Chapter 6. Grayson
Grayson
The goddamn Archive Key? Are you kidding me?
And to top it off, it appears right before the discernment spell goes rogue and displays my face above Eloise’s head.
Disaster doesn’t cover it. I don’t have to look at my uncle to know he’s now wondering if I played a role in this, a question that could cost me and Eloise a hell of a lot more than University admittance.
As if everything hadn’t already hit rock bottom, not one, but five Guardians burst into the auditorium.
They spread out, moving to each of the three doors, while the senior-most Guardian heads for my uncle.
I instantly recognize him—Damien. His face and knuckles are so scarred from battles with the Lawless that even the healers couldn’t fully patch him up.
And the man’s got so much muscle that he looks like living rock.
The mixture of emotional scents coming from the room are varied and potent. But Eloise’s emotions overpower them all—which is the main reason I’ve always avoided her. She’s a waterfall, whereas everyone else is a dripping faucet.
Most students and faculty are now standing, demanding to know what’s going on. But the moment Damien’s boots click onto the stage they all quiet, both out of respect for the Chancellor and a desire to hear what Damien has to say.
“What do you have to report, Damien?” my uncle breathes with a warning in his tone.
Damien bows. “It’s the school wards, Sir. They’ve been breached.”
There are gasps around the room.
“Casualties?” my uncle asks, and I can scent his ire. The wards around the Academy are second only to those around the University itself. And they haven’t been breached for more than thirty years. This is no small thing.
“None,” Damien says. “It’s the campus greenhouse, Sir. The Lawless have emptied it.”
His news is met with outrage. Students and faculty erupt in protest, horrified that our most potent and rare ingredients are now in the hands of the Lawless.
And given the timing, there’s no way my uncle will believe that the tampered discernment spell was anything other than a premeditated distraction—which means Eloise and I are beyond screwed.
“Keep everyone here while you search the premises,” my uncle barks. “The Council will aid you. Find them.”
Damien nods and the Council members jump into action. My uncle, however, turns on his heel. He looks like he wants to rip my balls through my throat.
“You two”—he looks at me and Eloise with deadly calm—“are coming with me.”
Eloise stiffens as he lifts his hand to cast, but I refuse to so much as flinch. Not that it matters, because a second later my vision goes black.