When I wake, heavy manacles are clamped around my wrists. I struggle against the chains, letting out a frustrated scream. No matter how hard I pull, I can’t break free. My berserkr strength is gone.
I sniff the air, but all I can pick up are wet stone and a whiff of rot. Squinting, I look around where I’m being held, but my vision isn’t adjusting to the darkness.Allmy senses are dulled. Now that my heightened senses are gone, it feels like having a dark bag pulled over my head.
I’m completely powerless.
“Help!” I call out.
Movement catches my attention.
Someone else is here. They’re crouched on the ground, their back turned to me, fur draped over their shoulders. I can’t see who it is, but I have a sinking feeling I already know.
“Nils?” I ask, my voice hoarse. “It wasyou?”
The cloaked figure stops.
“Oh, you’re finally awake.” Nils turns to me with a smile. “Good.”
All I can see is the face of a dead wolf draped over his head. Dull, lifeless eyes stare at me. Egill’s pelt. No wonder we couldn’t find it in Irina’s room. He’s had it this whole time.
I pull at my chains, rattling them.
Nils watches me struggle. “Thanks to the lupine, you won’t be getting out of those.”
“Help!” I scream. “Someone help me!”
He laughs. “No one can hear you. We’re in the seer school.”
My vision slowly starts to adjust to the darkness. I look around the crumbling, decrepit classroom. The broken windows are all boarded up. Nils must have been using this as his base.Hewas the one who chased me through the seer school.
“Not yet,”a voice rasps from the shadows.
“I know, I know,” Nils says abruptly. “We need to wait for the fly agaric. I know.”
Who is he talking to?
Wait. Someone else is sprawled on the stone floor. If only I had my berserkr vision right now. I squint, trying to see who it is.Amund?But no. The close-cropped hair. The strong jaw. That could only be their dad. No matter how long I stare, he doesn’t move.
Nils can’t be talking to his dad.
Dread slides over me. Unless… he’s talking to hisghost.
Nils is unhinged. I never imaginedhecould be the killer. He was the first friend I made at Skallagrim. He always seemed so nice. He even went out of his way to help me catch Emilía’s killer and prove my innocence. No wonder he believed I didn’t kill her.
He did.
“Why would you kill Emilía?” I ask, still not wanting to believe it. “She was your friend.”
“That was the problem.” Nils shakes his head. “I wanted to be more, but she didn’t.”
Realization chills me to my bones. All this time, I thought Nils was helping me because he was my friend. But he had ulterior motives, didn’t he? He made the truth-teller potion for me—only to attack me before I could give it to Isaac. My lip.Nilsdid that to me.
And not just me—he even attacked his own brother.
I never really knew Nils at all.
I have no idea what he’s capable of, do I? My chains still won’t budge. I need to keep Nils talking until the lupine wears off so I can escape and warn everyone. Who knows what he has planned for the Unity Dance?
My blood runs cold. “You killed your own dad?”
