Chapter 85 Detention

Chapter 85 Detention
Skylar
I narrowed my eyes. “Is there anything I should know about tonight’s detention, Elroth?”
I was sure Elroth knew the history of the academy building. He’s a Demon, after all—his dad keeps archives on every creature on the planet, plus he’s got nothing better to do than mess around.
“Better if you figure it out yourself. You can turn into a wolf now anyway, so it’ll be much easier for you to sniff them out.”
Them?
Right then, so it really was about them. I needed to know who I was dealing with this time.
“Can you stop playing around with—”
The Incubus vanished in the blink of an eye. I growled loudly, my punch landing on nothing but thin air.
Bloody demon!
Well, at least I knew there was definitely something down there I needed to watch out for.

To my left, Michael was walking on high alert. His Alpha posture was rigid, his chest puffed out, and his golden eyes gleamed sharply as he scanned every dark corner.
I was relying on my wolf senses, using a torch to supplement the dim glow from the lantern Mr. Barnaby was holding.
The only difference was that Michael and I had been holding hands ever since we headed down the stone steps.
Every time the tension in my body spiked, a warm hum from our mate bond rippled through his palm.
I felt a bit guilty that both of us were relying on Michael—out of the three of us on this inspection, he had the largest build, and now he had to protect me too.
"Stay close to me, Juliette," Michael whispered heavily. "Your breathing's too fast. Don't let the magic here mess with your head."
"I'm fine, Michael," I replied softly, letting out a long breath that formed a faint mist in the cold air. "It's just that the mark on my wrist won't stop throbbing. Katarina's seal is reacting to this place."
Michael looked down at my hand where Katarina's sigil sat. He tried to rub it gently, but it didn't do anything—Katarina's magic was far too strong.
Mr. Barnaby picked up the pace, his lantern swinging in time with his footsteps.
We followed him until we reached the entrance: a set of black iron gates hanging off crooked hinges.
"We're here. Underground Rubik."
The checkered stone floor ahead shifted, moving like a Rubik's cube to align with the runes carved into its surface.
"Don't move unless I tell you to," Mr. Barnaby's voice broke the silence of the stone corridor. "We wait until the stones stop moving on their own."
"So we just stand here and watch?" Michael grumbled impatiently.
"Because the stones are supposed to move the other way, not like this."
"Hang on, what do you mean?" I asked, losing my patience too.
"Someone with dark magic came through here. That iron gate was designed so only teachers or school guards could open it," Mr. Barnaby explained.
"Doesn't that mean you opened it yourself? Headmaster Fischer vetted all the teachers here personally," Michael chimed in.
Mr. Barnaby held his lantern up to Michael's face. The scar on his face stood out clearly, stretching all the way across his temple.
"And you'd be a shrivelled corpse like that bat over there if you kept running your mouth," Barnaby replied in a calm but deep voice that made Michael step back.
My eyes immediately darted to the bat carcass lying against the wall on my right.
\[Xinophen bats are solitary creatures—they don't bother anyone and prefer peace and damp places,\] Iven's voice echoed firmly in my head.
My wolf let out an irritated huff, his fur bristling in my subconscious. \[They died from blood loss and shrivelled up from vampire venom.\]
"This bite carries corrosive acid too," Mr. Barnaby touched the blackened edge of the stone with his thick leather glove. "What kind of monster would kill a peaceful Xinophen bat?"
"So you think the culprit is still here?"
I was just guessing, but the black marks still looked fresh.
"Not far from here," Mr. Barnaby said firmly.
Michael stepped forward, kneeling near the cracked stone. He sniffed the air near the bite mark before his face hardened dramatically. His jaw clenched tight, and a flash of pure rage burned in his golden eyes.
"This scent..." Michael hissed, his brow furrowed. "I've smelt this somewhere before."
My heart hammered against my chest. An Alpha wolf's sense of smell is a thousand times sharper than any creature's.
"Katya..." he added.
"Her?" I whispered. "How could a student break a seal?"
Before Michael could answer, a voice I knew all too well echoed from the dark corner behind a collapsed stone pillar.
"Well, well... look who's arrived to serve their late-night detention. The ever-so-obedient wolf couple."
Elroth was leaning against the pillar, casually tossing a silver coin between his fingers with annoying composure.
"Elroth?!" I gasped. "What are you doing here?"
"Following you lot," Elroth snickered softly. His eyes shifted to Michael, whose face immediately went stone-cold. "Besides, didn't I tell you? The Arcanum basement is way more interesting than sweeping the library."
"If you're here to take the piss, save it for later, because the stench of that girl you checked out is burning my nose," Michael growled, taking a step forward to stand right in front of me. "Get out of here before I break your bones and throw you out."
Elroth just chuckled softly, completely unbothered by Michael's threat. But his playful look slowly faded, replaced by a deep frown as his eyes landed on the bite marks on the carcass.
"Save your aura for something useful, banana,-pants." Elroth said coldly, throwing in his usual nickname for Michael despite his serious tone. "I didn't come here to mess with you. I just changed my mind about looking out for this sarcastic girl..."
Elroth's comment made Mr. Barnaby raise his weapon—a crossbow aimed straight at Elroth. "Demon. What's your connection to these students' detention?"
"Mind your weapon, Hunter," Elroth waved his hand dismissively, and in an instant, the crossbow string snapped on its own from a subtle flick of his magic. "I told you, I'm just keeping an eye on Skylar."
Mr. Barnaby lowered his weapon, though his guard didn't drop for a second.
An eerie silence washed over us again. The air inside the corridor grew colder and heavier.
I clenched my fists, feeling the power of the conduit trembling within me. Katarina's sigil throbbed even harder.
Michael growled. I thought he was just being cautious, but his growl deepened as a shadowed figure moved closer from up ahead.
"She's here."