Rhodes leaned toward my sister, towering as he gently tipped her chin up. “Be careful,” he whispered, his mismatched eyes locking onto hers. “If you sense anyone coming—run. Don’t put yourself at risk. Promise me.”
I puckered at Nash, mimicking Rhodes with exaggerated sweetness. “Promise me,” I whispered.
Nash snapped his teeth at the air and winked. “Careful, Fitzroy. I bite.”
While Scarlet and I searched the Eternal Tomb, Nash and Rhodes would comb through the late professor’s quarters and classrooms for anything out of place. Scarlet told us her friends couldn’t access the magically concealed corridor—that only she could.
Which meant we were betting I could, too.
We split from Nash and Rhodes, moving quickly but quietly down the stairs. Scarlet pulled her hood low to hide her crimson eyes, and I tugged my balaclava over my nose and mouth. Shadows clung to the hallway, and we kept to the cold stone as we moved.
At this hour, no cadets wandered the corridors, and we hadn’t encountered any guards—yet.
Scarlet motioned for me to cross the four-way junction before she darted across and vanished around the corner. I crept to the edge of the adjacent hall and peeked—then snapped back instantly.
A guard was heading straight toward us.
I pressed a finger to my temple, speaking through themarekem. “Guard coming our way.”
Scarlet’s eyes widened. She edged closer to the corner, just enough to peek.
“Get ready,”she replied.
With a flick of her finger, I heard the faint creak of a door down the hall. She’d used air to unlock it and push it open. I leaned just enough to see the guard pause, then turn on his heel toward the noise.
Without hesitation, I slipped across the intersection, breath held, feet silent. After a few more turns, Scarlet stopped before an inconspicuous bookshelf.
“This is the one I found Shayde lurking around.”
Her scarlet gaze locked with mine. She flinched—barely—but I felt it: that ripple of betrayal beneath the armor she wore so well. Shayde might be compliant now, claiming loyalty after being caught working with the Grim, but I knew better. No matter what he said, there would always be a fractured piece of my sister’s heart where the other Wylder once stood.
She schooled her features and turned away—then walked straight through the bookshelf and vanished.
What. In. The. Elements.
Before I could process it, her hand shot back through the spine of a book. She motioned for me to follow.
I rolled my shoulders and stepped forward, pressing my palm to the shelf. I had to push harder than expected before it finally slipped through the magical barrier.
Not wanting to be caught with one arm missing, I took a breath and leapt.
My forehead met resistance; my heart lurched.What if I get stuck?A heartbeat later, I landed on the other side, breathless but whole.
Scarlet was waiting, palm in the air, snickering.
“I’m sorry, I had to,” she whispered, covering her mouth to stifle the laugh.
I shot her a glare and strode past. Small flames sparked to life above us—Scarlet’s fire at work—casting a warm, flickering glow over the corridor.
The hallway was empty, save for a layer of dust thick enough to muffle our footsteps. A single wooden plaque clung to the stone wall, and a rounded archway loomed at the far end. Spiderwebs draped the ceiling like fragile curtains. The barrier wasn’t just keeping intruders out; it seemed selective—perhaps only allowing the right people in.
I stepped closer to the plaque Scarlet had mentioned, the one that held the prophecy. Its wood was weathered but intact, the carved lettering still clear despite the dust of years.
I leaned in and read quietly to myself:
In the veiled echoes of Mareki’s grace,
When the past unfolds anew,
