Masika cleared her throat and read the words out loud. “Follow the path. The keys are the answer. This is not my end.”
“It’s signedTH,” Emilio noted, his fingers brushing against theink.
“TH?” Olivier muttered. “Who the hell is TH?”
The words had barely left his lips when Masika let out a gasp, nearly dropping the map to the floor. Olivier reached out, steadying her, placing a hand on her arm before the parchment could slip out of her grasp.
“Masika…what is it?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“When Birdie and Russo first found me in the mountain during the third trial…they told me about Blackwood’s history.” Masika’s eyes darted between the two boys as she spoke, her fingers trembling. “How Silas was a Corrupted Soul who learned to harness his power when he was thrown into the Shadow Lands—”
“We know this already, Masika,” Olivier interjected softly. “Silas destroyed the original Headmaster of Blackwood and took over. It’s why the Ether has been so off-balance. It senses his corruption. It knows he’s not meant to be there.”
“I know. But…” Masika inhaled a shaky breath, hands tracing the map. “When they told me…they didn’t just call him the original Headmaster of Blackwood. They called him something else.”
“What?” Emilio whispered.
Masika glanced up, amber eyes burning.
“TheTrue Headmaster.”
There was a tense beat of silence. The weight of her words fell upon them like a sudden gust of wind.
“What are you saying?” Olivier asked, a haunted strain in his voice.
“This is not my end.Don’t you get it?” Masika let out a shuddering breath. “The True Headmaster is still out there…and the Resistance intends to find him.”
It couldn’t be true.
Itcouldn’t.
But there was no denying what was written upon these pages.
No erasing what they had just learned.
It was at that exact moment that the office door swung open with a flourish, revealing Catherine on the other side, a glowing spear clutched in her right hand. Her expression was lethal, her eyes narrowed on them like two finely sharpened blades.
“The three of you…” Catherine said, seething, her voice ringing with authority. “Come with me…now.”
7
IRENE
Mateo had attempted to stop her, calling after her, but Irene had ignored his desperate pleas as she stormed out of her room and burst into the corridor. She needed a moment to think. A moment to wrap her head around what she had just learned.
Wren Loughty is the prophesized destroyer of Blackwood?The mere thought made Irene want to bend over in a fit of laughter. That pious, self-righteous little princess could barely stomach cheating on an exam, let alone disrupting the entire balance of the afterlife. There was no possible way. No conceivable world in which—
“Irene.”
At the sound of her name, Irene nearly tumbled to the floor as she abruptly came to a halt, spinning on her heels to find Samira standing behind her. What was with this girl? Couldn’t she simply let Irene be?
“Samira.” Irene cleared her throat. “Hi.”
“Are you all right?” Samira slinked closer, hands tucked behind her back. “You seem a bit…flustered.”
“I’m fine.”
“Actually, I’m glad I ran into you.” Samira dipped her voice lower, a mischievous grin lifting onto her berry lips. “I’m about to head to the bacchanal. Care to join me?”
