Toall of us.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The bell echoed through the Academy like a ripple through water. Not rushed. Not panicked. But insistent and deep enough to make the stone underfoot hum in response.
Someone was within the Academy’s boundaries.
Grandma Elira had already started moving when I stepped out of the Maple Ward. Bella fell in beside me without a word, pulling her coat tighter even though the air hadn’t turned cold. It was just something about the sound. That bell didn’t ring without reason.
Not anymore.
We walked quickly, not quite running. Just enough that our footsteps fell in sync, the soles of our boots tapping out an anxious rhythm on the worn floors.
“Has it always sounded like that?” Bella asked quietly, glancing at my grandmother.
“No,” Elira said. “But the Academy changes, same as we do.”
That didn’t help my nerves.
We passed the tall windows that overlooked the east lawn. Morning had started to slide toward afternoon. The light was turning soft with blurry edges as the sky faded to a low blue-gray.
I caught the scent of jasmine on the breeze and turned toward the glass to see a beautiful jasmine etched in the stained glass.
But that’s when I saw it.
Just a flicker at first.
A shape.
Not close, not clear—but definitelysomeone.
In the Butterfly Garden, walking through the Ward as if it belonged.
I stopped walking.
Bella nearly bumped into me. “What—?”
“There’s someone outside,” I whispered, feeling the need to stay hidden even though we were in the safety of the Academy’s stone walls.
My grandma turned too, peering through the glass. Her mouth pressed into a line. “No one should be there.”
“I tried several times to come in that way,” Bella added, already stepping closer to the window. “It took the fifth time.”
I glanced at her, realizing I didn’t know she’d attempted to come to the Academy so many times. I’d just assumed she walked up and the Academy let her in.
But I returned my gaze to the garden.
The figure moved. Not toward the buildings, but back, deeper into the garden. It was hard to see, just a silhouette against the dusk, but tall. Cloaked. And moving fast.
I didn’t wait.
I pushed the window open. The latch gave easily, like the Academy had been holding its breath and was glad to exhale. The wind rushed in, cool and dry, carrying the scent of chamomile and something sharper underneath.
Burned leaves, maybe. Or iron.
“I’m going after them,” I said.
Bella was already climbing out beside me. “Obviously.”
