Chapter 17 Cheap Labor
POV: Mina (Age 17)
The Elite Trio's attention had become suffocating, so I did the only thing I could do to survive.
I made myself invisible.
Not literally, though sometimes I wished I could manage that trick. But I found ways to disappear into the background of Academy life, to become so unremarkable and pathetic that even the students who enjoyed tormenting the weak would lose interest.
I took on every degrading job available.
Ghostwriting essays for rich students who couldn't be bothered to do their own work became my primary source of income. They'd slip me assignments through my dorm room door with coin attached, expecting polished work returned within twenty-four hours. I'd stay up late writing papers on pack history, combat strategy, territorial law—subjects I was learning anyway, so it wasn't difficult.
The money wasn't great, but it was steady. And more importantly, it gave me access to restricted research materials. When I ghostwrote a senior's thesis on ancient pack bloodlines, I got to read texts from the restricted library section that I'd never have been allowed to check out myself.
I also volunteered to scrub the science labs after hours. The Academy paid students a pittance for maintenance work, but the real value was in the access it provided. Late at night, when everyone else was asleep or socializing, I could be in empty labs with chemistry texts and old research papers that might contain information about the Keystone or the prophecy.
And then there was the homework.
The Elite Trio had figured out I'd do just about anything to be left alone, so they started demanding I complete their assignments for them. Not because they needed the help—all three were intelligent enough to handle their coursework. But because making me do their work was another way to humiliate me, to establish dominance, to remind me that I was beneath them.
Jax would leave advanced combat strategy assignments on my desk with a note that just said "Done by morning."
Asher would hand me his economics homework in the middle of the dining hall, making sure everyone saw me accept it like a servant taking orders.
Logan would throw his chemistry work at me after training and say loudly, "Make yourself useful, Sterling. At least you're good for something."
I did it all without complaint. Wrote their essays, solved their problems, completed their assignments while they partied or trained or did whatever powerful Alphas did with their free time.
Other students noticed. Started treating me as invisible. The mute Sterling embarrassment who scrubbed toilets and did everyone's homework for spare change. Not worth bullying because I was already at the bottom. Not worth befriending because associating with me would lower their own status.
Perfect.
Because being invisible meant I could listen.
I overheard conversations in the library while ghostwriting essays at a corner table. Heard students complaining about the upcoming Awakening Ceremony, about how brutal the full moon rituals were, about the ancient magic that supposedly activated during those nights.
I caught fragments of gossip in the dining hall while sitting alone in the corner. Rumors about the Academy's foundation, about the restricted areas in the basement levels, about places students weren't allowed to go.
I absorbed information while scrubbing lab equipment, my hands working automatically while my mind catalogued everything I learned.
And slowly, piece by piece, I started putting together a picture of what I was looking for.
The Keystone was here. Somewhere in the Academy.
Multiple restricted texts mentioned it obliquely, never using the word "Keystone" directly but referring to "the Oracle's artifact" or "the sealed power source" or "the ancient key."
One particularly old chemistry text had a footnote that made my breath catch: "The Academy was built on the site of the Oracle's last temple, incorporating the original foundation stones which still retain traces of the ancient sealing magic."
The Academy was built on top of an Oracle temple. Which meant the Keystone might be hidden in the foundation itself.
I also found references to the Awakening Ceremony that happened every year during the full moon. It was supposedly a coming-of-age ritual where students proved their worth by surviving various challenges. But the older texts suggested it was something more—a test designed to identify those with special bloodlines or unusual power.
The ceremony was in three weeks. On the full moon.
I suspected that was when I'd need to find the Keystone. When whatever ancient magic was tied to the Oracle temple would be at its strongest.
Tonight, I was in one of the chemistry labs doing my usual after-hours scrubbing. Most of the students had already gone to bed or were in the common areas socializing. I had the lab to myself, which meant I could search more thoroughly than usual.
I'd learned that the older labs, the ones in the basement levels that were rarely used, sometimes had hidden compartments built into the walls. Remnants from when the Academy was first constructed, back when secret storage was necessary for valuable or dangerous materials.
I was methodically checking the walls near the old stone foundation when my fingers found a seam that didn't match the surrounding brickwork.
My heart started racing as I carefully pried at the seam with my fingernails. The stone shifted slightly, revealing a small hidden compartment behind it.
Inside was a stack of old papers, yellowed with age and covered in dust.
I pulled them out carefully and carried them to the lab bench where I could see them better under the light.
They were letters. Official correspondence marked with the Council seal.
My hands started shaking as I read the first one.
To the Academy Headmaster,
The Council requires your continued cooperation in monitoring student bloodlines for any trace of Oracle heritage. Despite our successful elimination program over the past decades, we have reason to believe some Oracle descendants may have survived by hiding among regular pack populations.
Any student displaying unusual abilities, particularly those related to the forbidden arts or ancient magic, should be reported immediately. The Academy's position on the Oracle temple foundation makes it an ideal location for identifying such individuals, as the residual magic may cause their true nature to surface.
Continue your vigilance. The Oracle bloodline must be completely eradicated to ensure pack stability and Council authority.
\- High Council, Department of Bloodline Purity
The letter was dated fifteen years ago.
I read through the others with growing horror. Letter after letter detailing the Council's ongoing hunt for Oracle descendants. Reports of students who'd shown "unusual abilities" and been quietly removed from the Academy for "investigation." Updates on elimination programs in various territories.
One letter made my blood run cold.
Regarding the Sterling twins reported in your territory: Our agents have confirmed the Oracle Elara gave birth before her elimination. Two infants, sealed and separated according to the prophecy. We are actively searching.
If any Sterling family members display Oracle abilities, particularly twins or those born under blood moons, report immediately. The prophecy must not be allowed to complete.
The Academy holds the key to identifying these threats. Continue surveillance.
They were still hunting. Still searching for Oracle bloodlines to eliminate.
And they knew about me and Rafe. Knew we were twins. Knew we'd been separated.
They just didn't know which Sterling family members we were. Didn't know that "Rafe Sterling" attending the Academy was actually one of the twins they'd been hunting for seventeen years.
I carefully photographed each letter with the small camera I'd bought using my ghostwriting money. Then I returned them to the hidden compartment exactly as I'd found them.
My mind was racing. The Council had agents here at the Academy. The headmaster was cooperating with their hunt. And the Awakening Ceremony in three weeks was specifically designed to identify students with Oracle blood.
I was walking into a trap.
But I couldn't leave. The Keystone was here somewhere, hidden in the Academy's foundation. And I needed it to complete the prophecy, to access my full power, to finish what Rafe and I had started.
I had three weeks to find the Keystone before the Awakening Ceremony exposed me to the Council.
Three weeks to search an entire Academy built on top of an ancient Oracle temple.
Three weeks before everything either came together or fell completely apart.
I gathered my cleaning supplies and headed back to my dorm, my mind already planning my next moves.
I needed to search the basement levels more thoroughly. Needed to find out exactly where the old Oracle temple foundation was located. Needed to figure out how to access restricted areas without getting caught.
And I needed to do it all while maintaining my cover as the pathetic mute Sterling who scrubbed toilets and did everyone's homework.
The Elite Trio was already suspicious. The Council was actively hunting. And my Oracle power was cracking through the sealing spell at random moments.
Time was running out.
But giving up wasn't an option.
I'd promised Rafe I'd finish what we started. And I was going to keep that promise no matter what it cost me.