Chapter 0186

Then, to my shock, Jackson ferrets out a teeny tiny little path up the cliff, balancing on it with incredible grace that makes me wonder if he’s part goat shifter, instead of all wolf. I do my best to follow, clinging to the rock and taking his patient hand when I need to. Twenty minutes later we’re about thirty feet in the air on a flat jut of rock about ten feet wide. I hesitate, wondering if it’s safe, but Jackson crouches casually on the edge, apparently having no such concerns.

I scowl and move close to him, wishing I moved in the wilderness with his clear ease and confidence.

Too much time hanging out in a palace, I guess.

“What are you seeing?” I whisper, wanting to know what the situation below looks at from his eyes.

“Big group,” he murmurs, gesturing towards the three fires burning below and the cadets gathered around them. “Already done some damage.” He points to the side now and I grimace to see that there are about ten cadets passed out to the side, my stomach turning to see a few of their legs twisted and broken, taken out of the running in their attempt to cross.

I press my eyes shut, swallowing hard, hoping desperately that none of them are Ben, or Jesse, or Luca, or Rafe. But…no, it can’t be. Their stories at the Academy can’t end like that, and neither can mine.