by Avery Cross
“Right, you two stay here. Maggie? I wish to wake Carter.”
“Are you sure?” Maggie frowned at Hooke.
Briar reached for my hand, squeezing it.
“Yes, I’m sure. Lock the door first, we don’t need anyone barging in.”
Maggie did as he asked and all I could do was stand by and watch, confused at his actions. Hooke stood beside Carter’s bed and reached out, pressing his palm against his forehead. Maggie took up her post on the other side, and we all held our breaths, waiting to see what would happen.
“I’m telling you, it’s not him,” Briar whispered to me.
I believed her, but then what was he?
The air in the room grew heavy as Hooke closed his eyes.
Carter shifted on the bed, and when Hooke pulled his hand back, he leaned back slowly.
“Carter? Can you hear me? You’re in the infirmary, there was an incident,” Hooke told him. “Carter?”
I took a step away from Briar’s side, trying to hear what he was going to say when Carter bellowed, and threw himself right at Hooke like a man possessed.
Hooke yelled, trying to get him off, but Carter had his hands wrapped around his throat.
I sprinted across the room, summoning spirit as I did and thrust it outward at Carter to dislodge him. He was thrown back into the wall, and I struggled to hold him there.
Sweat beaded on my brow, and he pushed back hard, trying to get to me. My feet slid across the stone floor, and the second his gaze shot past me, he yelled again and charged me.
Carter slammed into me, and I tackled him to the floor, but then he was up again, and I heard Briar struggling to get away.
Her screech was suddenly cut off, and I scrambled to my feet, as Maggie and Hooke doing the same.
Carter stood behind Briar, his arm around throat her.
She clawed at his arm, and her eyes fluttered closed as he cut off her air. His eyes were wild, and his skin was an even worse color than before—sickly—and he seemed almost gaunt.
“Carter, let her go,” Hooke demanded as the three of us closed in.
His arm tightened, and Briar’s eyes bulged. Her legs went out from under her and the two of them sank to the floor.
“He’s killing her,” I snapped at Hooke, ready to do what was necessary to save her if he wouldn’t.
I raised both my hands, bracing for a full-on attack, when fire burst to life, consuming them both.
Stunned by the bright flames, I staggered backward, not sure if they were caused by Briar or Carter.
A loud thud sounded, like a body hitting the floor, and as the fire grew smaller, I made out one figure still standing.
Briar held her hands out toward the flames, drawing them back into her hands. As soon as the last one vanished, her dark gaze met mine, and then she collapsed.
I sprinted to her side, catching her before her head could smack the floor.
“What the hell was that?” I yelled at Hooke, not caring who he was at that moment.
He seemed just as lost as I felt, shaking his head as he and Maggie moved to Carter’s body. He was breathing, but thankfully remained unconscious. The fire had been enough to distract him and knock him out, but as a fire summoner, it didn’t harm him. It could’ve, if Briar wanted it to, but she’d held back.
I wouldn’t have.
They carried him to a bed again, and Maggie quickly strapped him in before pulling the curtain closed around him. She told me to get Briar back to bed, and I did, carefully picking her up and laying her down. Her neck was bruised, pissing me off all over again.
She winced when she finally opened her eyes, then thrashed against me until she realized it was me and not Carter. When she tried to speak, she gasped in pain.
“You’re going to have to rest that throat for a while,” Maggie said quietly. “No talking.”
She nodded, but that even seemed to cause her pain. She grabbed my arm and moved her hand around.
“Carter? He’s alive, and he’s not getting to you, don’t worry,” I promised, leaning down to kiss her forehead without thinking.
Hooke cleared his throat loudly behind me, and I hung my head.
“Maggie, would you mind giving us a few minutes alone?” he asked.
After putting a brace around Briar’s neck, Maggie disappeared into her office at the back of the infirmary, closing the door.
Hook nodded, but it wasn’t a friendly nod. “Nice to see you two are getting along.”
Briar cringed, but Hooke pulled over a chair and sat down, staring from me to her, shaking his head.
I expected him to lecture us at least, but he seemed more concerned about the current issue with Carter.
“I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you both to be honest with me. Understand?”
I nodded, and Briar waited a few beats before she did the same.
“What have you two been researching down in the catacombs for the past month or so? And before you deny it, I’m the Headmaster of Academy. I know everything that goes on here.”
We’d agreed not to tell anyone about what we found, except my brothers.
I took note of Hooke’s aura, not trying to hide what I was doing. He’d always had an interesting, but positive aura, ranging from deep blue and a tinge of yellow, neither really having any negativity within them.
Ivan’s had started to turn black since we started this journey, but Hooke’s had remained the same. Though he was powerful, it would take an extensive amount of endurance to change an aura, and keep it that way for long periods of time.
Briar tugged on my hand, shrugging one shoulder in question.
“I think we can trust him,” I answered her. “We might not have a choice.”
Her narrowed eyes said she wasn’t sure. But what were we supposed to do? Lie to him, or wait until something worse happened?
“We might have found a series of incidences that were covered up,” I finally admitted.
