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I’d always thought of nighttime as a place of solitude, of rest.
But it was a place of sadness, too. It felt wrong to be so attached to this man when I thought of him the most at his end. At his mutilation.
I let a tear fall at Adam’s memorial. When I smoothed it away, a patch of my skin came off with it, leaving an ugly, exposed red patch. The next tear stung when it fell, and I let it hurt, too.
I didn’t even read The Oracle Musings column that morning. I already knew what it would say. It never struck me before how cruel the Beyond creatures could be until I saw it firsthand.
I strode through the Diamond, the diamond-shaped grassy area in the middle of campus, as midnight approached, looking for a tree to rest under and collect my thoughts. Nearly a month had passed since I arrived, and I finally realized the danger I was in.
The danger we were all in. Humanity couldn’t rival the nastiness of the abyss.
But I’d stayed here, all the same, refusing to run. To hide. To cower. What did that say about me?
They are not as tenacious. Not braver.
Professor Ansi’s flattery echoed in my head.
She believed in me. So why didn’t I?
Seeking solace, I climbed up the tree, eager for the familiar comfort of hanging from branches like a child. Swinging from them always made me feel better growing up.
A cacophony of wicked laughter disrupted my peace.
“Wolf House must be as feeble as a newborn if their leader gets taken out that easily,” Hunter jeered, contempt dripping from his voice.
“They’re bottom-tier magic, through and through,” Zain snorted.
“Yeah, and I bet they’re all bottoms, too,” Brayden joked, eliciting cruel laughter from the trio.
Those disrespectful brats—
I dropped from the tree, using shadows to cushion my fall. In the dead of night, they were invisible, and I reeled them in with the force of my rage.
I was tired of hurting today.
I was ready to hurt someone else instead.
Hunter paused mid-step, slowly rotating his head toward me.
He saw me. Good.
My shoulders went rigid, but instead of wariness, red-hot anger lit up my skin. Who mocked the deceased on the day of their memorial? How dare they?
I hurled a dagger at his boot, slicing the corner of it off and nailing his boot to the mud. Before he could react, I nailed the other boot down, too, immobilizing him.
“Don’t be so disrespectful, prick.”
“You.” Hunter’s glower only ignited me.
Brayden ran up at me from the side, but I dodged his punch, spinning low to kick him behind the shins. He toppled, and I aimed a kick between his legs for good measure.
“You’ll pay for that!” he shrieked, grabbing his crotch.
Zain moved to tackle me, but I sidestepped, letting him slam headfirst into the tree I jumped from. He crumpled to the side, clutching his wounded head.
“How could you make fun of someone who died at a demon’s hands when you’re so easily subdued by a mortal girl?” I taunted.
“Does your demon control every blade you strike?” Hunter asked, dangerously calm in the spot he was rooted to.
