Page 23 of Darkness and Deceit (Obsidian Academy #2)
Twenty
LILITH
The door creaks open, and at first, I don’t move.
It doesn’t feel real. Like maybe the silence has finally cracked me, and I’m imagining the groan of hinges and the faint rush of cooler air.
Everything feels muffled, underwater. Too quiet and too loud all at once. My pulse thunders in my ears, and my body won’t listen, frozen in that space between fear and disbelief.
Then the voices start.
Someone says it’s clear. Someone else shuffles past me. And just like that, the spell breaks.
I shove off the wall and stumble into the corridor, blinking against the sudden brightness. The light feels wrong. Too sharp. Too normal. The scent of scorched stone and blood clings to the air, but the hallway looks... fine. Too fine.
No fire. No wreckage. No monsters waiting in the shadows.
Just dust in the air, floating like ash.
My hands tremble and I clench them into fists at my side.
Simon appears beside me like a shadow falling into step, his blade already unsheathed. I glance at him, but his face is unreadable. All steel and silence.
We climb the stairs two at a time, my heart pounding harder with every step. I reach for the tether, trying to find that steady pulse of him , of Kai, but all I get is static. Smoke. Silence.
The doors open to chaos.
The courtyard is full of people.
Injured students huddle in clusters.
Professors move between them, shouting orders.
The sky is still dark with smoke, and the scent of scorched earth and ash clings to everything. Out past the gates, the forest glows with fading firelight—patches of that strange blue flame still licking at the ground like it’s hungry.
Bennett stands near the center, her crow perched on her shoulder. She’s covered in dust and blood, but her stance is steady. When her eyes find mine, something shifts. Her mouth opens then closes. She doesn’t speak.
“Where are they?” I ask. She knows exactly who I mean.
Her jaw tightens. “There were losses.”
The words hit like a punch. “Who?”
“I don’t know yet,” she says. “The Keepers are still sorting through the wounded. The fire disrupted everything. We couldn’t get to everyone in time.”
“Fuck. I should’ve been out there.”
Bennett’s jaw tightens. “There are rules in place for a reason.”
“Rules?” I spit. “Is that what you call locking us in while people were dying?”
“Defense-based magic is restricted for first-years,” she says, tone clipped. “Too much power, too soon, leads to casualties. Control must come before chaos.”
I laugh, and it’s a cold and hollow sound. “Tell that to the dead.”
Simon tenses beside me, but before he can say anything, a commotion stirs near the entrance to the west wing, and then I see him.
Vaughn stumbles into view, blood soaked through his shirt, his hair tangled and wild. He’s limping, barely upright, and pushing past a healer who’s trying to get him to stop.
My breath catches.
I sprint toward him.
“Are you—” I don’t even finish. My hands go to his arms, his chest, his face, searching for wounds. But the blood isn’t his.
“It’s Kai’s,” Vaughn says, voice rough with exhaustion.
Everything inside me stills.
“He’s alive,” he adds quickly, clutching my shoulders. “But... it’s bad.”
I don’t wait for more. I grab his hand, dragging him back the way he came. Simon falls into step beside us, jaw tight, eyes scanning.
We push through the chaos—past fallen stone, broken glass, overwhelmed healers and students crying into each other’s arms. I catch a flash of white coats and glowing glyphs up ahead and veer toward them.
The healing wing is overwhelmed. Beds spill into the hallways. Names are shouted, instructions barked, sobs rising behind closed doors.
I barely register any of it.
Vaughn pushes forward, limping but relentless, until we reach the last room at the end of the corridor.
When the door opens my world stops.
Kai lies in the bed, pale and still. His eyes are open, but empty. Glassy. Like he’s looking through me instead of at me.
And his body?—
Gods.
A massive burn sears down his right side, from jaw to ribs. The skin is raw and blistered, edges blackened. His shadows flicker weakly around him like they don’t know what to do without him.
It’s a miracle he’s breathing.
I stumble forward, a cry catching in my throat. “Where are the healers?” My voice breaks, ragged with disbelief. “Why isn’t anyone helping him?”
A woman in healer’s robes steps back from the door, guilt flickering across her face. “We tried,” she says softly. “But it’s not something we know how to treat. We’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Then get someone who has,” I snap. “Get the Keepers. The headmistress. Someone.”
No one moves.
No one answers.
It’s like they’ve already given up.
My legs nearly give out.
I cross the room in three steps and drop to my knees beside the bed. My fingers brush his wrist. His skin is ice.
Vaughn leans against the wall, exhausted. “I think something broke in him.”
I look up sharply.
“He recognized one of them,” Vaughn says, voice hoarse. “A Rogue. I think—I think it was one of the ones who held him before. He froze. I’ve never seen him freeze before.”
Simon’s face darkens.
“And then...” Vaughn swallows. “He got hit. With that blue flame. I’ve heard stories. I’ve felt it. It doesn’t just burn. It corrupts . Eats your magic from the inside out.”
I grip Kai’s hand tighter. “Is he... in there?”
“I don’t know.” Vaughn wipes a hand down his face. “He killed the Rogue. Snapped his neck like it was nothing. But after that... he collapsed.”
Simon puts a hand on Vaughn’s shoulder. “You did good getting him back.”
Vaughn nods, too tired to argue.
“Simon, take Vaughn to get checked out,” I say. “Please.”
Simon gives me a look. “Are you sure?—?”
“Yes.” I don’t take my eyes off Kai. “I’ll stay with him.”
There’s a beat of silence. Then Simon and Vaughn leave, the door clicking softly shut behind them.
And I’m alone.
Just me and the boy who once bled shadows and now bleeds stillness.
I’ve heard whispers about the blue flame. Enough to know it’s not just heat—it’s rot. Magic that lingers. That scars. The kind of flame that doesn’t just burn your body, but hollows out what’s underneath.
Some say it severs your magic from the inside. Others say it stains your soul.
And now it’s touched my mate.
My mate.
I reach for the bond.
It’s faint.
But it’s still there.
Like the echo of a heartbeat in a broken room.
“I’m here,” I whisper. “You’re not alone.”
No answer.
I sit on the bed and rest my head against his shoulder. His heartbeat is slow. Weak. But steady.
“You stupid, stubborn asshole,” I breathe. “I told you I wanted to come with you.”
Tears sting, but I blink them back.
“You should’ve let me. I could’ve helped. I could’ve?—”
I stop myself.
Because it doesn’t matter now.
What matters is this . Him. Alive, barely. Still mine.
I can’t afford to break now.
This moment, this pain, this helplessness—I’m done with it. I bottle it up inside me, ready to unleash the second I know Kai will make it.
Because there will be no more sitting on the sidelines. No more locked doors or sealed wards. I will never be left behind again.
The Keepers want to keep their secrets?
Fine.
But I’ll take their knowledge.
Because what’s the point of having this power if I can’t use it to protect the people around me?
If it can’t stop the ones I care about from ending up like this—broken, burning, bleeding out in some healer’s ward—then what good is it?
I’m tired of being a warning sign in someone else’s book. Tired of being told to wait, to rest, to trust them. My magic doesn’t wait. It wakes me in the night. It drags me through forests. If I don’t learn how to control it… I’ll never stop fearing myself.
So I’ll train. Alone, if I have to. In secret, if I must.
Maybe then the stares, the whispers, the judgment… maybe all of it would be worth it.
If I could just make it mean something.
If I could make this mean something.
So let them doubt me. Let them try to keep me in the dark.
I’m done waiting.
I’ll rip the truth from their mouths if I have to.
I will learn. I will fight.
And the next time the world burns?—
I’ll be the one standing in the fire.