Chapter 38 Shadow in the Academy
POV: LUNA
The faculty swept the forest for an hour after the growl. Found nothing. No tracks. No scent. No evidence anything had been there at all.
But we all knew better. Something had circled the Moon Circle. Something had watched. Waited.
And then disappeared like smoke.
Classes were cancelled for the rest of the night. Extra patrols assigned. Students confined to dorms under curfew.
Which meant I was stuck inside. Unable to train. Unable to prepare for tomorrow's challenge. Unable to do anything except sit and think about how unprepared I was.
At midnight, there was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Ryder in the hallway.
"Get dressed. You're on patrol with me."
"I'm confined to dorms."
"Not anymore. I convinced Thorne we need extra eyes. Students who can sense things faculty might miss. You're officially on patrol duty."
I didn't argue. Grabbed my jacket and followed him into the hallway.
The campus felt different at night. Empty. Hollow. Like the buildings themselves were holding their breath.
"What are we looking for?" I asked.
"Anything unusual. Anything that doesn't belong. After that thing circled the Moon Circle, we need to make sure nothing breached the inner wards."
We started on the ground floor. Checking classrooms. Storage rooms. Anywhere something could hide.
Everything looked normal. Undisturbed. But my wolf senses were on edge. That prickling feeling that meant danger nearby even if I couldn't see it.
"You feel it too," Ryder said. Not a question. A statement.
"Yeah. Like being watched. But I can't pinpoint from where."
"Keep your senses sharp. If something's in here, we need to find it before it finds students."
We moved to the second floor. More classrooms. The library. All empty. All normal.
But that feeling of being watched intensified. My mark pulsed. Warning. Close. Getting closer.
"Ryder. Something's wrong."
He stopped. Hand going to the knife at his belt. "What do you sense?"
"Movement. In the shadows. Like something's tracking us."
We both scanned the hallway. Dark. Quiet. Nothing visible.
Then I saw it. A shadow that moved wrong. Detached from the wall. Slid along the floor like it was alive.
"There."
Ryder saw it too. He moved toward it. Fast. Silent.
The shadow disappeared around a corner. We followed. But when we reached the turn, it was gone.
"What the hell was that?" I whispered.
"I don't know. But it was real. Solid enough to cast its own shadow."
We continued up to the third floor. The dorm level. This was where students slept. Where they were most vulnerable.
That's when I noticed the door. My dorm door. It was cracked open. Just slightly. Like someone had been inside and left in a hurry.
"I closed this. I know I closed this."
Ryder drew his knife. "Stay behind me."
He pushed the door open slowly. The room was dark. Nova's bed was empty. She was with Marcus somewhere. Probably breaking curfew.
My side of the room looked normal at first. Then I noticed small things. My desk drawer was open. Papers scattered. Someone had been going through my stuff.
"They were looking for something," Ryder said. He examined the room carefully. "Nothing seems stolen. Just searched."
"What would they be looking for?"
"Information. Plans. Anything that tells them what you know. What you're planning."
I checked my desk more carefully. The research I'd done on escape routes was still there. The notes about ward weaknesses. All of it visible to whoever had been in here.
Then I noticed something else. The wooden box where I kept Miguel's charm. It was open. The charm was still inside, but it had been moved. Touched.
"They know about Miguel," I said quietly. "About the connection. About everything."
"Or they're trying to figure it out. Either way, someone's been spying on you. Tracking your movements. Your research. Your plans."
We checked other rooms. Nova's side was untouched. But Marcus's room down the hall showed similar signs. Drawers opened. Papers moved. Someone searching for something specific.
"It's not random," I said. "They're targeting specific people. Me. Marcus. Probably others in the defense group."
"Someone knows about the group. About the plan to help Miguel. About all of it."
The spy. The one Jasmine had warned about. They weren't just feeding information to Darius. They were actively searching student rooms. Gathering intelligence.
We continued patrol. Checking every floor. Every hallway. Looking for more evidence.
That's when I saw it again. The shadow. Moving along the ceiling this time. Impossible physics. Defying gravity.
"Ryder."
"I see it."
We followed. Faster this time. The shadow led us up. Higher. Toward the tallest tower. The old astronomy observatory that hadn't been used in years.
The door was locked. Ryder picked it quickly. We climbed the spiral stairs. Round and round. Higher than any normal building should go.
At the top was an open platform. Windows on all sides. A view of the entire campus.
Perfect for watching. For observing. For tracking every movement below.
The shadow was gone. But evidence of occupation remained. Blankets. Food wrappers. A journal with notes. Someone had been living up here. Watching.
I picked up the journal. Flipped through it. My stomach dropped.
Entries about me. About my training sessions with Ryder. About the secret defense group meetings. About my research in the library. Everything. All of it documented.
"They've been watching for weeks," I whispered. "Recording everything. Every move. Every plan."
"Who?"
I turned the page. Found a name. A signature.
My blood went cold.
It wasn't someone I expected. Wasn't someone I suspected. But it made horrible sense.
Before I could show Ryder, movement outside caught my attention. I looked through the window. Down at the campus below.
A figure stood in the courtyard. Looking up. Directly at the tower. At us.
Even from this distance, I could see them clearly. Silhouette unmistakable against the moonlight.
They raised a hand. Waved. Like they wanted me to know they were there. Wanted me to know they'd been watching all along.
Then they turned and walked away. Casual. Unhurried. Confident.
"We need to go," Ryder said. "Now. Before they disappear."
We ran. Down the spiral stairs. Through the hallways. Out into the courtyard.
But the figure was gone. Vanished. Like they'd never been there at all.
I stood in the empty courtyard. My heart racing. My mark burning.
Someone had been watching me for weeks. Recording my every move. And now they wanted me to know. Wanted me scared. Uncertain. Vulnerable.
Tomorrow was the challenge. Public. No hiding. No backing out.
And whoever was watching would be there too. In the crowd. Observing. Waiting.
I looked back up at the tower. The tallest point on campus. The perfect vantage point.
They were still watching. I couldn't see them. But I felt it. That familiar sensation of eyes on my back.
I wasn't just being followed. I was being hunted. And tomorrow, in front of everyone, I'd be completely exposed.