Chapter 110 110- Do Not Believe Him When He Says It’s Safe
BLAKE
I am just about to take a bite when something flashes in the corner of my vision. It’s quick. Subtle. Easy to miss. But I don’t miss things like that. My head snaps toward Lexi immediately, my body already on edge before my mind fully catches up.
“What was that?” I demand sharply.
“I… I don’t know.” Lexi answers, blinking in confusion. I don’t look at her for long. I can’t. Because my mind is already moving ahead, picking the moment apart, replaying it. The timing. The light. The way her magic flared. It wasn’t random. It reacted to SOMETHING. My gaze drops to her bowl. It’s barely been touched. Then I glance at Ellorie-Rae, her fork halfway to her mouth. My body moves before I consciously decide to act. I reach out and knock the fork clean out of her hand. It clatters loudly against the table, drawing a few glances from nearby students, but they don’t react properly. Not really.
“Don’t eat that.” I say, my voice low and firm. Now my thoughts are catching up, slotting everything into place with cold, precise clarity. That flash of light, that was Lexi’s magic. It activated when she ate. Which means it was probably something in the food that triggered it. Poison. My gaze flicks back to the plates in front of us. I collected these myself. From the main line. Pre-prepared. Indistinguishable from every other plate in the room. Which means…
“I think it’s been poisoned.” I say. I’m already scanning the room as I speak. Not just our table. Everyone. If someone wanted to guarantee that Lexi would be affected, they wouldn’t risk targeting a single plate. Not when I was the one choosing it. They would remove chance entirely. They would poison everything. Lexi and Ellorie-Rae follow my gaze, their expressions shifting from confusion to unease. At first glance, everything looks… Normal. Students eating, talking, moving around. But then, I start to notice the details. A student yawns. Then another. Then a third. Someone drops a cup. Laughs a second too late. Another stumbles slightly while walking past a table. Speech slurs. Movements lag. It’s subtle, but it’s everywhere. My jaw tightens. Whatever this poison is, it’s something slower. Something that weakens, disorients. Makes people easy to handle. I feel Lexi shift beside me, her body already reacting before her mind catches up, standing, ready to move. Of course she is. Even now. Even after everything they did. She wants to help them. They don’t deserve that. Not after the way they’ve treated her. I catch her wrist before she can take more than half a step.
“Wait.” I say sharply. At that exact moment, someone collapses. They hit the floor hard enough that a few nearby students turn, slowly, sluggishly, like it takes effort. Lexi gasps. A few others make sounds too, but they’re wrong. Delayed and… Muted somehow? Like they don’t fully understand what they’re seeing. Lexi pulls against my grip, trying to go to them. Of course she does. But before she can take another step, another student goes down. Then another. Bodies dropping one after the other, like something invisible is sweeping through the room. This isn’t isolated. This isn’t controlled. This is everywhere. My grip tightens around Lexi’s hand, pulling her slightly closer to me. This is bad. Worse than bad. Whoever did this was expecting to poison everyone here. Which means this wasn’t about subtlety. It was about certainty. And that means… Whoever did this… Is probably already here.
I get to my feet immediately.
“We need to leave.” I tell Lexi. There’s no room for discussion in my tone. Lexi frowns, already shaking her head.
“But we can’t just leave them!” She argues, her voice tight with distress as she looks around at the students collapsing across the room. Of course. Of course that’s where her mind goes.
“Yes, we can. And we will.” I say, cutting her off. Her eyes snap back to mine.
“You can’t help everyone.” I continue, my voice low and firm, forcing the logic through before she can spiral into action.
“And I need to get you somewhere safe.” I add as I gesture sharply to the room around us.
“Something like this happening less than two weeks after we find out what you are? That’s not coincidence Lexi. That’s targeted. That’s a plan.” I say. My jaw tightens.
“You are in too much danger.” I remind her as I step closer, lowering my voice just slightly, but not softening it.
“We. Are. Leaving.” I say firmly. She bites her lip, clearly torn, her gaze flicking back over her shoulder again. I can see it, every instinct in her screaming to go help, to fix it, to do something. But if she runs into that, If this is what I think it is… She won’t get the chance. Because someone will be coming for her.
