Page 75 - Fourth Wing

changed,” I half tease.

“This place can warp almost everything about a person, Vi. It cuts away
the bullshit and the niceties, revealing whoever you are at your core. They

want it that way. They want it to sever your previous bonds so your loyalty

is to your wing. It’s one of the many reasons that first-years aren’t allowed
to correspond with their family and friends, otherwise you know I would

have written you. But a year doesn’t change that I still think of you as my

best friend. I’m still Dain, and this time next year, you will still be Violet.
We will still be us.”

“If I’m still alive,” I joke as the bells ring. “I have to get to class.”

“Yeah, and I’m going to be late to the flight field.” He motions toward the
edge of the pillar. “Look, Riorson is still a wingleader. He’ll be after you,

but he’ll find a way to do it within the rules of the Codex, at least when
people are watching. I was…” His cheeks flush. “Really good friends with

Amber Mavis—the current wingleader for Third Wing—last year, and I’m

telling you, the Codex is sacred to them. Now, you go first. I’ll see you in
the sparring gym.” He smiles reassuringly.

“I’ll see you.” I smile back and turn on my heel, walking around the base
of the massive pillar into the semi-crowded rotunda. There’re a couple

dozen cadets in here, walking from one building to another, and it takes a

second to get my bearings.
I spot the academic doors between the orange-and-black pillars and start

that way, blending into the crowd.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and a chill races down my
spine as I cross the center of the rotunda, then my steps halt. Cadets move

around me, but my eyes are drawn upward, toward the top of the steps that

lead to the gathering hall.
Oh shit.

Xaden Riorson is watching me with narrowed eyes, the sleeves of his
uniform rolled up his massive arms that remain folded across his chest, the