Chapter 26 · Dropped Into Witch Academy at Midnight - Chapter 26: Two Keys, One Lock

The echo's last words are still burning in my wrist when Cassandra kicks open the tower door.

"Out." Her voice cuts through the sparking air. "Now."

I'm still kneeling beside the man—the thing—I just saved. My hands are shaking. The defibrillator pads are smoking on the stone floor. At midnight, the whole school goes into cardiac arrest. That's what he said. What it said. What I made from my own guilt and exhaustion and the part of me that never left the ER.

"Alex." Cassandra's boots hit the floor in sharp clicks. "I won't ask twice."

I look up. She's in full instructor mode. Hair pulled back. Crest glowing cold silver on her collar. Behind her, Vivienne slips through the doorway like she's been waiting just out of sight.

"She can't leave yet." Vivienne's voice is soft. Always soft. She moves past Cassandra without looking at her. "Not until we know what it told her."

Cassandra's jaw tightens. "I don't care what it told her. This entire exercise was reckless. Unauthorized. And you—" She rounds on Vivienne. "You knew."

Vivienne doesn't flinch. "I suspected."

"You suspected the academy was manifesting her trauma and you said nothing.