Capitulum X

H e shoved the finger under my nose, and I cringed.

"She'd done her nails the last time I saw her, and she never removes the polish, just lets it chip off. It wouldn't be all gone after less than a week."

"Wow, you remember that?"

He rolled his eyes. "I remember everything important."

"Rigel," I began gently, "do you think there's any way you might just be wanting to believe this?"

His whole demeanor shifted. "I'm not an idiot, Agnes. This isn't her finger. I'd bet my eternal life on it."

"Ephraim said they got a positive ID. Why would he lie?"

"Because it's easier to just chalk it up to that and move on than actually figure out what happened."

His eyes were wide with worryingly maniacal glee. My appraisal of the situation must have been evident because he backed away from me after searching my face for excitement.

I chanced a step closer to him, brushing his arm. "Oh, Rigel."

At my pitying tone, he jerked away, face stormy. "If you're not going to do anything, then I'll go have a look myself."

I opened my mouth, but he was throwing the curtain open with an angry smack.

"Rigel," I groaned, peeking around the corner after him. "I am too naked to deal with your impulse issues right now. You just tried to attack the chancellor, so somehow, I don't trust your judgment at the moment."

He held out his other hand. "Then, come with me."

"You're suggesting I run naked through campus again? Maybe I should just make it a tradition at this point."

He rolled his eyes, reaching out and grabbing my wrist.

In a flash, our bodies disappeared, even though I wasn't doing it. The only person I'd ever seen turn someone else invisible with such ease was Professor Faun.

"It's so annoying that you can do this shit already."

"I had gobs of time on my hands."

He dragged me limping down the corridor and out into the front lobby. The place was filled with students nervously milling about and murmuring to each other. Clearly, the news had already done laps around the school.

Hordes of people gasped as Rigel shoved past them and out the door.

"We're supposed to stay inside," someone called after us, but he was undeterred.

We dipped into the maze, Rigel's stride not slowing until we were about to round a corner, where he inexplicably froze. Pressing me back against the hedge, he gave my hand a warning squeeze just as hushed voices charged at us.

I held my breath as Professor Faun and Professor Algenette came into view. They looked haggard, their night clothes crusted in mud and faces drawn. Whatever they'd been saying had dissolved into heavy sighs as they passed us.

Professor Faun was so close his arm almost brushed the undone lip of my uniform shirt. He paused in front of me, taking in a long draw of air.

"Faun?" Professor Algenette asked, voice flat and exhausted.

He shook his head, and I suddenly got the feeling it wasn't her that he was reacting to.

"Sorry," he muttered.

We didn't dare move until they were out of sight.

We followed another set of voices to the graveyard. So deep in the maze, they seemed comfortable speaking at full volume, assuming that no one was within earshot.

"Poor beast," Stacy said.

There was a loud rustling noise, and I circled Rigel to look for myself.

On the ground, in the graveyard, was the massive wolf. It was something else to see it in the early daylight, powerful legs bound with rope and thick grey fur matted and rusty. It was less agitated than our previous encounter, leaning into its restraints and whining pitifully through its nostrils.

The other party turned out to be the dining hall lady, crouched next to the massive animal and inspecting it carefully.

"It would be nice if humans could empathize with animals, especially here of all places." She sighed, shaking her head in disgust.

"Do you think it'll be able to manage the wound, Sylvette?"

The dining hall lady—or, rather, Sylvette—peeled back the animal's hind leg, revealing a bloody gash. "It'll have to, but based on its temperament now that we've removed the stake, I'm assuming its existence will be tolerable."

"We can be thankful for that, I suppose," Stacy grunted as she circled around to the other side of the animal and gripped the top of the ropes binding it.

Sylvette followed suit, grabbing the restraints across the animal's flanks and hoisting it up. The two women gingerly dragged the creature toward the door hanging open on the other side.

I hadn't seen it in the darkness, but I recognized it as a heavy iron door leading to the outside. It hadn't even occurred to me that an entrance could have been hidden somewhere in the maze.

"Do you think it was—"

Stacy shot Sylvette a look, silencing her, before looking around suspiciously.

"It doesn't matter. There's nothing that can be done now."

"I'm just saying, whoever pulled off a stunt like this doesn't seem to have much regard for mortal existence in... any capacity. And after what happened..."

"Speculation on the topic is pointless."

"I suppose I just don't understand the motivation to put on such a performance."

"Has Ephraim said anything to you yet about keeping a wolf on campus?"

"It's not the old vulture I'm worried about. Rockwell is going to be royally pissed that one of his wolves got injured. I told him it was safe." She shook her head, grey corkscrew curls bouncing. "It should have been safe. No one should have been able to—"

Stacy shot her a glance, and she quieted again, shaking her head once more as they continued to pull the wolf along in silence.

Rigel's body tensed next to me.

Despite how much I hated to admit it, he might have been right.

Something was wrong.