“I thought we were going to find Lila?” I rushed after her, trying to keep up. “I just want to get Valen and get out of here.”
“If there’s something going wrong on campus, she’ll be there,” Amelia replied with all the confidence in the world. “I swear, she’s attracted to danger.”
Another boom echoed across campus, this one even louder than the first. I could see smoke rising from somewhere near the library, and my blood ran cold as I realized what was happening.
“The Purity Front,” I breathed, breaking into a run. “They’re attacking again.”
Amelia kept pace beside me, her face pale but determined. “Do you think they knew we’d be coming back? Could this be connected to what happened with Father?”
The thought had already occurred to me, and it made my stomach twist with guilt. Had our dramatic confrontation somehow triggered this? Had Father warned his Purity Front contacts that we might try to return to the academy? Our parents had denied all connection, but this attack seemed far too coincidental.
We rounded the corner of the administration building and I stopped dead in my tracks. The scene before us was chaos. Students were running in every direction, some screaming, others trying to organize defensive groups. Security officers were shouting orders that no one seemed to be following, and in the distance I could see actual flames licking at one of the dormitory buildings.
“This is bad,” Amelia whispered. “Really, really bad.”
I scanned the crowd frantically, looking for any sign of Valen’s familiar figure or Lila’s distinctive dark hair. But there were too many people, too much confusion, and the smoke was making it hard to see clearly.
“There!” Amelia grabbed my arm, pointing toward the athletic complex. “I see Lila!”
I followed her gaze and spotted a flash of dark hair near the entrance to the building that housed the fencing salle. Even fromthis distance, I could see that Lila was moving with purpose, not panic. She was heading toward the danger, not away from it. And there was a sword in her hand.
“Of course she is,” I muttered, then raised my voice. “Lila!”
She didn’t hear me over the chaos, but she must have sensed something because she turned in our direction. Even across the courtyard, I could see the relief wash over her face when she spotted us.
We pushed through the crowd of fleeing students, dodging security officers and trying not to get trampled in the rush. By the time we reached Lila, she was practically vibrating with nervous energy.
“Thank god you’re both okay,” she said, pulling Amelia into a quick, fierce hug. “I didn’t think I’d see you again after they took you away! How did you?—”
“Where’s Valen?” I interrupted, unable to focus on anything else. “Is he safe?”
Lila’s expression darkened. “He’s inside the athletic building with Dean Thornfield and some of the other professors. The attacks started less than a half hour after you left.” She paused, her voice dropping to a whisper. “They’re trying to hold off the Purity Front until the Elder Council arrives.”
My blood turned to ice. “Valen’s in there? Fighting?”
“Yes, but he’s a good swordsman and?—”
I didn’t wait to hear what else she had to say. Instead, I sprinted through the doors, breaking past the security guards. I raced through the hallways toward the fencing salle, my feet carrying me through the building’s maze of corridors on muscle memory alone.
The familiar corridors blurred past me as I ran, my heart hammering against my ribs. Behind me I could hear Amelia and Lila shouting my name, but I couldn’t stop. Not when Valen wasin danger. Not when he might be fighting for his life because of the mess my family had created.
I burst through the doors to the fencing salle and immediately had to duck as something metallic went flying over my head, embedding itself in the wall behind me with a sharp crack. The beautiful space where Valen and I had first sparred was now in ruins.
Masked figures in dark clothing were scattered throughout the room, wielding various weapons and magical implements. I counted at least six of them, all moving with the coordinated precision of people who had trained for this. And standing in the center of it all, his shirt torn and a cut bleeding on his cheek, was Valen.
He moved like silent death, his sword dancing through the air as he parried attacks from multiple directions. His fangs were fully extended, his amber eyes blazing with predatory fury, and every movement was economical and deadly. This wasn’t the gentle professor who had made love to me just hours ago. This was three centuries of vampiric combat experience unleashed in deadly fashion.
“Valen!” I shouted without thinking, relief flooding through me at seeing him alive and fighting.
His head whipped toward me, and for a split second his concentration broke. That was all the opening one of the attackers needed. A masked figure lunged forward with a silver-bladed dagger, aiming straight for Valen’s heart.
Time seemed to slow as I watched the blade arc toward him. Without conscious thought, I threw myself forward, magic crackling around my hands as I cast the first offensive spell that came to mind. A bolt of pure force slammed into the attacker, sending them flying backward into the mirrored wall with a sickening crunch.
“Archer, no!” Valen roared, spinning to face a new threat. “Get out of here!”
But I was already moving, adrenaline and desperation driving me forward. I grabbed one of the swords from the scattered equipment and found myself back-to-back with the man I loved, facing down the remaining Purity Front members.
“I’m not leaving you,” I panted, raising the sword in a guard position Valen had drilled into me during countless lessons. “Not again.”
