The Blood Pact

Dust choked the air. The explosion behind us had sealed the exit. We were trapped in the belly of St. Jude’s Academy, and the only way out was forward into the dark.

I stared at the word on the wall. Sacrifice.

"My name," I whispered, my finger trembling as I touched the fresh red ink. "How did she get my name on this wall? She was just at a party."

Maxwell didn’t answer. He was staring at the rubble behind us. His "Golden Boy" mask was completely gone now. He looked hunted. He looked human.

"Victoria doesn’t go to parties to dance, Loveth," he said, his voice echoing off the damp stone. "She goes to watch. She’s been planning this for weeks. She knew you’d be in the library. She knew I’d break tonight."

"You still stole it!" I snapped, my fear turning into hot anger. "You risked my life. You risked my mother’s life for a ring!"

Maxwell turned on me. He grabbed my shoulders, his fingers digging into my skin. "My family is broke, Loveth! The Thorne name is a lie. We owe millions to people you don't want to meet. Victoria promised me she’d clear our debt if I gave her that ring. She lied."

I pushed his hands off me. "So you’re a thief and a failure. Great. That doesn't explain why we’re in a tunnel that looks like a grave."

"Because this isn't just a tunnel," Maxwell said, turning back to the path. "It’s the Order of St. Jude’s trial ground. Every heir who wants to lead has to pass through here. Victoria didn't just want the ring. She wanted to bury the competition. Literally."

We started walking. The only sound was the drip-drip of water and our boots hitting the mud. Every shadow looked like a person waiting to grab us. I felt like the walls were closing in, squeezing the breath out of my lungs.

If I died here, who would take care of Mum? Who would fry the puff-puff and pay the rent? The thought of her waiting at the market, looking at the clock and wondering where I was, made my eyes sting.

"I have to get out," I said, my voice rising. "I have to get out and expose all of you. You, Victoria, this whole rotten school."

Maxwell stopped abruptly. "Look down."

I froze. Just inches from my toes, the floor changed. The dirt was gone, replaced by a series of heavy metal plates. Each one had a symbol carved into it, an eye, a crown, a dagger, and a skull.

"Don't move," Maxwell warned. "These are pressure plates. If you step on the wrong one, the walls move. They don't move out. They move in."

I looked at the narrow space. If those walls moved even a foot, we’d be crushed like bugs. My heart hammered against my ribs. I wanted to scream, to run back to the rubble and dig with my bare fingernails until they bled.

"How do we know which one is safe?" I asked.

Maxwell pulled a small, heavy coin from his pocket. "The ring had a map on the inside of the band. I memorized it before she took it. It’s always the 'Eye' first. Truth before power."

He stepped onto the plate with the eye symbol. Click.

The sound was loud in the silence. We held our breath. Nothing happened.

"Follow my footsteps," he ordered. "Exactly where I step."

I stepped where he did. My legs felt like jelly. Eye. Eye. Crown.

We were halfway across when a low grinding sound started. The walls didn't move, but the ceiling did. Dust started falling in thick clouds.

"Move! Now!" Maxwell shouted.

We scrambled across the remaining plates, jumping over the skull symbol. We tumbled onto the solid ground just as a massive stone slab crashed down right where we had been standing. The impact shook the floor so hard I fell to my knees.

I gasped for air, my heart feeling like it was going to burst. "We almost died. We almost died because of a stupid ring!"

Maxwell didn't help me up. He was looking at his phone. The screen was cracked, but it lit up.

"A message?" I asked, crawling toward him.

He showed me the screen. It was a countdown timer.

09:59... 09:58...

Below the timer, there was a text from Victoria: “The Spring Gala starts in ten minutes, Maxie. If you aren't on stage to present the ring, the police get the video of Loveth stealing it. I’ve already put the ring in her dorm room. Under her pillow. Have fun in prison, scholarship girl.”

My blood turned to ice. "She planted it? In my room?"

"She’s going to call the police the moment the timer hits zero," Maxwell said. His face was grim. "She doesn't just want the ring. She wants to be the hero who caught the thief."

I stood up, my fists clenched. The fear was gone. In its place was a cold, sharp need for revenge. Victoria Hale thought she could play with my life like it was a game. She thought she could destroy my mother's world just to feel powerful.

"We aren't just getting out of here," I said, my voice steady and dark. "We’re going to that Gala. And we’re going to take her down."

Maxwell looked at me, a strange spark of respect in his eyes. "The only way to the Gala from here is through the Headmaster's private office. It’s guarded."

"Then we fight," I said.

We ran down the rest of the tunnel until we reached a wooden trapdoor above us. Maxwell climbed the ladder first. He pushed it open just an inch.

"It's empty," he whispered. "Come on."

We climbed out into a luxurious office. It smelled like expensive cigars and old money. But before we could reach the door, it swung open.

It wasn't a guard.

It was Cassian Vale, Maxwell’s biggest rival. He was holding a gun, and he was pointing it straight at Maxwell’s chest.

"I knew you'd come this way, Thorne," Cassian said with a crooked smile. "But you’re a bit late. The police are already at the gates. And they aren't here for the ring."

He shifted his gaze to me, his eyes turning cold.

"They’re here for a murder."

My heart stopped. "What murder?"

Cassian kicked a heavy rug aside. Underneath it, lying in a pool of dark blood, was Professor Alden.

"And guess whose name is written on the blade?" Cassian asked, pointing to a small knife on the floor.

It was my scholarship letter, soaked in blood, wrapped around the handle.