Without warning, Kael pulled Elara toward him and spun her around, shielding her from the sight of the blood.
His movement was so quick, almost rough, that Elara nearly lost her balance before Kael’s arm caught her.
This wasn’t how he usually held her hand–not the light tug on her wrist he always gave when they walked through a crowd of students.
This time, Kael wrapped both arms around her shoulders, pulling her close against his chest, as if his own body could shield her from whatever they’d just seen.
“Don’t look.
Calm down.
Breathe in, then breathe out.
Slowly.”
Elara followed his instructions.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, even though it still caught in her throat.
Her whole body was trembling.
She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping she could unsee what she’d just witnessed–the dark pool of blood, the writing on the mirror, the cold air that had cut straight through her.
“Calm down.
It’s not human blood.”
Kael’s voice sounded different.
Normally his tone was flat, almost bored, like nothing in the world was worth taking seriously.
But this time the words came out fast–too fast, like he was trying just as hard to convince himself as he was trying to convince her.
It took a moment for the words to sink in.
A few seconds passed before Elara’s mind caught up with what he’d actually said–that what was pooling on the bathroom floor wasn’t human blood.
But the relief came too late.
Her body was already shaking, and the image was still burned behind her closed eyes.
If it wasn’t human blood, then who had written those words on her mirror?
Why her bathroom?
The questions crowded her mind, louder than anything Kael was saying to calm her down.
Elara didn’t want to admit it, but she was on the verge of tears.
Kael held her a moment longer, giving her enough time to turn away from the bathroom before guiding her to sit down.
“This has to be a dream.
This is too much.” For once, Elara wasn’t thinking before she spoke.
The despair was too much to hold back.
The second she sat down, she let his arms fall away.
Before she could stop them, the images came flooding back, the blood and the writing on the mirror.
She forced herself to open her eyes, hoping that somehow everything would be gone.
“What’s going on?!” Another voice cut through the room.
“We heard you scream.”
Kael answered first, turning to face them.
“Clean the bathroom.
Someone’s trying to mess with me.” His jaw tightened as he spoke, and for a moment Elara caught something rarely seen on his face–fear, quickly buried under anger.
Riven and Xera had the bathroom cleaned in a heartbeat.
The moment they finished, Xera spoke up.
“This is insane.
How does someone threaten a student inside Ravencrest territory?”
“We need to tell Magnus.
Now,” Riven said, irritation sharpening his voice.
Elara wanted to say something, but nothing came.
She looked at Kael, still crouched in front of her, having lowered himself to her eye level.
This close, she could see the tight line of his jaw, the anger burning behind his eyes.
“There’s no scent besides deer,” Riven added, confused, his nose still wrinkled like he was chasing something he couldn’t quite catch.
“We’ll talk about it back at the dorm,” Kael said, pressing a finger to his lips.
Then he looked back at Elara, who had started to steady herself.
“Can you walk, or do you need me to carry you?”
“You think I’m going to fall apart over a little blood?” Elara shot back, trying to convince herself it was no big deal.
Her shaking voice betrayed her.
“Damn it,” she muttered, catching the smirk on Kael’s face as he watched her.
She reached for her bag, though she wasn’t sure she had the strength to lift it–stuffed as it was with a dozen thick books and a change of clothes.
But Xera got to it first.
“I’ve got it,” Xera said with a warm smile.
Elara managed a small smile back.
They walked to the Rhaen dorm in silence.
Elara could still feel her heart pounding, refusing to settle, even as her footsteps grew steadier.
Night had fully fallen, and the Ravencrest hallways were lit only by dim wall lamps, casting long shadows that trailed behind the four of them like silent companions.
Kael walked close beside her, closer than usual, his eyes sweeping every corner they passed.
The dorm wasn’t far, and by the time they reached it, Elara finally felt a little lighter–as if every step away from that bathroom carried her a step further from the fear still clinging to her skin.
The cool night air brushed her face, easing her racing heart, and slowly the image of the blood began to dull under the weight of a far more immediate exhaustion.
Just outside the common room, Kael stopped, nudging Elara and Xera’s shoulders.
“What do you mean?” Xera asked.
“It’s a sealed room.
Like Magnus’s.
Try talking from inside.”
The common room was warm the moment they stepped in–a small fire already crackling in the corner, its orange glow far more relaxing than the cold light of the bathroom.
Elara breathed in deep, letting the smell of burning wood chase away the metallic scent still clinging to her memory.
Xera shut the door behind them and threw a few random sentences at the wall, testing whether her voice would carry outside.
Riven, still standing in the hallway, knocked and called through the door, asking if they’d started yet.
Xera glanced at Elara.
“I think it worked.”
“Done?” Riven’s head appeared through the cracked-open door once he’d given her enough time.
He and Kael stepped in and shut the door behind them.
Riven looked satisfied and Kael’s face stayed unreadable.
“Nice,” Riven said.
“Besides Magnus’s room, this is the only one that’s soundproof.”
Kael didn’t answer.
He just tilted his chin toward Elara.
“Remember, this is to keep the clumsy human safe.”
Then he dropped onto the sofa, and the room went quiet.
Riven and Xera traded a look, their smiles fading as they caught the shift in his tone.
“Whoever did that,” Kael said.
His eyes fixed on the ceiling, “is probably the same person we’ve been looking for.
Someone who knows how to erase a scent.
You know who’s good at that.”
“You think it was a vampire?” Riven asked, dropping down beside him.
Kael shifted, uneasy.
He shrugged.
“Maybe.
What bothers me more is Magnus’s reaction.
He looked scared to admit I might be right.”
Riven and Xera went quiet, clearly turning it over, but neither had an answer.
Elara looked at Kael, still staring at the ceiling.
His face was flat, but she could see the anger simmering just beneath it.
If she was reading him right, he wasn’t angry that she’d been targeted; he was angry that whoever did this had managed to fool him.