Chapter Twelve
We didn’t rush through the Academy so much as slip through it, carried along by something tighter than urgency.
The halls felt close around us, the kind of closeness that made you wonder if the walls were listening in on every half-formed thought.
Students drifted past in clusters, laughter spilling here and there, whispers following behind, and more than a few curious glances that lingered a beat too long.
“They have no idea,” I murmured under my breath.
“They don’t need to yet,” Stella said smoothly, as if she’d already decided that for all of us.
The banquet hall doors opened before we reached them, and the sound rolled out to meet us—busy, layered, purposeful. Not quite disorder, but only just holding its shape.
Inside, kitchen sprites darted between tables with trays that seemed determined to topple them over.
Steam curled up from the long rows of dishes, carrying warm, herb-laced scents with something sweet tucked underneath.
Piles of dumplings, stuffing, and biscuits drifted by on one tray while a platter of fresh fall vegetables were on another.
I saw students gathered in small pockets throughout the room, some seated, others lingering near the tables. I loved how conversations stayed steady.
But I couldn't shake the worry about the others, and then I felt it.
My gaze moved on instinct, as my pulse followed a half step behind until I found him.
My dad stood near the center of the room, standing in a way that steadied something in my chest. Ardetia and Caleb flanked him, their attention fixed, their conversation quiet but intent.
My dad hadn’t stopped moving since they’d returned—that much was written in the set of his shoulders, the focus in his expression.
The relief crashed through me as I saw everyone standing together safely under the Academy's roof.
“Dad,” I called, already moving.
He turned before I reached him, like he had felt me coming, and the moment his eyes met mine, something in his expression softened.
“There you are,” he said, pulling me into a hug before I could say anything else.
I didn’t hesitate.
I wrapped my arms around him, holding on just a second longer than I probably should have, just to make sure he was really there.
“You’re okay,” I said quietly.
“I’m okay,” he replied. “Are you?”
I pulled back, nodding. “We made it back through the goblin tunnels.”
Ardetia stepped closer, her gaze alert as it moved over me, taking in everything without missing a single detail. “You look like you’ve seen more than you expected.”
“That’s one way to put it,” I said.
Caleb crossed his arms, his expression thoughtful. “What happened out there?”
I glanced around the room again, lowering my voice slightly. “The Priestess found us.”
That got their attention.
“How?” Ardetia asked immediately.
“We don’t know,” I admitted. “We had just made it into the marshlands. Gideon met me there, handed over the stone, and then…” I shook my head slightly.
“Something shifted. There was a sound, and the ground started moving. By the time we realized what was happening, there was an entire force moving toward us.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened. “How large?”
“Large enough that we didn’t stay to count,” Keegan said, stepping up beside me.
Ardetia’s gaze flicked to him, then back to me. “And Gideon?”
“He disappeared,” I said. “Mage magic.”
My dad let out a quiet breath. “That sounds like him.”
“He warned me,” I added. “About Celeste. About the Priestess getting desperate.”
A shadow crossed my dad’s face, but he didn’t interrupt.
“Thankfully, you got away,” Caleb said.
“We did,” I replied. “Nova sealed the tunnels behind us. We lost them, but…” I hesitated. “They found us too quickly. Faster than they should have.”
Ardetia’s expression shifted slightly. “Do you think you were followed?”
“I think something led them to us,” I said.
My gaze drifted again, moving through the room without thinking, checking faces, checking corners, checking…
And then I saw her.
The Silver Wolf stood near the far wall. Her presence was larger than life.
Our eyes met briefly, and she gave the smallest nod, but there was something else pressing at the edges of my awareness.
I let my gaze move through the room again, slower this time, looking at the way the students clustered together in quiet conversation, Bella gabbing with a few teachers, and a few shifters recounting their latest expedition.
I turned my attention to Caleb. “So did the Silver Wolf eat Rendel or something?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Not that I'm aware of.”
I let my eyes pass over the far wall again, where the Silver Wolf stood, her posture calm, her presence anchoring in a way that made everything else feel just a little less unsteady. She had already taken in the room. I could see it in the way her attention moved.
Our eyes met briefly, and she gave another small nod, the kind that didn’t ask questions but acknowledged that they would need to be answered.
No doubt about it. Rendel wasn’t here.
But he should have been.
With all of his warnings and blustering with Keegan, there was no reason he shouldn't be standing in this hall.
My chest tightened slightly, and pulled my focus away from everything else.
Keegan shifted beside me, his attention catching on the change before I said anything at all.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice low enough that it didn’t carry beyond the space between us.
I didn’t answer right away. There was already so much animosity between them. Keegan and his father. I didn't want to add salt to the wound, but I couldn't help but wonder aloud.
I looked through the crowd again. giving myself the chance to be wrong, to possibly find Rendel standing just out of sight, tucked into a corner, or watching the way he always did.
But he wasn’t there.
I turned to Keegan and let out a deep breath.
“I don’t see him,” I said finally.
Keegan’s brow furrowed slightly. “Who?”
I cleared my throat and brought my gaze to Keegan’s. “Rendel.”
He scanned the room as his jaw tightened and he shook his head.
“No,” he said quietly. “He’s not here.”
Twobble, who had been halfway through reaching for something off one of the platters, paused mid-motion and glanced between us. “Is that a problem?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
But I did, or at least, part of me did.
Because Rendel didn’t feel like someone who came and went without purpose.
He didn’t feel like someone who disappeared into the background once his part was done.
I got the distinct feeling that Rendel liked to have his hand in many things.
And that thought pulled something else forward.
Gideon.
The way he had looked at me in the marsh didn't seem guarded or distant. He seemed concerned.
“He knew,” I said quietly.
Keegan glanced down at me. “Knew what?”
“That something was coming,” I replied. “Not just the army. Not just the Priestess. Something else.”
His gaze didn’t leave mine. “You think Rendel is part of that.”
“I think they both are,” I said.
The words felt strange as they settled into the space.
“Maeve.”
My dad’s voice pulled me back, and I turned toward him, forcing my thoughts to settle enough that I could focus on what was in front of me.
“Yes?”
He studied me for a second, his expression thoughtful in that quiet way of his that always made me feel like he was seeing more than I was saying. “You’re already somewhere else.”
I let out a small breath. “I’m trying to figure out how they found us so fast.”
“And?”
“And I don’t think it was just the bats,” I said.
Caleb shifted slightly beside him. “Then what?”
I hesitated, my gaze flicking briefly back toward where the Silver Wolf stood, then to the space beside her.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But Gideon knew to leave, and Rendel is nowhere around.”
“And you think that has something to do with this?” Caleb said.
“I think it has something to do with everything,” I replied.
And somehow, that felt like the most important piece of all.