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“Then let’s go see the headmaster and explain where we’ve been,” Jordan said, turning and walking away. But then he stopped and looked around in confusion, spinning back to face them again. “Um, where’s the exit?”

Even with the unpleasant feeling still roiling in her stomach from Athora’s abrupt departure, Alex’s lips quirked at thepuzzled frown on Jordan’s face as he examined the sealed room. She had wondered the same thing the first time she’d arrived, but she wasn’t cruel enough to make her friends jump into the dissecting river and then fall through a waterfall painting just to arrive in the foyer.

Instead, at a mental summons, a doorway appeared, and she led the way through it and back up to the Library proper. When she came out the other side, however, what she found prompted anxiety to start bubbling within her.

As her friends arrived directly behind her, they began talking all at once.

“Ouch!” D.C. cried. “Alex, move!”

Then came Jordan’s voice, saying, “What’s going on—I can’t see—ow, Bear, is that you? You’re on my foot!”

“Shuffle along, guys,” Declan said, “and someone, turn on a light!”

“Alex, where did you lead us?” asked Bear.

“Everyone,quiet.”

The last was said by Kaiden, and at the urgency of his order, the others silenced immediately.

In the all-consuming darkness that surrounded them, even Alex’s enhanced sight could see nothing beyond the glow of hervaeliana. It had been a long time since she’d encountered such pure, inky blackness, but she still knew what it was. And she wasn’t the only one.

“Is this—Is this the Library foyer?” D.C. whispered. “Is the academy under Lockdown?”

Alex nodded but then verbalised her answer, knowing her friends were as blind as she. “Yes. And yes.”

“Does that mean—” Jordan started to ask.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Kaiden interrupted. “Let’s not jump to conclusions before we know more.”

“It could just be a drill,” Alex agreed, reaching out until she touched the nearest wall, careful not to press too hard against any of the paintings lest she end up inside one of them by accident. “Once we make it outside, we’ll be able to figure out what’s going on.”

D.C.’s voice was higher than normal when she said, “But what if Aven is out there?”

Alex’s blood thrummed at the very idea, but she kept her voice calm as she said, “We don’t have a choice—we’re blind in here. We need to know what’s going on.”

An idea hit her then, and she quickly summoned A’enara. The Bringer of Light arrived in a blaze of blue flames that had her friends shielding their eyes as the brightness chased away the dark.

“That’s handy,” Bear commented, and the rest nodded in agreement.

“Pity we don’t all have magic swords,” Jordan said.

“Or any swords,” Declan added, cracking his knuckles nervously. Both he and Kaiden were in her Epsilon Combat class, so they were more than capable of handling a blade, if it came to it. Jordan and Bear were also competent fighters, being Delta-ranked. The problem was, other than A’enara, none of themhadany weapons.

“Follow me, and stay close,” she told her friends. But just as she began to walk away, Kaiden reached out for her elbow, turning her back to him.

In the blue light of her blade, she could see him pushing the gift bag towards her as he pointedly said, “Just in case.”

Alex knew what he was saying. She hated the idea of being protected when her friends weren’t, but on the off chance that Avenwasout there, he would come for her, not them. Just as it would be Vae’varka who she would cross blades with. Because of that, after ordering everyone to turn around—which waspointless, really, since as soon as she carefully handed her weapon to Kaiden, the flames vanished and they were again surrounded by darkness—Alex quickly swapped her clothes for the Tia Auran armour, marvelling at the perfect fit and how soft yet strong it felt against her skin.

When she blindly reached for her weapon again and the flames burst back into existence, the expressions on her friends’ faces as they took in her new appearance were almost comical.

“Whoa,” D.C. said. “I’m intimidated just looking at you right now.”

Nerves were zinging along her flesh but still Alex managed to force a smile and say, “Let’s hope if anyone is out there, they will be, too.”

Her words prompted grave nods and she set off again, not willing to waste another second.

“Stay close,” she repeated as she hurried up the staircase, frustrated by having to stick to mortal speed so as to not leave them behind.