Horror punched through me.
Jess didn’t start this fire.
Someone else lit the match.
And they wanted it to look like her.
And worst of all—
I couldn’t prove it.
The back of the school was chaos.
Students emerged from the buildings in various states of panic, half-dressed and squinting through smoke. Lyra stood startled in a pale blue robe. Ollie and Vic hovered behind her, eyes wide and gleaming with the thrill of disaster.
Warden Wild appeared next, cloaked in blood-red silk, her expression carved in a frown so sharp it could slice the night.
But I couldn’t see Dev.
Or Ash.
Or Kieran.
My stomach dropped.
I dragged Jess toward the medical ward I had just escaped from. Nurses rushed forward, already prepared with gurneys and masks. They took one look at Jess, then at me, and whisked her from my arms.
Dr Marr appeared behind them.
His eyes landed on Jess’s limp body and his face twisted, venomous.
“The Firestarter at it again,” he said with disgust. He jerked his chin, commanding the nurses to hurry. They obeyed without question.
I stared after her, terrified to let her out of my sight.
“Will she be harmed?” I asked, my voice cracking around the edges.
He sighed sharply, annoyed.
“She will be treated. That’s all. Until she can be assessed.”
“I want to go with her—”
“Go to bed, Miss Q—Harrin.” His correction was pointed. Cutting.
“There is nothing you can do here.”
“But—”
He shut the door in my face.
The slam echoed through the hall like a verdict.
I looked back toward the burning building. Guards were pushing students away. The flames were dying, but the heat still pulsed against my skin. People whispered, pointing, their fear turning into stories that would spread by morning.
Jess.
They would blame Jess.
