CADEMy eyes fluttered open for no reason. The first thing I noticed was the blanket covering my shoulders—tucked gently. I blinked up at the dim study light, still faintly glowing from the desk above me.Arden. My lips curled slightly at the thought. She must’ve seen me knocked out and covered me up. That was just like her. No matter how tired she was, she was always thinking of others.But if she put this on me, that meant she was awake.I sat up straighter, rubbing the back of my neck and yawning. I was still groggy, but the moment I turned to the doorway and saw it empty, that familiar tug started deep in my chest.“Arden?” I called out gently, still half-asleep.No response.My brow creased. I stood quickly, the chair scraping behind me. I walked toward the hallway, glancing left and right.Nothing.I picked up the pace, walking down to the far end where our room was. The lights were off, but I opened the door without knocking.“Arden?”Still nothing.The bed wasn’t made, which
ARDEN“Seriously, why did you have to come here?”Tessa sighed by my side, leaning against the cold brick wall. If I told her that behind this wall were three skeleton bodies of young women like us, would she be freaked out? She definitely would.But she didn’t need another source of trauma. I glanced at her and found bruises on her neck, a cut on her brow, and red marks on her wrists and arms.“Are you alright?” I asked before anything else.“I’m fine,” she waved me off with the same sweet smile that always made me feel better. “You shouldn’t have come, though. I was planning on leaving some evidence that would lead to Mr. Winters once he kills me.”“Imagine—a mediocre female student dies in the hands of the esteemed headmaster. That would make a great headline.”“There are three lies in that statement,” I muttered. She turned to me and raised a brow.“First, you’re not mediocre. You’re genuinely one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen. Second, that wouldn’t make a great headline.
ARDEN It was still dark when I arrived.The sky was still blanketed in heavy indigo, the horizon just beginning to tint the edges with gray. The sun hadn’t risen, but I knew it wouldn’t be too long. I’d left under the veil of nightfall and ran straight through, crossing into the South without alerting anyone. The cold air bit through my jacket, but I barely noticed. My boots crunched against dry soil and brittle grass as I stepped through the woods, deeper into enemy territory, toward the one place I never thought I’d return to.The cabin.My breath caught in my throat.Of all places, this was where he brought her? Did Mr. Winters know that this place was already imprinted into my memory? That Cade and I had once stood in this exact spot when we began to uncover the cracks in everything?Probably not. He thought he was always ten steps ahead.I clenched my fists.But before I could take another step forward, a voice rang out from the shadows just beside the porch. “Arden Stone,” h
ARDENI woke up in cold sweat despite not having any nightmares. It just happened spontaneously. Normally, there would be some kind of stimulus. But for this, there wasn’t any.My body had grown tired for the last couple of days, especially with the unending campaign period. Honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way because I was doing it with Cade for the sake of Fenra.However, seeing the recent polls, where Mr. Winters’ rating had increased and Cade had decreased, made me a little bit uneasy. It seemed that the news about Bethany’s Viremia had shaken some of the voters’ opinions.Bethany hadn’t released a statement since. I have been texting her to say that everything was alright, but even then, she was quiet. I hoped she would visit soon. For some reason, I missed her.I turned to my side, hoping to hold Cade’s hand, but I found that he wasn’t there. My brows slightly raised. I remembered him hugging me as I slept. However, he must have slipped away in the middle of the night to
TESSA Owen was there beside me, his bag dropped lazily on the cafeteria floor as he held his usual canned iced coffee. We were seated near the back, far from the rest of the crowd. It was our first break of the day, but it already felt like the last. “You seem really tired,” he said quietly, watching me carefully.“Yeah,” I muttered, resting my cheek against my palm.I was tired. And not just the kind of tiredness that a full night’s sleep could fix. For the past few days, I had been trying to catch Mr. Winters in the act. I followed him. I took note of his meetings. I eavesdropped where I could without getting caught. But it was like chasing smoke. Every time I thought I had something, it slipped through my fingers like water.“Why is it that the world is going against me?” I mumbled, not really expecting an answer.Owen didn’t reply. He just leaned slightly toward me, offering a shoulder.“Let me lean here for a moment,” I said softly.He shrugged. “Go ahead.”I rested my head a
ARDEN The ride back to the Callahan estate was quiet.The village celebration had ended with polite smiles, but there was a heaviness in the air no one wanted to address, especially not after the question about Bethany having Viremia settled among those present. We had left before dessert was served.Now, only the distant hum of the engine filled the silence. Cade was behind the wheel, his grip light, but his brows furrowed. I kept my gaze on the window, watching trees blur past us, but my thoughts were far from the road.“You already knew,” Cade said quietly.I nodded, letting out a slow sigh. “I found out when she visited us.”There was no point hiding this from Cade. “When she went out to the balcony and I followed her,” I added. “She tried to hide it, but I saw her blood-tinged hands. That’s when I knew.”Cade didn’t respond for a moment. “I see,” he finally muttered.“You’re not surprised?”He shook his head, gaze still trained forward. “Not really. You’ve been quite close late