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My heart thudded in my throat. I could feel the crumbly brush under my palms. I got to my knees and inspected my open hands. Leaf flakes and clumps of moist dirt clung to my skin. I couldfeelall of it. I reached for a leaf on the ground and picked it up, its stem solid between my index finger and thumb.

Anxiety building, I stumbled toward a nearby tree and slapped my hand on its trunk. Sure enough, the rough bark scraped at my sensitive skin.Is this real?

“Alright, Cora, you’ve had your fun,” I called out, my voice echoing through the vast woods. “Let me out!”

Nothing changed. I might as well be talking to the trees.

Something whistled past the side of my head and lodged in the tree in front of me. An arrow.

“What the—?”

Then another one pierced the ground right next to my foot, narrowly missing my shoe.

“Oh, no!” I gasped. I jumped to my feet and darted deeper into the forest as a storm of arrows rained down behind me, chasing me.

The leaves, the ground, and the trees felt real. Did that mean if I got hit by one of these simulated arrows, I would feel real pain?

I didn’t want to find out. My legs moved as swiftly as they could, leaping and bounding over unearthed roots and randomly placed boulders, absolutely terrified of getting struck.

“You can run, but you can’t hide, little fish,” a male voice called out from the darkness of the forest.

Shit!

It no longer mattered that this was all supposed to be an illusion. Those arrows seemed very real. That voice sounded very real. So that left me with only one option: Run.

Chapter 31

Tobias

Usually, I felt refreshed after sparring in Defense. Pushing myself to my physical limits was my own personal therapy, a healthy way to vent the negative emotions that tended to build up over my father, Arya, and general life frustrations.

But today, I didn’t feel better. Shortly after I left the gym and headed for my room to shower before dinner, this nagging angst began to nibble away at my guts. I had hoped that standing under scalding hot water would ease whatever it was, soothe the last of my nerves, but, if anything, the unease grew.

I got out of the shower and dried myself off, racking my brain for whatever issue might be bothering me. Of course, I was on edge about my father’s deal, knowing that I wasn’t much closer to “sealing the deal” with Arya. We had agreed to be friends and had been enjoying each other’s company peacefully, but I could tell it was too soon to push for more than that.

Perhaps my father would be pleased that I had made progress at all. That Arya and I were friends and at least working toward being closer. If it wasn’t, then the matter was beyond my control. I was doing the best I could to achieve this goal and still maintain the healthy balance between Arya and me that was necessary for both our emotionalsafety.

After considering it for a moment, I knew that wasn’t it. The girlfriend issue was a dull constant that had been plaguing me since my meeting with Arthur, never waxing or waning, justthere.

This current feeling, this urge, it was acute, and it was compelling me to do…fuck if I knew what.

I just knew I couldn’t sit still. Though I was hungry, the idea of sitting in the cafeteria with my friends and wishing this agitation away made me feel like I was going to jump out of my skin, and not in a good way. Hell, not even shifting sounded appealing.

So I threw on a fresh change of clothes and left my room. I didn’t really know where I was going, I was just moving on instinct. I skipped down the stairs, pushing past students like they were just obstacles in my path, and headed out the main doors onto the lawn.

My legs ached with the need to run, tomove, so I broke into a jog. It wasn’t my routine to jog around campus. On leg days, I either used the treadmills in the gym or went to a park in the city where I could feel the open breeze. And though it wasn’t too late to head up top, my senses repelled the idea of leaving campus.

I needed to stay here. But why? What was this niggling, unrelenting affliction that made me feel like ripping my hair out strand by strand?

I rounded past the greenhouses, running the border of the glass dome, and my skin only sizzled more with this unknown urgency. Especially as I approached the gym. Maybe I needed the treadmill after all.

I slowed my pace as I came closer, the door of the building in sight, and the low tinkle of giggles and chatter carried to me in the stagnant air. My ears pricked, and I turned my head in that direction, like an animal responding to the slightest sound.

Cora, Letti, and Adina were walking past a tree, huddled together in a matter that seemed distinctly conspiratorial. I was so used to seeing the three in this way that I almost brushed it off, but my gut knew something was amiss before I did.

I stopped completely and watched them for a few seconds. And then I realized why this was odd.

Adina was supposed to have been “banished” by Cora. She’d been spending time with Arya, buddying up to her. And now she was walking with the mer girls like they were the sea witch trio again.