“You can use your phone.” I add quickly, giving her something to hold onto.
“Message for help once you’re safe. Call staff. The nurse. Anyone.” I reason. I need to give her a solution. Give her control. Give her a way to help that doesn’t put her directly in danger. She hesitates for a second longer, then exhales sharply.
“Fine.” She says, clearly unhappy about it. Good. I don’t need her to like it. I just need her to comply. I take her hand and start pulling her toward the exit.
“Come on, Ellorie.” Lexi calls out over her shoulder. Of course she does. I stop and close my eyes briefly, irritation flaring before I force it back down and turn to look at her.
“No-” I start. Lexi fixes me with a look that stops the rest of the sentence in my throat.
“Don’t even start.” She says.
“If I’m in danger, so is she. People hunt djinn too.” She reminds me. I hesitate. Because she’s not wrong. Ellorie-Rae WOULD be in danger too. Even if hunters didn’t come for her specifically, she might be too tempting a prize to pass up… But that’s not the point! The point is Lexi. Lexi is the priority. Always. I run through it quickly. Options. Risks. Outcomes. If I refuse, she fights me. If she fights me, we lose time. If we lose time, we stay here longer. And if we stay here longer… That’s the worst option. I glance around the room again. More bodies on the floor. More sluggish movement. More wrongness creeping in. An unknown threat. An unknown number of potential attackers. Unknown intent beyond… All this. I don’t like unknowns. I look back at Ellorie-Rae. She looks pale. Frozen. On edge. But she’s still standing. She hasn’t done anything to Lexi so far. She doesn’t seem like a problem. Not yet at least. I exhale slowly.
“Fine.” I grit out. Better a risk I can see. Better something I can control. Than… Whatever this is. I turn fully toward Ellorie-Rae.
“Follow me. Quickly.” I order, my voice cold and direct. No hesitation. No space for argument. Then I tighten my grip on Lexi’s hand, and we move.
We rush through the hallway. Everything feels too loud and too quiet at the same time, footsteps echoing sharply against the stone, the doors and windows of the Academy are shifting around us, like it’s aware something is wrong but hasn’t quite decided what to do about it yet. Lexi stumbles. Once. Twice. Her shorter stride can’t quite keep up with mine, especially when I’m not slowing down nearly enough. Every time she trips, my grip tightens instinctively, hauling her upright before she can fully go down. It’s inefficient. Slowing us down. I’m tempted, strongly tempted, to just pick her up and carry her. It would be faster. Safer. But she’s already reached back, grabbing Ellorie-Rae’s hand with her free one, dragging her along with us. So instead, I adjust. Not enough to slow. Just enough to keep them moving. I pull them both harder, setting a pace they can just manage, forcing momentum over balance. We need distance. I need control. My first instinct was to leave the Academy entirely. Get her into the air. Remove variables. Control the space. But… I force that thought to slow. The Academy is watching. It reacts. It protects her, at least, it’s supposed to. It’s another layer. Another set of eyes. And right now, I don’t know where the threat is coming from. Outside? Inside? Already watching? Already waiting? Leaving blindly could be worse. But that thought, raises another problem. Why didn’t the Academy stop her? My jaw tightens as the thought hits again. The Academy intervenes all the time. Adjusts things. anticipates her needs. So why didn’t it stop her from eating the food? Why didn’t it warn her? Why didn’t it… No. That doesn’t make sense. Something is wrong. I need a controlled space. Somewhere I can think. Somewhere I can see everything that enters. The dorms. My room. We round the final corner and the door to my room flies open before we even reach it. Good. At least the Academy is cooperating now. I don’t slow down. I push Lexi inside first, guiding, no, forcing, her through the doorway ahead of me so she’s out of the open hall. Then I stop. Just for a second. Positioned in the doorway. Between Ellorie-Rae, and Lexi. I look at her. Really look. Assessing.
“Don’t touch anything.” I say. My voice is low. Dead serious. Not a suggestion. Not negotiable. She freezes for a fraction of a second, then nods quickly, her expression tight and uneasy. Good. I step aside just enough to let her pass, but not without watching every movement she makes. Then I follow her in. The door slams shut behind us and I hear the solid click of the lock moving into place.