Chapter 12

12

VIOLET

Shifter.

Watching us or watching the witches?

I can follow a shifter's scent more easily than a human's, and this isn't a bear. Wolf? The Ursas aren't the only shifters living in the area. But this one would face trouble if caught in the area, as local elders banned their residents from entering the town or the part of the woods bordering it.

Did the wolf follow or merely come across the meeting when disobeying the rules?

Or is he one of Viktor's constructs?

The mysterious wolf from campus?

Whatever the motive, there's a reason this shifter is running. If they're the one from campus, the shifter won't escape me this time because the wolf's speed doesn't match mine. I catch glimpses of the gray fur within less than a minute, the shifter's ears flattened as they sprint amongst the trees, crashing through bushes. Distantly, Rowan calls my name, but my focus lies elsewhere. Any and all clues must be followed, and I'm safe against a single shifter.

I can bet that Rowan's calling Grayson who can locate me at speed.

I reach the bank of the narrow stream that runs through the woods toward the lake, then pause, gazing around for the wolf. Yellow eyes shine from within the prickled bushes opposite, the shifter's head low as they pant and growl.

Not stepping forward. Not attacking.

"Who are you?" I shout, a dumb question since the wolf can't speak.

Move closer. Mind read . Shifters in their animal forms don't possess the same minds as a human, but I'll find something—even if just the black void to confirm the wolf is a necromancer's construct.

"I'm Violet Blackwood. Attacking me either alone or with any nearby friends would be pointless and painful," I inform the shifter. "Were you looking for me on campus the other night?"

No response so I leap the stream to take a closer look, landing near the spot the wolf occupies. Occu pied as he immediately dashes away.

"Good grief," I mutter, and continue my chase.

Is this shifter leading me into an ambush? If so, I'm happy that Rowan can't keep up with me.

The thud of paws stops, and I slow my pursuit, stealthily edging between tall trees in this denser parts of the woods before locating the shifter again. The wolf has paused at the edge of a small clearing and stays close to the thorny bushes that circle the surroundings. Moonlight breaks from the gloomy night and the world pauses.

Two figures lie unmoving on the ground—another wolf, and a smaller human figure. The wolf I chased whimpers, and pads towards the two figures. As the shifter turns their head to me, my heart lodges in my throat.

The wolf has blood on their muzzle.

Girl-shaped body on the ground.

Holly.

Please don't be Holly.

I no longer care if the shifter attacks me, or how many might be lurking nearby, as my hybrid stirs at the mere thought this could be my friend. If that is Holly and she's injured, the creature nudging at her will die.

Sticks crunch beneath my boots as I move slowly across the stone-strewn dirt.

Curly hair.

My scream cuts through the night, bouncing through the trees, then becomes a hybrid yell at the faint smell of Holly's blood. Mists of fury obscure my vision, and hybrid Violet tells me to throw the wolf to the ground and tear them apart.

But the other Violet that I cling to is drawn to Holly, and, as my yell pierces the air a second time, the wolf streaks into the darkness. I'd run and catch the wolf in several strides and tear the skin from them, but instead I fall to my knees beside Holly.

She's dressed in the fluffy pink jumper and jeans that she'd prepared to leave the academy wearing, but a darker color stains the pink, the material torn from scratches gouged into her chest. More defensive marks cover Holly's arms.

I touch her dirt-smeared cheek. "Holly."

The girl who helped open me to a world where I care for others doesn't move or speak. Blood seeping from her chest sickens me further, but at least Holly's heart beats.

Instinctively, I push both hands against Holly's wound, staunching the blood. She isn't losing as much as I thought, the gouges likely not as deep as her attacker intended.

Attacker.

My vision sharpens again, and the hybrid pushes to the surface. I squeeze my eyes closed. No. If Holly opens hers, sees my sharper teeth and her blood on my hands, with no memory of an attack, who knows what the consequences will be?

As I press my palms to Holly's chest, breathing calmer breaths to interrupt the fury, I glance over at the second body. A wolf, neck at an unnatural angle with blood seeping from a head wound onto the dirt. A stone larger than others lies on the ground beside the wolf's head.

What happened here?

"Holly," I urge as the girl's face grows paler in the milky moonlight. "It's Violet. You'll be okay."

Get Holly medical help . I slide my hands beneath her back. "Violet!" Rowan's urgent voice stops me as. "Don't move Holly."

"We need to get Holly to the hospital," I rasp. "She's losing blood. How much blood can humans lose before they…" Don't say it. Don't even think the word.

"Holly might be injured in other ways. Moving her could make things worse." He's distant, frozen, staring at how Holly's blood covers my hands when I withdraw them.

The same thought whirls around and around. What if she dies? Should I bring her back? My teeth clench, eyes squeezing shut again. Stop.

Behind me, Rowan makes a phone call, and I bend over Holly, whispering at her to hold on, that help's coming. Holly's breathing shallows, and tears push past my eyes.

A familiar hand touches my back. "Is that who you followed?" asks Rowan as he kneels beside me. "The shifter?"

I slide a look at the dead wolf. "No. I chased a different one."

"Did you kill this shifter?" I shake my head. "The other?"

"No. This one was already dead." I take a shuddery breath. "The other ran. How long until help arrives?"

"An ambulance is on the way already. Someone called a few minutes before me."

I glance over my shoulder. "Marci?"

"I don't think so. Marci left the woods with the other girls as soon as you disappeared. I guess they wanted to escape your interrogation."

"Is Holly going to die? I don't know what happens. People I know don't die," I croak out. "What else can I do, Rowan?"

The hand rubbing my back stills. "Nothing, Violet. We wait." Leaning around me, Rowan takes Holly's wrist and presses fingers to her pulse point. "Holly's pulse isn't weak. The injuries didn't hit any organs or she'd be… worse, but I can't be sure."

"I hope you're right." I swallow hard. "Because whoever did this intended to hurt Holly badly."

But worse ? Holly shouldn't be like this at all .

I've encountered a lot since arriving at Thornwood Academy, my life gradually spinning out of control as I left behind the ordered, solitary one I spent on the family estate. My greatest worry once the accusations against me started was controlling the hybrid within, but the effects of each connection to another person overwhelm me as much as anything. More than. The bond with Rowan triggered all this on the evening we connected—the part that forces me to step outside myself and feel keeps growing , however hard I resist.

Now, I wish I'd left Thornwood the same day I arrived, as planned. I wish I'd never tangled with these people. I never imagined experiencing a pain that suffocates me all because I cared about someone who could die. However great my obsession with death, nobody in my old life could experience the state permanently.

I hear the sirens before Rowan, along with the sound of tires moving along the makeshift path to find a place as close as possible to the impassible area surrounding the clearing.

"Look after Holly, Rowan," I say. "I can't be here. I was never here. You know why."

He nods and for the first time Rowan's fear and anguish slip through my own barriers of shock. Seizing hold of him, we kneel together in a hug tighter than ever before, and I suck back the emotion that doesn't help Violet Blackwood stay in control.

This nightmare shouldn't be happening to Holly, and a new certainty that Viktor is responsible bites at my heart. Because I'm betting that the dead wolf lying beside Holly is a necromancer's shifter construct.

A wolf ripped through Holly's body, but I tore through her life.