Briar slouched against the pillows, shaking her head, clearly annoyed. “But we’re not sure what it all means, or who’s behind it.”
I kept a close watch on his aura, but it never wavered.
“A coverup?” he repeated. “Zach, please, you and your family have all passed through Academy. You can’t stand there and tell me you truly think there’s some coverup.”
“What if we said we have proof?” I said.
Briar kicked me.
I looked at her. “What?”
“What sort of proof?” he asked, ignoring our quiet argument. “And you say you found this in the catacombs? In the library? Here on campus?”
Briar was shaking her head, clearly causing herself pain and I bit back what I’d been about to say. I trusted her, and if she wasn’t ready to tell him everything, then Hooke would have to wait.
“And you think this coverup might have something to do with why Carter keeps trying to kill Briar?” he said bluntly.
I shot the curtained bed a glare.
“Zach, he’s not going anywhere. Relax.”
“Hard to do that when we can both sense that the guy lying on that bed is not Carter.”
Hooke’s eyes widened in alarm. “Are you saying he’s what, possessed?”
“Maybe, or maybe there’s something else entirely going on here,” I snapped. “And maybe you should be asking Ivan these questions, and not just us.”
He seemed ready to argue with me when someone turned the door handle, but finding it locked, knocked loudly.
“Headmaster Hooke? Is everything alright in there?” Ivan called out.
Hooke glanced once more at the two of us before he got up and went to open the door.
“I’m afraid we’ve had a bit of a development,” Hooke explained. “I will have to call Carter’s parents back and update them.”
Ivan’s serious gaze took in the curtain-hidden bed, and his brow rose slightly. Then he spotted Briar with a brace around her neck. “I see. Anything I can do to assist?”
&
nbsp; “I would like you to remain here and keep a close eye on Carter,” Hooke said.
I inwardly cursed.
Ivan’s aura had even more black in it than before, but if I said too much now, I would give away what Briar and I had found.
Hooke turned to Briar. “Would you like to return to your room to rest?”
She nodded and swung her legs over the bed. I helped her up, and she clung to my arm tightly as we moved for the door.
Hooke asked us to wait a moment outside as he spoke to Ivan, too quietly for us to hear.
Outside in the hall, Hunter stood nearby talking to a few other fourth-year students. When he saw us, he came over, frowning at the brace on Briar’s neck.
“What’s going on in there? We heard shouting,” he asked quietly.
“I’ll tell you later. Hooke wants to talk to us again, and then I’m taking Briar back to her room for the night.”
“Right, I’ll wait for you back in our quarters then,” Hunter said as Hooke came out of the infirmary. “And I hope for more details,” he added before walking away.
“Zach. Briar.” Hooke joined us. “If you two have found proof of this… coverup, I would like you to bring it to me. I will not have one student attacking another and not have an understanding of what is happening within my own Academy. Do I make myself clear?”
Briar squeezed my arm in answer, and I hesitated.
“We need a bit more time,” I said instead. “To be sure we’re right about this. Can you give us that? The last thing we want is to cause panic over nothing.”
Hooke rubbed his forehead. “I do not like being in the dark, Zach. Do you have any idea what kind of position this places me in? And you, Briar, we need to make sure that you do not accidentally find yourself in someone else’s mind again. Starting next week, Professor Woods will be overseeing all your sessions.”
She bobbed her head in understanding. I had a feeling she didn’t want to find herself outside of her body again for a very long time.
“You have two weeks,” Hooke stated. “After that, I will see whatever it is you think you’ve found, even if it turns out to be nothing but hearsay and rumors.”
It was my turn to nod. “And Carter?”
“He will remain under close watch until we figure out what’s happened to him.” Hooke sighed loudly. “In all my years as Headmaster, and as a warlock, I’ve never seen someone turn into a mindless maniac. There’s magic involved, dark magic, and the longer you two keep this proof from me, the worse this will become.” He gave us each an intense glare before dismissing us.
“Two weeks,” I muttered as we left the main building. “Think it’s enough time?”
She shrugged and grunted in annoyance. “Trust… him?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“Maggie said not to talk,” I reminded her sternly.
“Hard… not to,” she pointed out. “Hooke… I don’t know.”
I had to agree, but what other choice did we have? I could take the files we found and send them off to my brothers, but then we’d have nothing to show Hooke, and then what? He’d throw us both in the crypt thinking maybe we were the ones that caused Carter to change. I could tell part of him thought it had to do with Briar getting inside his head and he wanted to blame it on her. Take the easy way out. Hooke was a good man, but even good men could be tricked, and Ivan was close to him. Very close.
Briar tugged on my hand when we drew closer to her quarters.
“Just thinking,” I told her, and she tilted her head. “No, you need to get some rest, alright? We’ll talk about this when you can actually talk again.”
She opened her mouth as if to try and I pulled her out of the corridor and into the stairwell, empty for the moment. Once we were out of sight, I kissed her gently, holding her close.
Watching Carter try to kill her made my protective instincts flare up, and I didn’t want to let her out of my sight for anything. She hugged me back just as tightly, and for a few minutes, we stood there, not saying a word. She poked me in the side eventually, and I saw how exhausted she was.
