Chapter 24 · Dropped Into Witch Academy at Midnight - Chapter 24: The Death Inside Her

I can't feel my left hand.

That's the first thing I notice when I wake up on the infirmary cot. Not the burn across my chest where Cassandra's mark is still smoking into my skin. Not Vivienne sitting three feet away with her hands folded like she's praying. Just my hand. Numb. Cold. The kind of cold I used to feel on bodies in the ER when we'd already lost them.

I flex my fingers. They move. But it's wrong. Like I'm puppeting them from somewhere else.

"Alex." Vivienne's voice is soft. Too soft. The kind of soft people use when they're about to tell you someone died. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah." My voice comes out scraped. I sit up. The room tilts. Vivienne's hand shoots out to steady me, but I catch myself on the edge of the cot first. Her fingers hover an inch from my shoulder. She pulls back.

"Where's Cassandra?"

"Council chamber. They're deciding whether to expel her or execute her." Vivienne says it like she's reading a grocery list. "The Summoner's mark bonded to you during the duel. The council saw it. They think she tried to claim you as a familiar.