POV: Mina (Age 17 - One Week Until Birthday)
I found Lyro in the east corridor stairwell, and my blood ran cold.
He was pressed against the wall between two upperclass wolves I recognized as loyal to the Trio's social circle. Not the Elite themselves—they rarely did their own dirty work when intimidation was involved. But their proxies, students who curried favor by enforcing the Trio's unspoken rules.
Lyro's lip was already split, blood running down his chin. His left eye was swelling, and he was holding his ribs in a way that told me someone had already gotten at least one good hit in.
One of the wolves had him by the collar, holding him against the wall. The other was cracking his knuckles with deliberate menace.
"The Oracle's little helper," one of them sneered, loud enough to car
