Lorraine’s POV
"Elise!!!"
The scream ripped out of before I could stop it. I didn’t care who was watching or how cold the marble floor felt beneath my knees, I threw myself beside her.
Her face was barely recognizable under the blood and bruises. Her wrists were blistered from the silver chains digging into her skin. She looked so... small. Broken.
"Elise, wake up. Please, it’s , it’s Lorraine. Wake up!" I cried, my voice cracking, fingers trembling as I touched her clammy skin. "Elise, please, don’t do this. Don’t leave . You can’t die, not like this...."
"Lorraine!" Astrid yanked back sharply, her grip strong, eyes scanning Elise with terrifying precision. She bent low, pressing two fingers to her throat.
A beat of silence.
"She’s still alive," Astrid said, her voice tight. "Barely. But she is."
I let out a sharp, strangled breath, the world spinning. Thank the moon.
"She needs to get to the hospital now," Astrid continued.
"I’ll take her," Magnus said imdiately, stepping forward "You keep the search going."
Astrid didn’t argue. She simply nodded once.
Magnus bent low, carefully lifting Elise’s limp body into his arms. The silver chains clinked faintly as they shifted against her weight. And then, with a blur of movent and a gust of wind, he was gone.
I stood there, heart thundering, skin cold despite the warmth of Kieran’s jacket around . Elise was still breathing. But for how long?
Without even glancing at Kieran, I couldn’t, not now, I bolted out of the villa, my legs moving faster than my thoughts.
She has to live. She mustn’t die. She can’t die.
I ran as fast as I could, I need to get to the academy hospital amd find out exactly what happened to Elise. But I skidded to a stop when I got yo the auditorium. Without thinking twice, I went for the giant doors and flung one open.
All conversation inside stopped.
Dozens of eyes turned to , nobles and elites. I froze for a second, breath caught in my throat. They stared at like I didn’t belong.... like I was a ghost.
And maybe I was.
But then, I saw them.
Felix. Adrian.
They were already rising from their seats the second they saw .
"Lorraine?" Adrian said first, his brows creased. "What....?"
I didn’t give them ti to finish.
I ran.
Straight to them.
I grabbed their hands without a word, lacing my fingers tightly around theirs.
"Co with ," I said. My voice shook, but my grip was firm. "Now."
And without waiting, I turned and dragged them out of the auditorium, my legs moving faster than the words forming in my head.
We ran like the wind was chasing us.
Adrian and Felix didn’t ask questions at first, they just followed. I could still feel the warmth of their hands in mine as we sprinted across the courtyard. My breath burned in my chest, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. Elise needed us.
"What’s going on?" Felix finally asked through panting breaths. "Why are we....?"
"Elise," I said breathlessly. "Elise has been found. Director Magnus has taken her to the academy hospital."
The words barely left my mouth before Felix’s hand slipped from mine.
He stopped in the middle of the path, his eyes wide. Adrian and I turned to him.
"You found Elise?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper, like he didn’t trust his ears.
I nodded slowly, my heart still pounding. "Yeah... we.... we found her."
Felix blinked, stunned. His lips parted, but no words ca out. It was like his mind was still catching up to the possibility.
"We?" Adrian repeated, brow furrowed. "Who’s we?"
I hesitated, swallowing. "We found her... in the bathroom. In Kieran’s villa."
There was silence
Both of them just stared at .
Felix’s expression shifted, shock fading into sothing darker, more unreadable. Adrian didn’t speak, but I saw the tension ripple through his jaw, the way his hands balled into fists.
"I need to see her," Felix said suddenly, his voice firr now.
And without another word, he continued and ran. Full speed.
"Felix!" Adrian called, already sprinting after him. "Wait..!"
I took off after them.
None of us slowed down. We ran past the dorms, through the gates, across the courtyard.
We ran like our lives depended on it.
By the ti we reached the hospital, I could barely breathe. My legs ached, and my lungs burned, but I didn’t stop. None of us did.
Director Thorn stood outside the hospital doors, arms folded, his expression unreadable as we skidded to a halt in front of him.
"She’s inside," he said before we could ask. "The doctor is attending to her now. You’ll have to be patient."
