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The Academy of Blood & Shadow

Page 522

by Océanne Rhéaume

No. I dress quickly. "Sleeping?"

"Yes."

"Did they hear anything?"

"I don't know."

"See anything?"

"I don't know."

"Wards?"

"I don't know."

"Any alarm?"

"No." No alarm.

I pull my boots on. Weapons. Daggers. Hair. Done.

"Eirea."

"What."

"Where are you going."

"East Residence."

"Do you think they'll let us in?"

"No."

"Good."

She grabs her coat. The corridor outside is already full. Not panicked. Not yet. But awake. Too awake. Doors open. Students talking. Second-years moving toward staircases. First-years standing in groups.

No Chiefs. That registers immediately. Of course.

Mara comes up the stairs. Fast. "First-years downstairs."

I stop. "What happened?"

"Downstairs."

"Mara."

"Eirea." Her voice changes. Command. Right.

I nod. "First-Year Response?"

"Already assembling." Fuck.

I turn toward Nyra. "Find Cassian." She nods. No argument. Good. The common room is packed.

Not just my seventeen. Thirty first-years. Maybe more. Some still wearing sleep clothes beneath coats.

One barefoot. Wonderful.