“Right, you need some sleep.”
I’d meant for this night to be peaceful and instead, Briar wound up in the infirmary, and we found ourselves walking a very dangerous line. She barely put her hand on the door to unlock it when it was yanked open, and Nyala stared at her before her eyes widened in panic and she hugged Briar.
“What happened to you?” she demanded then shot a glare at me.
“Don’t,” Briar scolded hoarsely. “Carter… not Zach.”
“So the story is true then,” she whispered.
I rolled my eyes.
Nyala frowned. “Or not?”
“She can tell you tomorrow, but she’s not supposed to talk at all, got it?” I scowled at them both sternly, and after squeezing Briar’s hand once more, I let Nyala guide her inside to get some sleep.
I considered hanging outside her door all night, but that was a bit much. Reluctantly, I trudged upstairs, and the second I opened the door, Hunter was there, asking me to tell him everything.
I wanted to hit my own bed, but he deserved to know some of the truth at least. I told him what little I felt was safe, sticking to just the first incident and what occurred in the infirmary. By the time I finished, his curious expression said he knew I wasn’t telling him everything.
“Look, if I tell you any more, there’s a chance you’re going to be in some serious shit, so just leave it at that for now, alright?”
“Zach, seriously, what have you and that girl gotten yourselves into?”
“You don’t want to know, trust me.”
I pictured Dresden coming back here, going after Briar, or Hunter. I shook my head, knowing we were quickly running out of time to act. I told him I was going to bed and I’d see him in the morning.
I hoped for a dreamless sleep, but all I did for half the night was toss and turn, hearing that horrible yelling from Carter that sounded more animal-like than human. I saw him attacking Briar again and again, and I wasn’t able to stop him, not this time.
I woke up covered in a cold sweat, fighting the urge to go down and check on her.
I settled for texting her, hating to wake her up.
My panic subsided when she texted back within a few minutes saying she was fine and couldn’t sleep either.
We texted for a while until I was finally relaxed enough I thought I might be able to get a few hours of sleep.
We said good night for a second time, and this time when I closed my eyes, I dreamt of Briar and me standing under a moonlit sky.
Chapter Sixteen
Briar
It took a few days before I was able to talk normally again, but I doubted anyone was going to look at me the same way again. Many wouldn’t talk to me. No matter how many times Nyala or Zach corrected the story being passed around campus, everyone assumed I attacked Carter, and not just once, but both times. They blamed me for what happened on the lawn and then again in the infirmary.
Thankfully, I grew up being ignored, so was used to it for the most part. The terrified faces I didn’t think I’d get used to, but then again, I had more important issues to deal with. Like deciding if we should share the files with Hooke or not in less than two weeks.
Headmaster Hooke had been nice enough to excuse me from my training sessions for a week. He said it was to give me a chance to fully recover mentally and physically, but I sensed it had more to do with the number of scared students watching me and waiting for my next outburst.
Zach told me just last night that he’d only ever read about astral projecting into someone’s mind, and had been terrified when he realized what I’d done.
I’d teased about getting trapped there, but the serious look in his eyes said that was a real possibility.
“I don’t even know how I did it,” I’d admitted to him while we were hanging out in the common area of his quarters.
“That’s what scares me.” He’d sighed.
; “It’s not like I want to do it again,” I’d promised him, and though he said he knew, I could tell he was worried. And he wasn’t the only one. I hardly slept the past few nights, waking from nightmares where Carter had gotten into my room to finish me off.
Or worse, that I had been trapped inside his mind and no one knew it.
Herbert was there each time I woke, nudging my cheek until I promised the paper crane I was fine, and it reluctantly settled back at the window.
“At least the bruising is going away,” Nyala commented at dinner a few days later.
“Yeah, that’s a plus,” I murmured, overhearing murmurs up and down our table as I tried to eat. I pushed my potatoes around on my plate before I gave up and shoved them away.
“Don’t let them get to you,” Nyala whispered. “You know what really happened.”
“I do, but you think anyone’s going to listen when Carter is still confined to the infirmary?” I glanced around. Most of his friends glared at me openly. “They were there, too, they saw him attack me first.”
What was I supposed to do? Let Carter choke me to death? I glowered right back at all of them, and most looked away, scared that I was going to land them in the infirmary next.
I barely had an idea of what I could really do, and already, the entire Academy was terrified of the big, bad Briar Shroud. Not exactly the reputation I was hoping for. Although, it did make a career in the military seem a bit more appealing.
“I think I’m going to head back to our room. Get some sleep,” I told Nyala.
“You are not going to our room to brood alone,” she argued and drained her soda. “Maybe we’ll just have a girly night. Paint our nails, do our hair.”
She giggled as she linked her arm in mine and I laughed right along with her. “You know, I’ve never actually had a girly night.”
“Never?”
“Nope, never.”
“Well, then, we have to remedy that right now.”
We were still laughing as we exited the dining hall and passed Zach and Hunter.
He smiled at me warmly but continued on his way when Nyala tugged me toward the door, announcing quite loudly she was going to teach me how to get all dolled up for some special guy.