“All first-year hunters to the Hall of Blades. Immediately.”
The intercom crackled to life.
The tiny smile that had crept onto Lilith’s lips from Zane’s text froze and then disappeared entirely.
The bell that rang through Ravenshore Academy wasn’t the usual bright metallic chime. This one was deep, reverberating, echoing through the old stone halls like the toll of a warning bell. Every student stilled. The laughter in the courtyard died in seconds.
Lilith’s stomach dropped. The Hall of Blades wasn’t for morning assemblies. It was where they were briefed for hunts. Real ones.
She slipped her phone into her pocket, pulse quickening. The warmth Zane’s message had left in her chest faded beneath the old, familiar thrill of duty. The hunter’s instinct, the one that whispered,
Something’
