The announcement still echoes in my ears as we leave the library. Students pour into the stone paths, all of us heading the same way. Lanterns burn bright along the walkways, throwing heavy shadows across the grass. The campus feels different now—tenser, sharper.
Mara falls in beside me. “Do they do this a lot? Drills in the middle of the night?”
I shrug. “How would I know? I’ve been here two days.”
Hunter stretches lazily on her other side, acting like this is a casual evening stroll. “Not often. They say it’s random, but…” He lowers his voice, glancing around. “It’s because of the Shadow Court.”
“The what?” I ask.
Mara’s eyes flick to me. “You don’t know?”
“No. Should I?”
“They’re… well, no one ever says much out loud,” Mara says. “But they’re supposed to be a group that broke off
