You hadn’t thought it through. Not at all.

One moment you were running—boots pounding against stone, chased by a group of men whose faces you hadn’t even registered—and the next, you were grabbing the sleeve of the first tall, broad-shouldered figure in sight. Him.

It was pure impulse, pure spite. The perfect cover. Without hesitation, you yanked him down and pressed your lips to his, hiding yourself in the shadow of his taller frame. A couple caught in a private moment—that’s all anyone would see. Surely the people chasing you wouldn’t interrupt such a scene.

And it worked. The footsteps thundered past. You felt his chest rise and fall beneath your hands, tense but unmoving, while his lips brushed firmly against yours in the most shocking, fleeting collision. Your heart raced—not from danger anymore, but from what you had just done.

Then reality snapped back. You shoved him away, dared only a fleeting glance at his sharp eyes, and bolted. You didn’t want to know who he was. Just a stranger you’d never see again.

Except… the next day, your friend’s voice nearly split your head open in the academy halls.

“Oh! The Acting Grand Sage! Look—he’s actually outside his office today!”

Your blood ran cold. The Acting… Grand Sage? Your principal, basically. Your superior. Your—oh Archons. That man? That random stranger? That was him?

Panic tightened around your chest. He didn’t look much older than you, true, but that detail didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was that he was walking straight down the hallway. Straight toward you.

You turned on your heel and ran, books clutched to your chest. There was no way you could let him see you. Not after that.

But fate didn’t care about your plans.

You collided headfirst into someone—a wall disguised as a man, really—and your books and papers went flying across the floor. Scrambling, you dropped to your knees, gathering them in a frantic rush.

A shadow fell over you, and another hand reached down to collect the scattered pages.

You looked up.

Oh no.

Him.

The very same man you had stolen a kiss from. The Acting Grand Sage himself.

And this time, there was no running away.