Mary didn't make it ten steps after humiliating Samantha before the hallway detonated into chaos.
Samantha's heels snapped against the stone like gunfire as she stumbled backward, eyes wet with fury and humiliation—her face twisting like she couldn't decide if she wanted to scream or cry.
"You—" she choked, voice trembling. "You think you're special?! You're nothing! You're nothing, you hear me?!"
Students who'd been whispering moments ago went dead silent, their attention snapping toward the scene like predators catching the scent of blood. Mary stood frozen in place.
Her breath came sharp. Her pulse pounded so loud she could hear it in her ears. Because when Samantha slapped her… something in Mary had answered. Not with tears.
Not with fear.
With power.
And now everyone saw it. Samantha's hand still hovered in the air, shaking.
Her eyes flicked to Mary's face, to her calm expression, to the faint glow that lingered under her skin like embers under ash.
Samantha's lips trembled. Then she turned and ran.
The whispers exploded again. "That glow—" "Did you see that?" "She's not human—"
Mary took one shaky step forward, but her legs didn't feel like hers anymore.
Jada grabbed her arm gently. "Mary—don't."
Avery's eyes were wide and wet. "What was that? What happened to you?"
"I don't know," Mary whispered.
Then a voice cut through the chaos like steel slicing through silk. "Kieran," Dante warned, low.
Mary didn't even see him move. One second Kieran Frost stood beside her, silent and cold; the next, he was already walking, long strides eating the hallway alive.
"I'm not letting her run around screaming," Kieran muttered. "Not after she touched you."
Axel's voice was sharp with heat. "We need to get Mary out of this hall."
And Myles—Myles looked pale. Not jealous-pale or nervous-pale. Something else.
Like he'd seen a future that made him sick. "M-Mary," he said softly.
When she turned to him, Myles flinched, like meeting her eyes hurt.
That's when Mary knew. He knew something. And whatever it was… it was big enough to break him.
Enforcers appeared at the far end of the hallway. Two of them. Tall. Masked. Silent.
They looked like executioners disguised as order.
"Mary Davenport," the enforcer said calmly.
"Administrator Vale requires your presence. Now."
The walk back wasn't to the dorms. It was to a hallway Mary had never noticed before—stone darker than the rest, walls lined with crescent-moon runes that pulsed faintly as she passed, as if the academy itself recognized her.
They stopped at a door with no handle. One enforcer tapped the rune at its center, and the door opened soundlessly.
Inside, it was a sanctuary. Candles flickered from every corner, the light low and golden.
Administrator Vale stood behind her desk, posture straight, face grim. "Sit," Vale commanded.
Mary sat, her fingers trembling. Kieran stayed standing at her side, his hand landing on her shoulder—heavy, grounding. Not gentle exactly. Possessive. Protective.
It made Mary's head spin.
"Myles," Vale said sharply. Her voice was cold enough to freeze bone. "Or should I say… Maelen of the High Mage Guard?