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“You!” he cried, before swinging again.

But Alex had fought him before, up in Draekora, and even Claimed as he now was, he was no match for her. In three moves she had him disarmed and on his knees.

“Where’s Aven?” she hissed. When he didn’t answer, she reached forward and grabbed his collar, forcing his attention. “Where is he?”

“Not here,” Gaiel spat, and before she could blink, another Meyarin slammed into her hard enough that she knew the immortal hadn’t just been running, but rather, had used theValispathto better their impact.

Sprawling onto the ground, Alex had barely a moment to flip onto her back and meet Vaera’s incoming blade. Whether the steely-eyed female had been protecting her father or just acting upon the Claimed order to attack, Alex didn’t know. What she did know was that as aZeltorawarrior, Vaera was a much greater opponent than Gaiel, and Alex’s prone position left her dangerously vulnerable.

“King Aven will be so pleased to see you,” Vaera said, her eyes glazed.

The threat in her tone was enough for Alex to understand something important: Aven wanted to kill her himself. There was no way he’d allow one of his underlings to deny him that pleasure. And because of that, she took a risk that Niyx would have kicked her ass for.

When Vaera came swinging at her again, instead of meeting her weapon, Alex kicked out with her legs to trip the Meyarin. As Vaera stumbled and fell, her blade came unnervingly close to taking out Alex’s eye, thankfully missing the mark but still managing to slice open a shallow cut along her cheek that instantly started dripping blood. But aside from uttering a quick hiss of pain, Alex ignored it and sprang to her feet, pointing A’enara at Vaera’s throat before checking to see what threat Gaiel still posed. She was both relieved and concerned to see that he was now engaged with another Meyarin in a fight against Kaiden and Declan, the two of them having procured swords since their arrival.

Alex wished she could stop and watch them battle back to back; wished she had time to admire the way Kaiden swung his blade before throwing out his free hand, sending Gaiel andthe second Meyarin flying without so much as touching them. She wished she could sit back and enjoy the show when two more immortals blurred in to take their place and Kaiden used his arsenal of gifts against them, including streaks of Connor’s lightning and gusts of Kelly’s wind. Any Meyarins who made it past his defences were met with Declan’s blade, the two of them triumphing over all who dared approach.

Regardless of how well they were handling themselves, Alex didn’t want to risk leaving them—or anyone else—without her help for long. Turning back to Vaera, she pressed A’enara closer and repeated her earlier question.

“Where is Aven?” Alex demanded. “Why isn’t he here?”

“He’s looking forward to seeing you real soon,Aeylia,” Vaera said. A strange clarity came to her eyes, her tone dropping as she added in a whisper, as if afraid of being overheard, “But he didn’t know you’d be here, so he never ordered us to deliver you to him. You need to leave,now. Before he gives that command.”

Alex’s brow furrowed at what seemed like a genuine warning, but she didn’t have a chance to ask anything else before Gaiel swooped in on theValispathto steal his daughter away. Alex could have moved faster and skewered Vaera with her blade—and Gaiel, too—but she knew they were only acting under Aven’s orders. And despite Gaiel’s hatred of Alex having sprouted before he’d been Claimed, she still wasn’t willing to murder him in cold blood. That wasn’t who she was—just as she’d explained to Zaylin earlier that night.

As soon as Gaiel and Vaera were gone, the immediate area around Alex became empty of Meyarins, and she turned to see where she might be needed next. But as she watched, one by one the immortals started falling back, activating the Eternal Path and disappearing from the academy grounds.

It was just as the last one departed and she dropped her guard that three things happened, all at once.

The first was that she heard a whistling sound, as familiar as it was alarming.

The second was that she whirled around to see the Meyarin thug, Skraegon, hiding at the edge of the Ezera Forest, watching gleefully as the dagger that he’d thrown sailed on a trajectory straight for Alex’s heart, the speed and intensity of the coming blade giving her no time to avoid its impact.

But she didn’t have to, because the third thing that happened was that in a burst of shadows and light, Soraya appeared in front of Alex, Skraegon’s blade sinking deep into her side instead.

With a howl of pain, the Shadow Wolf collapsed at Alex’s feet.

“No! Soraya—no!” Alex cried, sinking to her knees as Skraegon disappeared on theValispath. She reached for the blade that was speared through Soraya’s silky black coat, but despite every instinct telling her to, she knew better than to pull the dagger out. Instead, she helplessly tried to stem the flow of blood while screaming, “FLETCHER!HELP!”

But she needn’t have yelled for the doctor, since he was already sprinting her way, along with Kaiden and Declan who were closest to her, while still more battle-smeared faces joined them.

“Try to keep her still, Alex,” Fletcher ordered as he knelt beside her, his competent hands pressing around the wound while Alex’s moved to hold Soraya’s head.

But Soraya wasn’t a normal creature—she was intelligent beyond comprehension, enough that she didn’t need to be settled. Instead, she lay perfectly still as Fletcher called out for medical supplies, her shallow breaths and quiet whimpers of pain the only indications that something was wrong.

“Why would you do that?” Alex whispered, stroking her glossy black fur, tears leaking from her eyes and stinging thecut on her cheek. But for all Soraya’s intelligence, she couldn’t communicate in words, mental or otherwise. And yet, as her pain-filled amber eyes locked with Alex’s, it was clear that the wolf had acted upon her protective instincts, and she would do the same over and over again if it meant Alex would be safe.

More tears dripping down her face, Alex turned to Fletcher as Caspar Lennox shadowed to his side with the supplies he’d requested.

“Is she going to be okay?” she asked, aching with phantom pain as a shudder rippled along Soraya’s flesh.

“We’ll need to stabilise her so we can move her to the Med Ward for further treatment,” Fletcher said, smearing a healing salve around the entry wound where the dagger remained embedded in her flesh. “See if you can get her to drink this.”

He handed over a vial filled with green liquid—a strong pain reliever—and Alex balked. “Fletcher—she’s awolf. Human medicine—”

“—won’t cause her any damage,” he interrupted. “Trust me, Alex. I may not often treat animals, but humans aren’t the only beings I’ve seen to over the years. I wouldn’t give it to her if I thought it would cause more harm than good.”

Having spent considerable time as one of his patients, Alex had faith in his skills enough to believe him, and gently urged Soraya to open her mouth.