Kael led me down a narrow corridor branching off the infirmary—one I hadn’t even noticed before. The lights overhead buzzed faintly, then flickered out altogether. Darkness swallowed us.
“Power’s spotty in the old wings,” Kael murmured. “Stay close.”
I did. He didn’t have to ask twice.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flashlight, the beam cutting a soft path through the gloom. The air here smelled different—dusty, undisturbed. Like the kind of place the academy had forgotten existed. He led me through a rusted doorway into what must’ve once been a supply room: shelves empty, floor covered in a thin veil of dust. But it was quiet. Hidden. Safe.
“At least until morning,” Kael said. “No one comes back here. You can rest.”
I sank onto an old mattress someone had shoved against
