Chapter 29: Maze of Secrets
Evan woke screaming.
The pain in his arm was nothing compared to the agony of being ripped from the dreamscape. His throat felt raw, his eyes burning as though he'd stared directly into the sun. Someone held him down—Rowan, his massive hands gentle but unyielding.
"Easy," the terramancer rumbled. "You're back."
Evan's vision cleared slowly. The hidden alcove was in disarray—books scattered, the poultice bowl overturned. Isolde lay unconscious nearby, blood trickling from her nose. Selene knelt beside her, silver light flowing from her palms into Isolde's chest.
Aria crouched by the entrance, knives drawn. "What the hell happened in there?"
Evan tried to speak, coughed instead. His mouth tasted of ashes and copper. "Lucian... he was waiting." He reached for the dagger—still clutched in his left hand—and froze.
The blade was blackened, the metal scored with strange runes that hadn't been there before.
Selene followed his gaze. Her jaw tightened. "He marked you."
Evan shook his head. "No. He marked us." He touched the oathbond scar on his chest. "He knows about the binding."
Isolde stirred with a groan. Her glasses were cracked, one lens completely shattered. When her eyes opened, they were wrong—the pupils too wide, the irises flecked with silver.
"He showed me..." She swallowed hard. "The tunnels. The ones beneath the lower dungeons. That's where they keep the records. The real ones."
Aria helped her sit up. "What kind of records?"
Isolde's gaze met Evan's. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"The names of every student they've ever sacrificed."