Page 9 of Glutton for Punishment

“I’ve told you before, it was bad timing. You know I care about her just as much as you do.”

As much as I want to clear things up with my friends, I can’t admit Ryker’s threats out loud. If it gets back to him that I told someone, he will have me expelled, and that helps no one.

“She was your friend. And she asked for your help.”

The memory hits me hard. Arwen’s hands shaking as she stood in my doorway. Tears streaming down her face.

“We need to meet tonight,” Holly says to all of us.

Sly looks up, hope on his face. He’s dying to resolve things between Holly and him, but with Arwen’s disappearance, there hasn’t been a good time.

He’s been a mope for weeks.

“We need to brainstorm about what could have happened,” she replies. “If she got exiled, we need to know where. We need to think of a way to approach the Dean when she returns…”

Almost as if Holly summoned her by name, Dean Bellow’s voice echoes through the intercoms.

“Attention. All students, faculty, and staff are to report to the auditorium for a mandatory update.”

Chairs scrape and trays clatter as students pack up.

“What if it’s about Arwen?” Cleo asks, hope flickering across her face.

Holly and I exchange a doubtful look.

There’s no way the academy would call a mandatory assembly for one missing student. Much less a sinless one who had a trial with the Council.

Still… my pulse kicks up. Something important must be happening.

We fall into step together without discussing it. Sly walks beside Holly protectively, close but not touching. Tabby loops her arm through Cleo’s, but keeps her head down.

Without Arwen, it feels like we are all balloons, chaotic in the wind with no string attached to keep us grounded.

***

Hundreds of students funnel into the auditorium, filling the tiered seating in restless waves of whispers and speculation. I catch fragments of conversation with painful clarity.

“—heard it was an execution—”

“—rebels spotted near the Hollow—”

“—my brother said the Council—”

I grind my teeth and try to tune it out. I should be listening in case there is any factual information, but hearing the gossip just pisses me off.

The empty seat next to me catches my attention. I can almost picture Arwen sitting there… the warmth of her arm touching mine. I’d make some stupid joke and her smile would break across her face.

I won’t have that anymore.

I don’t deserve that anymore.

Guards file out from behind the stage and line the walls. Not academy guards—the heavier armor, the darker insignia…

Council guards. Wrath soldiers.

Dean Bellows steps onto the stage a moment later, spine straight as a blade. She surveys the crowd and waits until the last murmur dies before speaking.

“Students.”