CHAPTER SEVEN

Mercy's POV

The air at Nevermore High was really creepy that Tuesday morning. It was not the usual tired feeling I get in the mornings. The whole atmosphere felt heavy and weird, like the air was charged with electricity. This made the tiny hairs on my arms stand up. Every shadow in the hallway seemed long, and every whisper from the other students felt like a needle poking at my nerves.

I kept looking down at the floor, trying to blend. The school was really quiet, which was scary. Usually, the social groups were like a war zone with insults and mean stares. That day, it felt like a funeral. I just wanted to get through the day without anyone noticing me. The silence was like a predator waiting for me to make a mistake.

During my class, I could not focus at all. Every time the door opened, my heart started racing. It was just a late student or a teacher. I was wondering where Timothee was. My mind kept going to the thing he found, the one connected to the name Kaelen. I remembered how Timothee's face turned white when he heard that name. I had seen him stand up to the kids in school, even Nathaniel Fangs, but the name Kaelen really scared him.

I was in the library during my time, staring at a math book that might as well have been in a different language. Suddenly, a shadow fell across my desk, blocking the light.

"You look like someone carrying a secret that's too heavy," a voice said. really low and scary.

Then I looked up, expecting Timothee, but it was a girl I'd never seen before. She has pale silver hair, sharp features, calm in a way that feels cold.

"Can I help you?" I asked, closing my book.

Then she sat across from me without being invited.

"My name isn't important," she said. "But you should know I don't come to this school to play, I came for one reason."

My hands were still on the table. "I don't know what you're talking about," I said.

Then she smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Kaelen sends his regards, Mercy. He wanted you to know he's aware of you now. That's all. 

Just... aware."

Then, she stood, smoothing her skirt.

"Careful who you trust in these halls, not everyone here is what they look like."

She walked off between the shelves before I could ask her name. Then I sat frozen for a long time after that.

I spent the next two hours looking for Timothee. I searched the cafeteria, gym, and the rink, but he was nowhere to be found.

Then I finally found him behind the science wing, in the old courtyard no one used.

"You shouldn't be here alone," he said from the shadows.

"Where have you been?" I asked, standing up.

"Who was that girl in the library? Why is everyone talking to me in riddles?"

He stepped into the light, and I saw his face tight.

"What girl?" he said as if he knew nothing about it.

"Silver hair. She said Kaelen knows about me now."

His jaw clenched.

"Tell me the truth," I said. "Who is Kaelen? Why does saying his name scare you more than anything I've seen scare you?"

Then, he came closer, looking like a man at the end of something.

Kaelen is my brother, " he whispered. "He is the one who knows what is wrong with me and he is the only one who does not want me to find a cure."

The ground felt like it was moving under my feet.

 "Why would he want you to die?"

Timothee laughed, a laugh.

Because if I die, Mercy will become the next in line for the throne. He has been waiting for this moment in his life. If he is really in this school he is not here to help me. He is here to make sure I never leave.

I stood there frozen. 

"I am not going to let him, " I said, trying to sound strong.

Timothee looked at me, his eyes softening. He touched my hair, his hand shaking. 

"You do not understand the danger, " he said, above a whisper.

You are a wolf, Mercy. You should be with a pack. Being with me makes you a target."

"I have been a target in my life," I said, leaning into his touch. "At least with you, I feel like I am fighting back."

We stood there in silence, the world around us disappearing. He leaned down, his lips touching my forehead like a promise. 

"Stay close to me," he whispered. "Don't trust anyone. Not that girl, not the students, not even your own pack."

If I get hurt?" I asked, my breath catching.

He pulled back his eyes, burning with intensity. "I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

I looked into his eyes and, for the time, I knew he meant it, I believed him.

I didn't have time to think about what he said before the school bell rang. It was a harsh sound that broke the quiet in the courtyard. Timothee quickly moved away, his fake look of sadness gone, replaced by his cold expression. He signaled for me to leave, looking at the trees where shadows seemed to be moving.

"Go," he said, his voice tight. "Do not let them see you with me. Not yet."

