Chapter 77
*Jiselle*
The air in the room was thick with the kind of silence that presses down on your bones and makes everything feel like it’s about to snap. Nate hadn’t said a word since I told him about Carrow.
He just paced.
One step. Two. Turn. Back again. His fists were clenched so tight I could hear the creak of his knuckles.
I sat on the edge of the bed, hands locked together in my lap, trying not to crumble again. But watching him like this- seeing that tension under his skin, the fury simmering beneath the surface–it made my stomach twist.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe me. He did. That was the problem.
He believed me.
And if I was right, then Instructor Carrow–one of the only instructors who had protected me, who had fought beside Bastain in trying to stall the Council–had betrayed us too.
The same Carrow who used to smuggle me extra potions after injury. Who warned me to stay away from certain staff. Who always nodded subtly during classes like she was trying to say, I’ve got your back.
A lie.
A dangerous, deliberate lie.
Nate finally stopped pacing, his back to me, his hands pressed against the wall like he was trying to hold it up.
“What about Bastain?” he asked, his voice low, clipped. Controlled.
I stood slowly. “He was there. In the Headmistress’s office. But…”
He turned halfway to look at me. “But what?”
– I met his eyes. “He looked just as thrown as I was. He kept looking between Carrow and Solara like–like he couldn’t believe
what he was hearing either.”
Nate’s eyes narrowed. “Did he speak?”
“Not much. And not until after. But he kept twitching toward his dagger.” I swallowed. “Not threateningly. Instinctively. Like something in him didn’t sit right.”
He nodded once, like he needed to believe that. “Good. Then he’s either clueless or playing a long game.”
He looked at the door where the other three students had just exited, his jaw tightening. “Either way, we watch him too.” I didn’t argue.
Nate turned to the others. The three we’d brought in–the girl who was Kael’s cousin, and the two boys who now seemed more soldier than student.
“You need to disappear,” he said, firm but not unkind. “Lay low until Solstice. You’re not safe until then.”
The girl–Aneira–nodded once. “Where should we go?”
“Anywhere that isn’t predictable. Don’t trust the staff. Don’t sleep alone. Rotate. Move.”
One of the boys shifted, uneasy. “And after Solstice?”
Nate’s eyes burned with something dark. “If we’re alive after Solstice, I’ll find you.”
No one questioned that. They just accepted it.
Jiselle thanked Aneira softly. There was no hug, no tears, just a look that passed between them–shared grief, shared understanding.
When the others left, Nate locked the door and slid the bolt into place. Then, slowly, he turned back to me.
He said nothing for a long moment. Neither did I.
The silence didn’t feel heavy anymore. It felt sharp. Waiting.
Finally, he gestured toward the desk. “Let’s talk.”
I sat down across from him, the soft glow of the lantern casting flickering shadows across the map laid out in front of us. It was the academy’s master layout–one Nate m underground. My heart thudded once, hard.
“What really happens at Solstice?” I asked quietly.
e archives. Every wing. Every level. Even the
Successfully unlocked!
His expression tightened. “Some of it I can’t say. The oath…”
I saw it. The way his breath hitched. The way his hand came up to grip his chest like something invisible had just stabbed
1/3
Chapter 77 through it.
“It’s okay,” I said softly. “Tell me what you can.”
He nodded, inhaled slowly. “Every first–year goes into the mountain. It’s a sacred place. An ancient place. They say the moon blesses it once a year–when the veil is thin.”
I leaned in, listening.
“There are circles,” he continued. “Layers. The first is a test of control. You manifest what’s inside you. Even if it’s dormant. The second–if you survive–is about loyalty. That’s where the blood oath comes in.”
My pulse throbbed. “They force it?”
“No.” He looked at me. “They manipulate it. Convince you it’s tradition. That it’s for your safety. For the Pack. But once it’s done, it binds you to the Council. To the school. Forever.”
I stared at the map. “And no one ever says no?”
“If they do… they don’t make it past the third circle.”
“What’s in the third?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I never got that far. My trial was different.”
Of course it was. He was veilborn. So was Max.
I looked at him, heart hammering. “Nate… I’m not taking that oath.”
His eyes flicked up. “Jiselle..”
“I’m not.”
He sighed. “How will you stop it?”
I smiled then. Just barely. Just enough.
“We’re going to make a plan.”
He raised an eyebrow. “We?”
I nodded. “We’re going to need Eva and Ethan.”
His face tensed, and I could see the hesitation instantly.
Of course. It was about Max. Still about Max.
“She can be trusted,” I said firmly. “She hates this place, Nate. And whatever the council’s doing, it’ll cost her too.”
He leaned back slightly, fingers tapping the desk. “Ethan I trust. Eva… not yet.“.
“She doesn’t trust you either,” I snapped. “But that doesn’t mean she’s the enemy.”
wanted to kiss him.
He smirked, and I wanted to smack him. But I also the
“She’ll help,” I said again. “She’s one of the
only people who would burn this place down for the right reason.”
He nodded finally. “Alright. Then we talk to them. Carefully.”
I exhaled, some of the tension slipping from my spine.
He leaned forward, tapping a spot on the map. “The inner sanctum–the binding circle–is here. Deep underground. Reinforced by lunar stone and shielded by council blood.”
My eyes narrowed. “So we disrupt it.”
He nodded. “We’ll need a distraction. Something big enough to fracture their control. Something they won’t see coming.”
“A rupture,” I whispered, the word slipping from my lips like prophecy. could feel it–energy curling under my skin, the silver power humming like a secret.
He looked at me, eyes dark and steady. “We fake one.”
I met his gaze.
“Or we cause one.”
He smirked, and I wanted to smack him. But I also the
“She’ll help,” I said again. “She’s one of the
only people who would burn this place down for the right reason.”
He nodded finally. “Alright. Then we talk to them. Carefully.”
I exhaled, some of the tension slipping from my spine.
He leaned forward, tapping a spot on the map. “The inner sanctum–the binding circle–is here. Deep underground. Reinforced by lunar stone and shielded by council blood.”
My eyes narrowed. “So we disrupt it.”
He nodded. “We’ll need a distraction. Something big enough to fracture their control. Something they won’t see coming.”
“A rupture,” I whispered, the word slipping from my lips like prophecy. could feel it–energy curling under my skin, the silver power humming like a secret.
He looked at me, eyes dark and steady. “We fake one.”
I met his gaze.
“Or we cause one.”
The lantern flickered between us.
And somewhere beyond the stone walls of this cursed academy, I swore I could hear the ground beginning to shift.
