Pulling away from the group, I began to call my magic, and within seconds, a warphole to Spellcasters—specifically, the Grind-year tower—opened up in front of me. Without hesitating for a moment, I stepped through.
When I entered the Green Tower, I gasped. Hunter and Holly were fighting in the common space.
What the—?
A blast of Hunter’s green magic slammed the Culling-year student in the center of her chest. Holly toppled to the floor with a groan, and to my great surprise, Hunter followed a second later.
My heart stopped.
I ran to him, and other footsteps followed. One quick glance behind me told me that every single champion had walked through the warphole after me. It was shocking, but I didn’t really have time to dwell on it. I fell to my knees and after I turned Hunter so that he was face-up, my hands flew to my mouth.
A gash at least six inches long tore through his abdomen.
My first thought was to get Alex, but of course he wasn’t there. My eyes snapped to Holly, a few feet away.
Her chest was moving up and down, but she was clearly out. I wasn’t sure why she’d attacked Hunter, but I had a hunch that it was related to Alex.
I whipped around and my eyes sought Diana’s. “Get Eva and Amethyst. And check Alex’s room. Fast.”
She took off and dashed up the stairs to the spymaster level, while I did my best to close the wound with my hands. “Hunter? Hunter? Can you hear me?”
“This is not Alex?” Anton’s cold voice asked from behind me.
“No,” Andre replied. “It’s his cousin, Hunter. Odette is friends with him.”
“It appears that he’s rapidly dying,” Simone quipped. “Move aside, witch.”
“No! I need to—”
Simone bit into her wrist and suddenly, I understood what she meant to do.
Vampires were generally strict about sharing blood, and for good reason. It had many desirable properties—one of them being miraculous healing abilities. Simone was going to save Hunter.
“Andre! Help us,” I said and gestured to Hunter’s mouth.
The Crucible student pried Hunter’s lips apart just enough so that the vampire could pour a few drops of blood between his lips. Then she moved her wrist downwards and dripped blood on the wound that I held closed with my hands. Immediately, the gash began to heal, and Hunter’s eyes fluttered open.
“Odie?” Hunter asked, his voice cracking as he took in first my face, and then my hands on his body. “How—”
“Shhh, we’ll talk about that later. What happened? Why did Holly attack you, and where’s Alex?”
As if just remembering what had happened to him, Hunter’s eyes grew as wide as saucers and he struggled to get up.
“Whoa, slow down there, pretty boy,” Simone said. “My blood is strong, but you still need a few minutes to allow it to work.”
“Blood . . .” Hunter’s gaze roved over Simone, and she helped him out by exposing her fangs. “Holy shit! Am I vampire?!” Hunter’s voice rose to a squeak.
“She just healed you, I promise. Now answer my questions,” I snapped, impatiently. “Holly and Alex.”
Once again, Hunter’s eyes grew wide. “Shit! Alex!” He looked around as if his cousin should be right next to him, and then, fearfully, his eyes found mine. “I don’t know where he is. Eva turned in early and I was coming down here to study when Alex and Holly burst through the door. It looked like he was running from her. Some weird shit happened—I think I saw a flash of white and then Alex just . . . disappeared.” Hunter shook his head.
“But what about Holly?”
“She seemed happy about it,” Hunter said slowly. “And then she attacked me. But I don’t know why.”
I had a hunch, but was saved from responding, because at that moment, Amethyst, Eva, and Diana showed up. Eva dropped down beside me and began tending to Hunter.
“Alex didn’t answer his door, and I didn’t hear a sound. I don’t think he’s in there,” Diana panted, out of breath from running up and down six flights of stairs at top speed.
