WILLA

I had just sold my soul to the devil.

And strangely? I felt nothing.

Maybe the consequences wouldn’t reach me now. But they always came eventually. Nothing in my life had ever happened without a price attached to it.

Verah nodded, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Good," she murmured. "I especially enjoyed the part where you swore in Selene’s name."

"Now tell me what you want," I forced out through clenched teeth. "And get the knife away from Verah’s throat."

Her hand dropped at once. The wind died. Silence rushed back into the cafeteria. Well not really. The girls were still fighting.

And the knife remained in her grip. She started walking toward me. I stiffened against the pillar.

"I’d prefer if you stayed over there while explaining yourself," I muttered.

I could hear her perfectly fine from a distance. She ignored me and kept walking. Then she stopped beside the pillar.

"Now that we have a deal," she said, "and an oath sealed in your name with Goddess Selene as witness, I can finally tell you what I want."

Just say it already. My jaw tightened. She was taking her sweet time on purpose. The monster lifted Verah’s manicured hand and admired her nails with a coy smile.

She knew the suspense was killing me. If she had shown herself instead of using Verah’s body, maybe I could’ve fought back.

Or maybe not. Still, I would’ve tried anyway.

Her chest rose and fell in a slow, dramatic breath that looked too much like Verah’s normal mannerisms.

And still, she said nothing. My fingers curled at my sides. I opened my mouth to yell at her, then stopped myself.

She still had control over Verah’s body. One wrong move and Verah could die.

"Okay..." she murmured. Paused. Her nose lifted into the air. She sniffed once.

Her eyes narrowed. Before I could ask what she sensed, she pulled the knife back out.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

But instead of pressing it against Verah’s throat again, she lifted it toward her lips and muttered something under her breath.

The words sounded strange. Ancient. Meaningless. When she finished, she stretched the knife toward me.

I shook my head. No way.

Who knew what she had done to it? Maybe touching it would let her possess me too.

"Sheath it and explain first," I muttered.

"Take it," she urged.

I hesitated.

She rolled her eyes. "If I wanted you dead," she snapped, "I would’ve killed you long ago."

"Then why didn’t you?" I asked.

"Because you aren’t my priority," she answered. "Besides, you’re more useful alive."

Her lips curved. "What use would a corpse be to me. Us?"

I scoffed.

Her damned brother had tried to kill me every single time we crossed paths. The pain from those encounters still haunted me.

And now she acted as though murder had never been part of their plan.

"Take it," she repeated.

Before I could refuse again, she shoved the knife into my hand. Pain exploded through my palm.

I gasped.

The handle burned so hard it felt molten. The knife slipped from my fingers and clattered onto the tiled floor.

I stared down at my hand. Then my breath caught. My eyes widened. Slowly, I shook my head in horror.

A sigil had burned itself into my palm. Black. Twisted.

At first glance, it looked like a flower. But the longer I stared, the less sense it made. Crescent moon. Mountain. Staff. Twin blade.

The shape kept shifting in my mind. I couldn’t fully understand what I was seeing.

My breathing turned uneven as I looked back at Verah. "W...what did you do to me?" My voice shook.

I rubbed hard at my palm, trying to wipe the mark away, but nothing happened.

Verah grinned. "Alright," she said. "She’s the girl."

"What girl?" I whispered, still confused.

Then a sharp voice cut through the cafeteria.

"What the hell is going on here?"

My heart jumped.

Headmaster Alaric.

Verah growled under her breath. Hope slammed into me so fast I almost cried. He could help. I waved my hand at him at once.

But Verah laughed.

"Don’t waste your time," she said. "Did you really think I’d attack an academy student without preparing first?"

Her smile widened. "I’m not as stupid as my brother."

So he couldn’t see her.

Headmaster Alaric’s eyes narrowed. For one second, I swore he was staring straight at us. Straight at Verah.

Then I realized the truth.

His attention was on the students fighting behind us. Not her. Not me. Even someone as powerful as Headmaster Alaric couldn’t see what was happening?

Then why could I?

Her brother. This thing inside Verah. All of it.

No. Not only me. The bakers had seen the brother too. I remembered that clearly now.

So maybe she could choose who saw her.

