Page 134 of Filthy Savage

The large construction is bigger than anything I’ve seen yet, even his home.

“That’s Caellach Academy. It’s our school.”

“Like a real school?” My brows squint in question.

“Not exactly.” His mouth twitches. “Want me to show you inside?”

“Okay.”

But a wave of apprehension hits me. I don’t know if it’s because I’m just nervous about what’s behind those walls. I guess we’ll find out.

Swallowing past the hesitation, I draw in some courage. If Fia and I are going to live here, it’s my job to be well-informed about everything that happens here.

He takes me up the steps, pushing a set of brown doors open. The place is mostly quiet, some voices in the distance. Together, we head to the left, down a narrow corridor until we’re beside an elevator.

As soon as he presses the button, it arrives, and he takes us inside, holding my hand firmly with his while my heart beats louder.

I didn’t have a moment to check anything out. No clue at all what this place even is. Goose bumps thread my skin as the elevator drops, stopping seconds later.

“You ready?” His eyes turn stoic.

“Maybe?”

No. Not at all.

I have no idea what I’ve just walked into.

He chuckles, and there’s a hint of danger within it as he takes me down another long corridor until we appear in front of a solid white door. Nothing to indicate what’s beyond it.

Removing his keys, he scans one of them and the door opens.

“Wait, how did you do that?” I stare in wonderment.

It was just a key. A normal-looking key.

He laughs. “The key has a small chip that’s scannable.”

“Wow. That’s crazy.”

“We have some of the best minds working here, developing tech for us and our fighters.”

“Fighters?” I whisper.

“That’s right. You know what we do.” He takes me down another narrow path, scanning the same key when we happen in front of another white door. “This is the place we train our next generation.”

“As in kids?” I freeze in place.

Are they really making fighters out of children? If that’s the case, I can’t be here. I can’t accept that.

“They’re not that young. Sixteen to eighteen, usually.”

Okay, not as bad as I imagined, but still. This is madness.

“And what do they do here?”

“I’ll show you.” He takes my hand, while I do a crap job of hiding my absolute shock.

The further we go, the more voices I start to hear. When we turn left, multiple rooms appear on each side. Within each are different classes. And not the kind that you’d find in a normal school.

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