Chapter 27 · Dropped Into Witch Academy at Midnight - Chapter 27: Don't Stop Compressions

The bell's still ringing in my skull when the first student hits the floor.

I'm halfway across the chamber before I realize I'm moving. The girl—maybe fifteen, blonde braid, academy crest half-torn—goes down like someone cut her strings. Then another. Then three more. All around the ritual circle, students are collapsing, faces gone gray, lips turning blue.

Vivienne's the only one left standing inside the red glow, and she's looking right at me.

"Alex." Her voice is soft. Too soft for the chaos. "Come here."

I don't. I drop to my knees next to the blonde girl instead. No pulse at the carotid. Chest isn't moving. Pupils fixed.

"Shit. Shit shit shit."

I tilt her head back, check the airway. Clear. Start compressions. Thirty and two. The rhythm kicks in before my brain does, because this is the one thing I actually know how to do. Doesn't matter if it's a crackhead in the ER or a teenage witch in a magic school. A code is a code.

"Alex, stop." Cassandra's voice cuts through from somewhere behind me. "You can't—"

"Shut up!" I don't look back. Keep counting. Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. Tilt, breathe, breathe. The girl's chest rises.