I placed my hand on Mhari’s shoulder for balance, to steady myself and reassure my new friend. “It’s okay,” I told her as Selene neared.
“While I admire your loyalty to my pet—and it will not go unrewarded—I warn you: she is mine, and I will end any who stand in the way of what belongs to me,” Selene spoke to Mhari, and I heard the grit in her voice as she held back her own growl.
Mhari’s head dropped, and she turned to me, whining apologetically.
“It’s okay,” I reassured again. It was all I could do.
We had stood together, ready to fight. The adrenaline that had been pulsing through me—giving me the false sense of endless energy and the mistaken impression that my stamina was greater—had come crashing down, and it was an effort to not collapse. My cold hands shook.
“The medics will attend to the shifter first,” Selene commanded.
I couldn’t look at her when she reached me, took my wrist, and removed my hold on Mhari.
“Look at me,” Selene instructed.
I kept my head turned down, eyes focused on the ground, and angrily moving my jaw away from her hand when she reached out.
The ground was blackened and cold in a way that the coming winter could not match.
Death was a type of absence, the lack of life somehow palpable.
Winter was cold in a different kind of way—a pause, with life always somewhere below the surface, pulsing slowly. Not here.
Here, I had created an abyss.
My magic had never felt cold before. It had never taken; it was warm, bright, and big, but now…now it wasn’t.
“The formal investigation will be concluded once my report is submitted for the annual Royal Conference,” President Minerva stated icily behind Selene.
Selene shifted beside me, her jaw tensing. “Very well. And the Syngeneia witch?” she questioned.
Ana? I lifted my head and looked to President Minerva, waiting to hear news of my friend. What test had Ana been subjected to? Was she hurt, safe?
“Performed no illegal magic during her test. She will be released shortly,” President Minerva replied.
“And the dog?” Selene continued, referring to Mhari.
I was aware of Selene’s prejudice toward shifters. Well, not all shifters—just any that happened to interact with me. Whether fuelled by jealousy or possessiveness, I wasn’t sure anymore—not as I stood there in the grove of my nightmares, surrounded by death.
“I will grant a pardon for the assault against an academy guard, given the circumstances,” President Minerva replied, completely ignoring the fact that it was an Academy guard who had shot Mhari—that she was only protecting us from their attack—speaking like she was the criminal!
Selene turned to me, and I turned my face away from her again—a defiance I knew irked her greatly, especially by how her grip on my wrist increased.
Her grip wasn’t painful, but it was a warning.
“If that is all,” Selene stated, not waiting for a reply before she began to drag me back through the grove.
My refusal to look at Selene allowed me to see the disapproving frown of President Minerva.
“What about Mhari?” I asked, despite not wanting to speak to Selene. It was silly, but withholding my voice and eye contact felt like my only power, and I was angry and confused.
She had betrayed me, forcing me back into this grove to run for my life again.
I turned to Mhari, who was in the process of shifting back to her human form. It looked painful, like her body was stuck somewhere between human and wolf, but she barely made a sound.
“She will be fine,” Selene growled, yanking at my wrist and pulling me forward more forcefully.
Dr. Phears ran past me with her big medical rucksack on her back. She glanced in my direction momentarily as she passed before continuing to Mhari.
