Page 50 of Darkness and Deceit
And they’ve breached the protective barrier.
“Get up,” I snap, already spinning from the window. “Now.”
Simon’s on his feet before I finish speaking, already grabbing for his shirt. Vaughn curses and scrambles upright, bare-chested and disoriented. The three of us are still half-dressed from earlier—sweat-slick and disheveled.
Lilith stirs, confused. A flush of realization crosses her face as she blinks awake. I toss her one of my long-sleeved shirts without a word—she catches it on instinct.
“Up,” I bark again, more urgent. “It’s the Rogues.”
Simon yanks on his pants, pulling Lilith upright and helping her slide her arms into the shirt. Vaughn, already tugging on his boots, tosses her a pair of pants from the floor near the bed.
“Come on, Fox,” he mutters, voice grim now. “Time to move.”
I tear the windows open with my shadows. A rush of wind surges through the room, ice-cold and carrying the sound ofdistant fire and closer screams. That whistle echoes again, louder this time. Closer.
Lilith reaches the window and stops dead.
The fire is real.
The sound is real.
The danger is real.
She goes pale, eyes wide.
“We’re under attack,” I murmur grimly.
Chaos surges outside. Shouts echo. Doors slam. Spells flash in the distance. Panic spreads like smoke.
A boy near the glyph-line shouts, “What happened to the wards? Aren’t we supposed to be protected?”
The stone beneath us was supposed to be sacred. Etched with glyphs, layered with magic, renewed every week. We were told nothing could get in.
So how the hell did it?
Unless it isn’t just an attack. It’s a test.
Or worse… someone let it happen.
“Simon,” I say sharply, already crossing to the stash where I keep my blade. “Evacuate the first years. Now.”
He’s already nodding. Of all of us, he’s the best at staying calm when the world starts to fracture. They’ll listen to him. He’ll get them out.
“Lilith, go with him.”
“No,” she snaps, fire already lighting behind her tired eyes. “Don’t sideline me. I can fight.”
“You’re not ready,” Vaughn says, stepping toward her. “You’ll get yourself killed.”
“You don’t know that?—”
“I do,” he growls, looming over her. “This isn’t training, Fox. This is war.”
Another whistle slices through the night, shrill and close enough to shake the windows. The shadows at the tree line are moving fast and wrong.
Simon tightens his grip on her arm. “We need to go. Now.”
Lilith clenches her jaw, ready to argue, but then hesitates. Her eyes dart between the trees, the hall, and me. With a sharp exhale through her nose, she gives a single nod.
