“And this is Dirk,” I say, smacking my hand against my youngest brother’s chest.
She swings her gaze between the four of us. “You look so alike. Are your wolves alike too?”
I smirk. “Nah, I’m about twice their size.”
The other three start to argue. But I’m not listening. I’m burying my face in Little Kitten’s neck and inhaling her scent. I never thought it would be the case, but it’s good to be home – outof that demon realm, far from the Onyx capital and the palace, away from the academy – safe.
“Where’s everyone else?” I say, peering over the heads of my brothers.
They look at each other and then Dob answers, “At the palace,” he says. “The Empress has called everyone there.”
Beaufort and the others come to join us.
“On what grounds?” the professor asks.
“National emergency,” Deny says.
“And what’s the emergency?” Briony asks.
“Exactly. And what does that actually mean?”
“It means,” Beaufort says, “she can bring in emergency laws, arrest who she wants, convict without trials. Basically, she can tighten her grip on the realm.”
“What has she declared the national emergency to be?” the professor asks.
My brothers examine him now like they did the dragon and Little Kitten.
“Demons,” my youngest brother says. “They’ve found a way to penetrate into the realm. They were attacking students in the last trial.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Briony. They were attacking Briony.”
“Hmm,” Deny says.
“What do you mean, ‘hmm’?” I say, taking a step forward and forcing him to step back.
“Er, nothing,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s just... lots of other students were attacked too. It was a massacre. Scores were killed.”
“What?” Briony says. “That’s not true. No one was killed. It was only me they attacked. Me and Lynette Smyte.”
“Oh yeah,” Deny says, nodding hard. “Lynette was attacked. She’s been in the hospital. She’s been on the newscasts with the Empress. She got hurt real bad.”
“She didn’t,” Briony says, “because I saved her.”
Deny looks at me sheepishly. “That’s not what they’re saying,” he says quietly. “The Empress has ordered a crackdown on dissidents too.”
“Dissidents?” Thorne says, head snapping towards Beaufort. “What does that mean?”
Beaufort shrugs and plunges his hands into his pockets.
“The Empress has warned of enemies in our ranks,” Deny says. “People are being arrested left, right, and center.”
“Who’s been arrested?” I ask.
“All our enemies,” Dob says grinning.
“What do you think this means for us?” Thorne asks.
I land my hands on my youngest brother’s shoulders and stare into his amused eyes. “Dirk, are we on the list? Me, Thorne, Beaufort, and Briony?”
