Page 76 of Lessons in Power

Too late.

“Be still.”

I barely heard the words, but I felt the whisper, directly in my ear.Henry.The arm around my waist, the breath on my neck, the body I was trapped against—Henry’s.

I could feel his heart beating, as hard and fast as my own.

“Nicely done, Headmaster.” The sound of Mrs. Perkins’s voice served as a stark reminder that nothing—nothing—was as it had seemed. “Now it’s time we had a chat about our missing students.”

As Mrs. Perkins began to prod the headmaster for information, Henry sidestepped to face me, moving with an unearthly silence. His eyes met mine and held them for one second,two—then he removed his hand from my mouth. His index finger went to his lips, and he jerked his head toward the stairwell.

Quiet. This way.

I gave a curt nod to show that I understood. As we made our way back down the hall, he kept one hand on my arm, ready to pull me out of the line of fire at any moment.

Ready to step into the line of fire himself.

I won’t let you do that for me, I thought. After Ivy trading her life for mine, after Emilia giving herself up so we didn’t both get caught—no one else was taking a metaphorical bullet for me.

No one was taking aliteralbullet for me, either.

As if he could sense my thoughts, Henry’s hand tightened over my arm as we made it to the stairwell. When the door closed behind us, he forced himself to let loose of me.

“Are you certifiably insane?” he asked, his voice hushed but crisp. “What exactly did you think you were doing out there? They could have seen you! They could haveshotyou, Kendrick.”

“Mrs. Perkins,” I replied, my voice as low as his. “Mrs. Perkinscould have shot me.”

Mrs. Perkins, who could have easily sent a text from Emilia’s phone when someone had turned it into the office.

Mrs. Perkins, who might well have—at the headmaster’s instruction—put in the call for extra security herself.

Henry took up position between the door and the top of the stairs, tense and unable to know which direction the next threat would come from. “There are cameras,” he said. “They’ll see us. We should move.”

I held up the tablet. “We’re in the clear. For now.”

I didn’t know whether we had minutes or seconds. I didn’t know what would happen when someone found us in the stairwell.

“How did you—” Henry started to say, then cut himself off. “Emilia.”

I nodded. “Emilia.”

I handed the tablet to Henry and let him scroll through the camera feeds. He stopped on one of the classroom cameras.Men with guns. Students on the floor.

Wordlessly, Henry handed the tablet back to me.

My heart jumped into my throat. I felt something inside me crumble.Vivvie.I lowered the tablet and closed my eyes.They have Vivvie.I’d wanted to believe that she’d run. I’d wanted to believe that she’d found a place to hide. I’d wanted her to be safe.

You’re supposed to be my friend. Mybestfriend.The words she’d said to me before she’d bolted haunted me.I trusted you when I didn’t trust anyone.

I forced myself to open my eyes. Vivvie was bound and terrified. She was being held at gunpoint—and there was nothing I could do about it.

They’re going to find us, I thought, the realization washing over me, coating my body like oil.They’re going to find Henry. They’re going to find me.

“We have to do something.” I managed, somehow, to form the words. “They have Vivvie. They have Emilia.”

Henry’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “There is nothing we can do.” His words were as hard-won as mine. “I wish there were. Iwish,” he repeated roughly, “that we could end this, butI see no way of making that happen and too many ways that we could make things worse.”

What are you saying, Henry?