Chapter 150 In the middle

Chapter 150 In the middle
Chapter 150

RAVENNA

Getting out of the room the next morning was easier than expected.

The security rotation had a gap, and we slipped through it quietly. We attended morning classes through my laptop and after that it was hockey practice. Same went with

I was rounding the corner near the east corridor when I nearly walked straight into Theodore.

He grinned. "Took you long enough."

"What are you doing here?"

"Dad's back." He said it simply, like it was obvious. "He has been trying your number but it wasn't going through so he sent me to find you. He wants you at the house."

I looked at him. "Theo, the academy is locked down. There is security at every door. How exactly am I supposed to walk out of here?"

He shrugged. "West wing."

"Are you serious right now?"

"Probably not me. Probably him." He was already backing away. "He only told me to tell you west wing. I'm just the messenger." And then he turned and disappeared around the corner before I could say another word.

I stood there for a moment, shaking my head.

When I turned to leave, I saw Caleb.

He was standing further down the corridor, leaning against the wall with his arms folded.

He was not close enough to have heard anything, but he was watching me with that careful, unreadable expression he always wore when he was calculating something.

My heart picked up.

I kept my face neutral and walked past the security checkpoint into the corridor leading to my room.

Just as I passed him, something slipped between my fingers. I closed my hand around it without looking down and kept walking.

Sam was asleep when I got back. I went straight to the bathroom, locked the door, and opened the folded paper.
The word code was boldy written. And beneath it, a single letter.

"R."

What the hell was code R? I stared at it for a long moment. Then I folded it back up and slipped it into my pocket.

I was not going to ask the security about it. Not with the way things were.

Whatever this was, I would figure it out on my own.



By evening I was ready to move.

I dressed in a red pullover, my hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and a cap was pulled low on my head. Sam had gone to Dorian's later on in the day. I left a note on her pillow: Gone to see dad. I'll be back soon.

The security guard at my door looked up as I stepped out. He nodded once, then lowered his voice.

"The hallway on the third floor is clear. Go round and come out at the back of the school. And then head west from there."

I stopped. "How do you know—"

He reached up and lifted the edge of his cap.

I recognised him immediately. One of my father's men. He had driven me home twice before.

"Tonight only," he said quietly, and settled the cap back into place.

I nodded and moved.

At the west gate, three security personnel blocked the path, hands on their weapons.

"Code," one said flatly.

I had half a second of blank panic before the paper in my pocket surfaced in my memory.

"R," I said.

The guns lowered. The one in front nodded toward the end of the path. "There's a bike at the gate. Be back before ten. Whatever happens after that is not our concern."

I found the bike, swung onto it, and rode out into the night wondering how on earth my father had arranged all of this from outside the academy walls.

The mansion was lit up when I arrived. Through the front window I could already see the glow of a television screen and hear the familiar sound effects of a video game.

I walked in and found Theodore sprawled across the sofa, controller in hand, completely unbothered.

I smacked the back of his head.

"Ow—"

"You were coming here the whole time and you could not just tell me that?"

He rubbed his head with a scowl. "I was always going to come see dad. You should have known that."

"Where is he?"

He pressed his lips together, deliberately unhelpful. "No, apologize first."

I grabbed the controller.

"Ravenna, don't you dare—"

I held it over my head. He launched himself off the sofa trying to reach it and I twisted away, using his own momentum against him, and had him in a hold with the controller pressed under my arm.

"Where. Is. He."

"I am not—"

"Theo."

Footsteps on the stairs saved him.

"What is all this noise?"

I let go immediately. My father stood at the bottom of the stairs in a grey shirt and dark trousers, and he was smiling in a quiet way, the one that meant he had heard everything and found it privately amusing.

I crossed the room and walked straight into his arms.

He held on tight. "I missed you," he said into my hair. "I am glad you are well."

"I missed you too." I meant it more than the words came out.

He pulled back and looked at me properly, the way he always did, like he was checking for damage I might be hiding.

"Come dear let's eat."

Theo was already at the table when we sat down, already halfway through his plate.

"Food monger," I said.

"That is your business," he replied without looking up.

I almost laughed despite myself.

Daniel listened as I spoke between bites. I told him about the dream. The wolf, the green eyes, the woods, the moon sitting too large and too. I told him it had felt too real to be a normal nightmare.

He went quiet for a moment. "Have you noticed anything else strange? Anything different about yourself recently?"

I thought about it. "No," I said. "Not really."

Theo pointed his fork at me. "It is stress. You are surrounded by wolves every day, there is a war breaking out in the school, and you are watching pack politics from the front row. Your brain is just processing it all badly."

Daniel nodded slowly. "That is likely all it is."

I breathed out. "Right. Yes. That makes sense."

And I believed them. It settled something that had been sitting tight in my chest since I woke up with ice water on my face, and I let it go.

We stayed at the table longer than I expected, talking about nothing serious for a while, and it felt like the first easy evening I had had in weeks.

Before I left, Daniel disappeared upstairs and came back with a bag, jewellery in small boxes, snacks, a few folded items of clothing.

"Share the snacks with Samantha," he said.

"She will be pleased."

Theo stood and stretched. "I'll ride back with you."

I picked up the bag and followed him toward the door.

Daniel's voice stopped me.

"Ravenna."

I turned.

His expression had shifted. The ease from dinner was gone, replaced by something careful. He glanced once at Theo, then back at me.

"Richard pulled those strings to move the moon ceremony into the academy," he said quietly. "I understand the reasoning they gave, but I do not trust it. Not from him. I think it has something to do with you specifically."

The air in the room felt different suddenly.

"I am working on something," he continued. "But I need you to do one thing. When you attend that ceremony, choose a seat with Samantha at the middle of the hall. Not the sides or the back but the middle."

I held his gaze. "Why?"

"Because I am asking you to trust me on this." His voice was firm. "Can you do that?"