‘McVoy!’ Nicks calls for Lillian. ‘Get Davis out of here. Take her to my office and don’t let her out until I get back.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Lillian nods, yanking Moira up to her feet harshly. ‘Move, Davis. Or I’ll light a fire under your ass.’
Nicks then instructs the combat leader beside Jed to take Marcus to the infirmary before he bleeds out on the grass.
It’s Sebastian who pulls me aside, gently taking my elbow in his hand. ‘You’re hurt. Where?’ he asks, scanning me from head to toe.
‘I’m fine,’ I breathe. I’m not. My back is in agony and it’s a struggle just to stand here.
‘Don’t lie to me,’ he scolds. Then walks behind me. Whatever he sees makes him hiss. ‘Stars, was this the shadow walker?’
‘No,’ I deadpan. ‘It was theothercreature walking around in the forest with five-inch claws who smelled like rotten meat.’
He ignores my sarcasm and calls out to Nicks that he’s taking me to the infirmary. Nicks nods, his eyes glued to the tree line, tension evident on his face. I follow his line of sight, then find myself scanning the line-up of students, all in various stages of recuperation. It’s only now that I realise Isla hasn’t returned yet. I do a quick headcount and with Marcus and Moira gone, that leaves three students still inside the forest.
‘Let’s go, Nocthare.’ I feel Sebastian’s hand tighten around my elbow and he gives it a gentle tug to get me moving, but something is telling me to stay. I tell him to wait and focus all my attention on the tree line. Isla is one of our best and so is Aiden, who is also still inside. Sebastian mutters something behind me but I don’t hear it as my eyes flick over every shrub, every tree and branch, seeking movement.
‘Come on, Peters,’ I whisper beneath my breath. She should be out already.
It’s another ten minutes before someone comes rushing out of the forest to my right. Leo, a first year that I’ve not had much to do with. He floats in Moira and Marcus’s crowd. There’s black blood splattered all over his face and neck, as well as the blade of his sword.
‘Where are Redford and Peters?’ Jed yells as Leo half runs, half limps toward the group.
Leo looks at him confused. ‘Peters should be back already. She passed me ages ago, had her malachite and everything. No idea about Aiden though.’
My stomach drops.
Cillian curses; his hands thread into his hair and tug at the messy strands. I know he and Aiden are close. Stars, he must be worried.
‘Something’s wrong,’ I mutter, feeling dread pooling in my gut. If Isla had turned back before Leo and already had her crystal, where the hell is she? ‘Nicks, you have to go in there!’
‘I can’t.’ Nicks shakes his head, though there’s conflict swirling in his eyes. ‘If I go in there to retrieve them, they fail the test. Peters and Redford must cross the tree line on their own.’
‘Did that seriously just come out of your mouth? Who gives a fuck about the test, theirlivesare on the line,’ I seethe, exasperated. Lose a test, or lose your life? Is he insane?
Nicks glares at me, his eyes full of frustration. ‘This might come as a surprise to you, Miss Nocthare, but the students who choose Malachite know that it comes with a price. Oftentimes, that price is their life. If anyone other than the students who the test was curated for walks into that forest before they’re all out,everyonestill inside fails. Peters and Redford could both be on their way out right this very moment—’
‘And if they’re not?’ I counter. Nicks is silent. Why am I even surprised? The academy’s way of dealing with death is sweeping it under the rug, just like they did with Harley.
‘When the two-hour mark is up, the combat leaders and I will search for them.’ He speaks with such finality. Such detachment … it’s concerning.
Well, I won’t stand here and twiddle my thumbs like the rest of them.
Nicks said only students can go into the forest, so a studentwillgo back in. Screw the test – they can have my malachite shard! I don’t want it. Not if it means leaving Isla to die in there.
I pull the stone from my pocket and drop it at the ground by my feet, then I crouch low and, once again, unsheathe my dagger. Nicks’s head is turned away, asking Sebastian a question, so I take this opportunity and sprint for the tree line. My back screams in agony as my arms pump in time with my legs, but I push through.
Sudden shouting bellows out behind me. Nicks and Sebastian, I think. Maybe Jed too. But I just keep running, pushing my legs and arms as fast as I can until the forest swallows me once again.
‘Isla!’ I scream the second I’m on the other side, weaving through trees, frantically searching for any sign of her. ‘Isla!’
I cut across the forest, in the direction of the summit of the mountain. Where the hell could she be? Is she hurt? Is she dead? My mind conjures several gruesome images as I continue to call her name, then start shouting for Aiden as well.
My voice starts to crack, and my throat is feeling raw as I continue to shout their names, to no avail. I’m about to turn back, when I spot a dark red handprint smeared on the trunk of a tree. I slow to a jog as I approach it, until my feet are padding toward the massive tree that would take three of me to wrap my arms around its circumference. My gaze drops to the splattering of blood mixed in with the foliage and tree roots at its base. Almost as if someone had stopped here to rest, leaning their body against the trunk. The chance it was one of the other students after they killed their shadow walker isn’t unlikely, but my gut is telling me to follow it. I step over the bloody leaves and push past the tree, going further than I’ve ever been from the academy.
The back of my neck prickles when I spot more blood, drops left here and there, until I’m using it as a map, following the splatters that get bigger. My heart surges in my chest. My mouth dries. This is too much blood for someone to lose.
‘Isla!’ I call out, my voice shaky. I whip my head around. ‘Can you hear me?’
