Chapter 76

Rowena

The crisp evening air hit me like a slap in the face as we burst out of the cafeteria—the chaos inside still ringing in my ears even as we put distance between us and the furious mob of angry students.

My lungs burned, my heart thundered in my chest, but I couldn’t even feel it. Not after what had just happened.

Before I could so much as catch my breath, Eric’s arms were around me—his solid frame enveloping me in a tight, crushing embrace.

“Thank you,” I rasped, curling my fingers around the rough fabric of his shirt. “You didn’t have to do that, but…”

Eric pulled back after a moment, his hands settling on my shoulders as his blue eyes searched my face. A small, relieved smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “You don’t have to thank me, Rowena. Not for doing the right thing.”

It was then that I noticed Emma standing there beside us, frozen in place with her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted in shock. Her gaze flickered between Eric and I, the color slowly draining from her cheeks.

“Is it… is it true?” Her voice was barely more than a hoarse whisper as realization began to dawn across her face. “Have you two really—”

“No!” The word burst from my lips with so much force that Emma actually flinched, surprise flickering across her features. I felt Eric grow tense beside me, squeezing my shoulder in a silent warning.

With a shaky exhale, I tried again—forcing my voice into a more measured tone.

“No, Emma… we haven’t. It was just a vicious rumor Dr. Reynolds spread to try and discredit Eric. To try and keep me from telling the truth.”

A lie, I thought to myself as guilt filled every corner of my body.

Emma’s brow furrowed, skepticism darkening her eyes. I could practically see the gears turning in her head—see her weighing the words, comparing them to mine and Eric’s strange behavior.

It was pointless to lie, I realized with a sinking feeling in my stomach. She knew. Maybe not the details, but… she knew.

Before either of us could say another word, however, Eric cleared his throat. “We shouldn’t linger,” he said, glancing behind us at the cafeteria. Through the large windows, we could still see chaos reigning inside. “We should leave before things get any worse.”

“He’s right,” Emma murmured after a stretch of tense silence, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. “It’s not safe here.”

“Is it safe for you to go home?” I asked.

Emma paused, then shook her head. “Heather is a loose cannon at home. She knows we’re friends now, and I’m afraid she might do something… drastic.”

Eric’s jaw tightened, and he nodded almost imperceptibly. “You can stay at our house tonight.”

“Thanks,” Emma said, shooting me one last wary glance.

With that, Eric turned on his heel and began tugging me along with him as he strode toward the parking lot. I followed numbly, my mind still stuck on… well, everything. Not just the stuff with Dr. Reynolds and Heather, but with Emma as well.

Was this it, then? Was tonight the night that I needed to confess what had really been going on between me and my brother?

Dread coiled thick and heavy in the pit of my stomach at the mere thought of it. How the hell was I supposed to explain something like that? Sure, Emma and I were friends now and I trusted her—but the idea of her finding out the truth made me want to be sick.

I didn’t have long to contemplate it, however, before movement at the edge of the tree line caught my eye. Three bulky silhouettes, stark against the shadows cast by the flickering streetlights.

Warriors.

But… something seemed off. Wrong.

A chill prickled along my spine at the realization, my steps faltering as the figures swayed on their feet with jerking, uncoordinated movements that just looked unnatural. Like marionettes, almost.

Beside me, Eric went rigid—his pace slowing to a stop as he, too, noticed the shadowy forms lurking amongst the cars. Right beside Eric’s car.

“Hey!” he barked, squaring his shoulders as the figures snapped toward the sound of his voice. “Can I help you gentlemen?”

For several beats, there was no response; just those bizarre, halting movements as they lurched and shambled closer. Only when they emerged beneath the dull amber glow of the streetlights did their appearance truly register.

Pupils so wide that their eyes were nothing more than twin pools of glossy blackness. Strings of foaming drool spilling past their trembling, slack jaws. The jerky twitches wracking their frames as garbled groans and grunts slipped past their lips.

My heart seized, a choked sound escaping as I recoiled. What the fuck was wrong with them? Were they… were they high? It was the only thing that made any sense—the only explanation for the inhuman way they stared past us, not even seeming to see us at all.

But… No. No, I knew what this was.

“Wolf’s Fury,” Emma whispered, her fingers gripping my wrist.

“Eric,” I managed in a strangled whisper, “we should—”

It was too late.

With a feral snarl, one of the warriors threw himself forward—bursting into an animalistic sprint as he charged straight toward us. Eric cursed, whirling to shove me backward with enough force to send me stumbling into Emma.

“Run!” he roared over his shoulder, even as he braced himself for the warrior’s impact. “Get to the car!”

Emma didn’t need to be told twice. Her feet were moving in an instant, hauling me away as one of the other brutes finally seemed to register our presence. I could only tear my gaze away for a split second as Eric and the first warrior collided—their bodies slamming together with enough force to make my teeth rattle.

“Go, go!” Emma was panting the words frantically, her fingers biting into my arm in a bruising grip as she dragged me toward the nearest car. Together, we scrambled over the hood, crouched low as we used it for cover—peering around the side with wide, panicked eyes.

Eric was a whirlwind of controlled ferocity, his fists and feet snapping out in rapid strikes as he fought to keep his feral attackers at bay. But I could see something strange in his movements, almost… sluggish, weak.

He wasn’t fighting with his full abilities, wasn’t using his entire strength. But he wasn’t pulling his punches, either.

No, something else was going on. Eric seemed weaker somehow, clumsier. A far cry from the calculated, powerful warrior who I had come to know.

The other warriors, however, hardly seemed to notice anything—grinding their teeth like rabid animals as they clawed and swung at Eric with reckless abandon, over and over. They seemed to feel no pain, have no conscience.

Nothing. There was nothing behind their eyes.

And Eric… He was putting in his all, but it didn’t matter. The three mad warriors were enclosing him from all sides, beating him to the ground. One blow turned into another, and then another, and I felt as though my heart had stopped in my chest.

“Emma,” I breathed, my fingernails digging into the side of the car, “we have to help him. He—”

It was then that I saw it—the waver in Eric’s stance as one of the warriors lunged for him.

And then he began to fall.