."

He stiffened. "He'd just gimme shit 'bout it and worry. He's got enough going on."

"What do you mean?"

"Just...family stuff. You get it."

Sure do.

"This," an accusing voice called, "is supposed to be a party."

Speak of the devil.

I jolted to the side and saw the rest of Team Eleven marching toward us. Jaydis, in the front, held one of the platters laden with treats in both hands. His steps were jumpy and one of the cupcakes placed atop a stack of brownies nearly fell to a splattery demise. If Haze's hand hadn't shot forward in time, it would have no doubt landed face down on the leaf-covered grass.

Grinning from ear to ear, Jaydis placed the snacks on the table behind us and took a seat next to them with a satisfied sigh. Somehow imagining him stressing about anything serious beneath those glowing yellow eyes and contagious, almost obnoxious, hyena laugh of his was strangely difficult. Then again, I knew firsthand how easy it was to hide that kind of thing.

"I brought food," Jaydis announced like anyone could have missed the giant platter. There was a strange twinkle in his eyes as he grabbed what looked like a peanut butter cookie from the center. Holding it out to Haze, he added, "Here, have a cookie."

"There's ch—" Jaydis's boot-clad foot kicked Danox in the side, instantly silencing him.

Haze's eyes narrowed, but much to my surprise, he took the treat without question.

Danox rubbed his ribs. "What are you—"

"You're into science. You understand." Jaydis held a similar cookie out to Danox. "Have one too."

"We really need to find you a hobby," he muttered, accepting the cookie.

Seeing Danox bite into his cookie, Haze did the same. His stoic expression never wavered, but those tense shoulders of his dropped ever so slightly. Jaydis's watchful gaze was glued to our demon roomie for another long moment before he seemed to remember I was there and offered me one too.

"Thanks," I said, lifting the cookie to my lips. The mouth-watering scent of roasted peanuts surrounded me, and I wasted no time taking a bite.

Definitely peanut butter. Freshly made too it seemed. And something else. Chocolate. The perfect combination indeed. I practically inhaled the entire thing.

Kenas snatched one of the orange pumpkin bars and lowered himself onto the ground. "Haunted house anyone?" he asked before taking a bite.

Admittedly, a part of me was curious to see what the theater club had come up with but judging by the unwelcome darkness just beyond the thick curtains on either side of the entrance, I wouldn't even last five minutes in there.

"I'm game," Jaydis said.

While I was still trying to come up with an excuse to bail that didn't make me sound like a total chicken, Haze muttered, "Nah. Heard it's boring this year."

My eyes automatically snapped to his, and I found him already watching me. His gaze traveled down to my finger stroking the spot where the armor covered my scar.

I quickly dropped my hand. Did he...? No, he couldn't possibly know that. I hadn't said anything in my panicked, half-delusional state in the cave, had I?

Time to change the subject.

Interlacing my hands to keep them from shaking, I turned to my giant friend instead. Might as well use the opportunity to do a little questioning.

"Hey, Kenas," I started, "how well do you know Professor Renis?"

He raised the pumpkin bar and took a large bite. After swallowing, he said, "Not that well, why?"

Good question. Admitting that I thought he might be conspiring with a select few others, one being our grouchy librarian, probably wasn't smart.

"I overheard him talking to someone about the upcoming treaty negotiations was just wondering where he stood," I replied. "Figured the time to pretend like my father isn't who he is has passed, and with everything going on in the mines..." I lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug in an attempt to seem casual. "Well, let's just say, I don't think I can ignore that anymore."

Kenas just looked at me for a moment, perhaps gouging my reaction the same way I was his. With a nod, he said, "He supported my father and the other mine workers after the accident. That much I know."

That was something. But just because Professor Renis's heart was in the right place didn't mean he wasn't willing to step over dead bodies.

"He seems pretty chill," Jaydis chimed in, shoving another cookie into Haze's empty hand. "Not that I would know much about politics."

That was my cue.

I turned to him. "Would you know something about Glimmerweald?"

Yellow eyes bore into mine. "What do you know about Glimmerweald?"

"It's...sparkly," Haze mumbled, studying the half-eating cookie in his hand like it was the sparkly thing he was talking about.

Sparkly. Somehow that was a word I never expected to come out of his mouth.

Seemingly realizing what he'd just said, his now bright crimson eyes widened, and he blinked at the four of us. Was it just me, or did his pupils look a teeny tiny bit dilated?

"Just that it might be the most beautiful place I've ever seen," I said casually. "I'm just surprised it's not more of an attraction."

Jaydis's shoulders dropped and a relaxed smile softened the sharp features of his face once again. "It is one of a kind. And it belongs to the seelies, no matter what anyone says. The Silumis Luz is almost as impressive as its twin, Talis, in Vedia." He frowned. "Wait, does that have anything to do with Renis?"

"No, why would it?"

"No reason." He cleared his throat. "The glimmer of the trees is one of the greatest mysteries of all the realms, you know?"

Except it wasn't much of a mystery anymore. Speaking of mysteries...

"So I've heard," I said. "You know what else is a mystery? How I keep having to restock peanut butter because it keeps vanishing from our room. Anyone else ever notice that?"

Haze's head snapped up and he lost his grip on what had to be his third cookie. It landed on one of his feet and broke into pieces. Swaying slightly from side to side, he just stared at it with the saddest eyes I'd ever seen. For a moment, he looked like a younger, more vulnerable version of the demon I'd come to know.

Had I shocked him that much?

While Jaydis didn't even try to contain the smile on his face, Danox rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Are you happy now?" he grumbled. "He doesn't even know what realm he's in anymore."

"What am I missing here?" I asked, looking between them.

Jaydis could barely get the words out between chuckles. "Demons and chocolate don't mix. Too much dopamine. He's probably feeling exceptionally good right now."

"You drugged him?" I squeaked.

"That's a bit of an overstatement, but, I suppose, yeah, a little bit."

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"Oh, yeah, don't worry. No side effects apart from"—his shoulders shook with another laugh—"well, that."

I was about to suggest we take him back to the dorm when Haze, likely aiming to take a seat on the bench, missed it by about a foot and fell right on his back with a quiet thud.

So much for rattling that demon cage of his tonight.