Felix’s fists clenched at his sides, but he said nothing. We all stood there in tense silence, ti dragging like it had grown claws of its own. Every second that passed felt like a lifeti.
Finally, the doors creaked open, and the doctor stepped out. The look on his face made my heart sink.
"She’s alive," he began, his voice low and grave, "but just barely."
Felix took a shaky breath beside .
"Her blood is saturated with wolfsbane, an absurd amount. Honestly, it’s a miracle she’s still breathing. She’s sustained a number of bodily injuries, fractures, deep lacerations.... and..." He paused. "Her tongue has been cut off."
I gasped, covering my mouth.
"We’ve done everything we can for now," the doctor added. "All that’s left is to monitor her and hope she wakes up. But her recovery will be slow. Very slow."
Felix looked like he might collapse.
"Was there anything found on her?" Director Thorn asked, stepping forward. "A sigil of so sort, perhaps sothing resembling a wolf and fangs?"
The doctor shook his head. "No. Nothing like that."
And just like that, he turned and left, his white coat vanishing back into the hallway.
That’s when Felix snapped.
He marched toward Thorn, fire practically seething off his skin.
"A sigil of wolf and fangs?" he spat. "Is that what this is all about? The only reason you even brought her here is because you think she’s connected to the Crimson Hunt, isn’t it? That’s the only reason you care. If she wasn’t possibly tied to them, you would’ve left her in that bathroom to die!"
Director Thorn didn’t even flinch. "You’re right," he said coldly. "I would have."
My jaw tightened.
Felix’s body trembled, and I saw it, the shift starting. His fangs bared, claws sliding from his fingertips.
Director Thorn just smirked. "Careful now, little mutt. You rember what happened last ti, don’t you?" He glanced casually at Felix’s chest. "Behave carelessly and I’ll give you another slash, this ti a little deeper, and I’ll make sure you don’t recover."
"Felix... don’t." I rushed forward and grabbed his arm. "This is not the ti. Please."
Adrian appeared at his other side, pulling him back too. "She needs you calm right now, not starting a war in a hallway."
Felix’s breath was ragged, his muscles trembling with barely restrained rage. But slowly, he began to still.
Thorn scoffed and turned away, already walking off. "Control your pets, Lorraine," he muttered. "Or I’ll do it for you."
I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. I just stood there, one hand clutching Felix’s sleeve, the other over my chest where my heart felt like it had been punched through.
Elise.... hang in there.
Please.
The hallway fell into a suffocating silence.
None of us said a word. We just sat, and sotis stood, adrift in our own spiraling thoughts. My mind kept looping the sa questions over and over again like a broken reel
What the hell happened to Elise?
Who took her?
Who did that to her?
)
Wolfsbane, so much of it injected into her that she nearly died.
Silver chains bounding her wrist
Her tongue..... cut out.
Why?
What kind of twisted, deranged monster would do that to soone? What kind of creature would go that far just to silence a girl like Elise? Why was she even considered a threat in the first place?
I clenched my fists, trying to stop my hands from trembling. Adrian sat beside , head bowed, eyes locked on the floor like he was trying to bore a hole through it. Felix paced silently, one hand covering his mouth, the other clenched by his side. It was too much. All of it.
The door to Elise’s room creaked open and a nurse who had gone in to check on her walked out.
She was already halfway down the hallway when she suddenly stopped and turned back to us.
"You know," she said softly, "you can go in to see her. As long as you’re quiet. It’s allowed."
Then she turned and walked off.
None of us moved at first. Then Felix straightened slowly.
"I’ll go see her first," he said, his voice firm but strained. He didn’t wait for a response before disappearing through the door.
Adrian and I were left in the hallway.
Adrian stepped closer to .
"You said she was found in Kieran’s bathroom."
I swallowed.
He continued, his voice harder now. "If Kieran did this to her, Lorraine..."
"He didn’t," I said, cutting him off imdiately. "There has to be so kind of mix-up or misunderstanding. Kieran wouldn’t.... He wouldn’t do this to Elise."
Adrian turned to face fully, his brows furrowed in disbelief.
"And how sure are you about that? My sister was killed for him and he didn’t even look the tiniest bit of bothered, who is to say he is not capable doing this too?"
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