My confusion deepened.

"Anyway," she said, "my message for you—"

"Elyse?"

My attention snapped toward Headmaster Alaric. He was walking straight toward me.

Every student in the cafeteria had gone silent. Their eyes followed him. Followed me.

I tried to step away from the pillar.

My hand wouldn’t move.

Shit.

"What are you doing?" Headmaster Alaric asked.

My mind blanked.

"I...I..."

"I sense a presence here."

Another voice cut through mine. Elliot.

He stood behind Headmaster Alaric with his hands shoved into his pockets, his gaze moving across the cafeteria.

My pulse jumped.

He felt it?

If he sensed her, then he knew something was wrong.

"Ugh," Verah groaned. "Stupid Alpha. Can’t stay out of things that don’t concern him."

Then she staggered.

Blood trickled from her nose. Her hand flew to her forehead while her eyes rolled back.

"My time is up," she whispered.

Fear tightened around my ribs.

"But I shall return." Her lips curved into a grin. "And when I do, you’ll be ready to open what should never be opened."

I stared at her.

"Gate?" I repeated.

What gate?

North Gate? South? East? West?

How the hell was I supposed to understand that vague nonsense?

Verah wheezed. Then her body jerked.

She blinked several times, looking around in confusion. Her hand rose to her neck. She winced before turning toward me.

"Elyse?" she asked. "What are you doing?"

Relief hit me so hard I nearly sagged against the pillar.

She was back.

"Oh, this?" I forced out a laugh and tugged my hand again.

This time it came free.

"I thought I saw something on it."

"Saw something?" Verah frowned.

I nodded and bent to pick up the knife from the floor.

"This is mine," I blurted out. "I brought it to the cafeteria."

I shoved it into my blazer pocket at once. The knife felt absurdly heavy against my side.

"I mean, the cafeteria knives aren’t exactly clean." The words rushed out before I could stop them. "Who knows where they’ve been used? Hygiene reasons."

Heat crawled into my cheeks.

Why was I embarrassing myself every five seconds today?

And Elliot was staring at me. Not laughing. Worse.

Concern flickered in his eyes like he genuinely thought I was losing my mind.

I pushed away from the pillar and walked toward Verah.

She caught my wrist before I reached her and pressed the back of her hand against my forehead.

"No fever," she murmured.

Then she checked my eyes. My ears too. Like she expected madness to be hiding inside them.

"I’m fine," I muttered, pulling her hand away.

Not like anyone here could help if I wasn’t.

"Alright," Headmaster Alaric said.

Every head turned toward him. Relief washed through me.

Thank goodness. A distraction.

"Can someone explain why the two of you were fighting?" His gaze shifted toward Candace. "You shifted despite academy rules."

Candace winced and stared at the floor.

"She pushed me," she mumbled.

"I did?!" Rosy snarled.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Her face looked terrible now. Red and purple bruises spread across her cheek and jaw while Candace barely had a scratch on her.

I guessed Candace shifting had everything to do with the outcome.

"She insulted me first!" Rosy snapped.

"No, you did!" Candace fired back.

"You started it!"

"No, you did!"

Back and forth. Again. And again.

The tension in the cafeteria thickened with every shouted word. Students leaned closer, waiting for one of them to throw the next hit.

Headmaster Alaric stepped between them before that could happen.

"I do not care who started it," he said. His voice cut through the noise at once. "Both of you. My office. Now."

"No!" Rosy cried.

Tears filled her eyes almost instantly. Then she spun toward Verah and me with a snarl curling her lips.

"If you’re punishing anyone, punish them too!"

"Yes," Candace added without hesitation.

Verah scoffed beside me. I did too.

"Bitch," she muttered. "Always searching for someone else to drag down with her."

"We were having a peaceful discussion before they decided to butt in!" Rosy shouted.

"That’s not even—"

"I said," Headmaster Alaric cut me off, "I do not care how it happened."

His gaze swept across us.

"All four of you. My office."

My stomach dropped.

"No!" Verah and I exclaimed at the same time.

Too late.

Headmaster Alaric had already turned and started walking away.

Rosy and Candace exchanged smug smiles.

"See you in detention," Candace sang.

God, I hated them.