He nodded, his lips squished together like a duck. “I need a picture”—he turned and held his phone out for a selfie—“Smile!”
I flipped him off but mimicked his duck face. After he took the pic, he looked at the image and laughed.
Noble was my homie, BFF spot #2.
“Hurry up! Hungry back here!” Rage called out from where he stood with Justice and Honor.
I ignored him but started fixing the three boys’ plates while I continued my convo with Noble. “Hey, when you have time later, can we chat about the party last night? I want to ask you something about your friends.”
His face fell, body going rigid as he turned somber. “Sure, but—”
Whatever he’d been about to say was drowned out by the sound of high-pitched screaming.
What the—?
Everyone in the entire cafeteria slapped their hands over their ears, myself included. The pressure in my head swelled like my eardrums were going to explode and bleed. Then, the screaming waned in volume, becoming a hissing sound like a teapot about to boil.
“Shit!” Rage burst out from the lunch line, diving under a nearby table. He reached underneath and pulled out a long, sleekswordas he shoved something into one ear. He switched the sword into the other hand and put his other hand up to his ear…
I was still processingwhyhe was touching his ears when Rage said a word that made my blood run cold.
“Selkies!” he hissed. “Call the palace. We’re under attack.”
Selkies.Seal-shifters, who mortals mistakenly called mermaids or sirens, had once guarded this island. Why were they here, and why were we under attack from them?
Rage turned to Justice and cocked his head toward the kitchen. Justice nodded.
As the doors of the cafeteria blasted open, Justice leapt over the counter and reached for me.
“Nai, come on!”
I followed his lead, ducking to the ground, my heart pounding against my chest.
Why were the selkies attacking?
“Let’s go. There’s an exit behind the kitchens,” Justice whispered, tugging me forward in an army crawl.
“Huh?” I scrunched my face and stared at him. Did he think I couldn’t hold my own in a fight? “The school is under attack. Why would we run?”
More importantly, was this an alpha test I’d fail if I was a coward?
Justice gripped my underarm tightly. “You don’t understand. The selkies’ call—”
Just then, a beautiful melody picked up and carried throughout the air.
Chapter 9
The complex melodydipped and then soared, the beautiful singing nearly spellbinding—
“Nai!” Justice bellowed, pulling on my arm.
I shook my head, wanting to hear the music, but my attention caught on the other shifters. Every single one of them stood rigidly, staring at the air in front of them. Nell, Honor, Kaja, evil Barbie, they all stood… frozen. Everyone except for Rage.
“What’s wrong with them?”
Pivoting to face Justice, I frowned. He held a squished piece of foam between his thumb and forefinger, but he—like most of the other students—gaped slack-jawed at the doorway, from where the song flowed.
Frozen.
