Chapter Nine

It didn't take us long to settle into one of the vacant classrooms in Essex Hallway. After they had settled in, they all looked at me, waiting. Combing my fingers through my thick hair, I began.

"It seems that there are secrets in this school that I didn't know about." They all frowned in confusion.

"What secrets?" Lenda asked, no longer looking like the terrified girl I had accompanied to the Hall.

I told them about the uniformed warriors, the absence of teachers and the principal at the gate, the strange scorpion-wolf hybrid that was intent on slamming the ward down to get to me, and Erix being among the warriors. I purposely left out my interaction with him and what I had felt with him. I didn't think Alix would be pleased. After I concluded, they were all quietly surprised.

Adrika broke the silence first, her hard face looking even harder as she frowned in thought. "That's strange, indeed. I've never heard of these uniformed warriors before."

"Erix told you they were there to prot