The woman was gone before Noah could ask her anything else.One second she was gripping his wrist, the courtyard lights flickering on behind her; the next, she'd released him and stepped back into the shadow of the fourth statue, and by the time Noah blinked, there was nothing there but stone.He didn't wait around to see who came looking. He ran, cutting through the side gate instead of the main path, keeping to the shadows the whole way back.He made it back to his room breathless, heart still hammering, and lay awake until the window went gray for the third time that week, replaying her last words over and over. *They're already awake.* He didn't know who "they" were. He was starting to think that not knowing might be the only thing keeping him alive.He said nothing to Dax the next morning. He was getting frighteningly good at that.The academy's Founders' Assembly was held every spring … a formal ceremony in the main hall, the entire student body seated by rank, faculty on the da

The vehicles pulled up to the gate, and the man in the gray coat was gone before the doors even opened … over the low wall and into the trees, quick enough that Noah almost doubted he'd been there at all.Two officers stepped out. Not the black-uniformed men from the assembly hall … campus security, local, the kind Noah had seen a hundred times without a second thought."Everything alright here?" one of them asked, glancing at Noah's face, which he was fairly sure still looked like he'd been crying. "We got a report of someone loitering near the gate.""I didn't see anyone," Noah said."You sure? Dispatch said a man, gray coat, moving fast toward the tree line.""I didn't see anyone," Noah repeated. "I've been sitting right here."It came out steadier than he expected, given everything. He was getting better at lying, apparently. Small comfort.The officer studied him a moment longer, clearly unconvinced, but let it go. "Head back to the dorms. The ceremony's still going on inside.""