Then, I ran, while my mind raced over everything he'd just told me.

I Ran, till my feet hit the ground hard. My mind was on his words. Burn the school to the ground. He wasn't joking; it was a threat, a promise of violence that felt both scary and exciting.

Inside the hallways were buzzing with energy. Students were in groups, their faces pale, their eyes looking around like they were waiting for something to happen. I felt like I was invisible walking through a room of people who knew something I was just starting to figure out. I went into the locker room to splash some water on my face. It was freezing.

I stopped in front of my locker. Someone had drawn a symbol on it, a twisted crown that looked like it was bleeding. My hands shook as I touched the metal. It was tucked into the vent of the locker, a folded piece of paper. My name wasn't on it, but I knew it was for me.

Then I opened it slowly.

He doesn't tell you everything, little wolf. Ask him what happens to the ones who fail to heal.

There was no name at the bottom. Just the same crown, small, in the corner.

I looked up and down the hallway. Everyone moved past me like nothing was wrong. They were all laughing, shoving each other, completely unaware.

I folded the note and shoved it in my pocket, while my heart was hammering so loud I was sure someone would hear it.

I needed to find Timothee. Now!!! That was what I said while leaving the classroom 

Chapter Seven: The Ones Who Failed

Timothee's POV

I was leaning against the wall behind the equipment shed when I heard her running.

I knew it was her before I even turned around because the bond always told me first.

"Timothee!" she shouted and stopped in front of me, while her chest heaving, her hair stuck to her face.

"What happened?" I asked, already reaching for her.

Then, she shoved a folded paper into my hands instead of answering.

I opened it slowly. What I saw was just a written word which said; He doesn't tell you everything, little wolf. Ask him what happens to the ones who fail to heal.

My stomach dropped. "Where did you get this?" I asked.

"My locker," she said. "Someone left it there. You know, I told you about a girl who talked to me in the library, too. She said Kaelen knows about me now. She said he's aware of me."

I crushed the paper in my fist.

"Talk to me," Mercy said, stepping closer. "What does that note mean? Who failed to heal?"

I looked away from her.

"Timothee."

"It's nothing you need to worry about."

"Don't," she said, while her voice is sharp. "Don't do that thing where you decide what I can handle."

I let out a breath because I knew she wasn't going to let this go.

"There were others," I said quietly. "Before you."

Her face immediately changed. "Others?" What do you mean by others 

"Wolves the witch pointed to. Girls who might have been the cure."

"How many?" she said but I didn't answer right away.

"Timothee, how many?"

"Two," I said. "Before you."

She went completely still."What happened to them?"

I closed my eyes for a second, then I said. "The first one refused to complete the bond. She was scared, and I don't blame her. She ran back to her pack and told them everything."

"And?" She said looking into my eyes

"Her whole family disappeared three weeks later. Kaelen made it look like an accident, which was a fire accident."

Mercy's hand came up to her mouth.

"The second one agreed to help me," I continued. "She stayed close, as you have. But before the bond could finish healing me, Kaelen found her."

"What did he do to her?" She asked looking worried.

"I don't know," I said, and that was the truth. "I never saw her again. My aunt told me not to ask."

Mercy was shaking now, but not from the cold.

"So that note," she said slowly. "It's not a threat. It's a warning of what already happened to people like me."

"Yes," I said.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" she asked.

"Because I didn't want you to be afraid every second you're near me."

"I'd rather be afraid and know the truth," she snapped, "than walk around blind while people leave notes on my locker."

I couldn't argue with that.

"You said Kaelen's smart," she said. "You said he wouldn't do anything obvious. So why send someone to threaten me in a library? Why draw a crown on my locker? That's not subtle."

That question sat heavily in my chest, because she was right. It wasn't like him.

"He's not trying to scare you quietly," I said, thinking out loud. "He's trying to scare you loud enough that you run."

"Run to where?" she said.

"Away from me. If you leave, the bond weakens. If the bond weakens, I get worse."

"So he's trying to kill you through me." 

"Yes," I said.

She was quiet for a long moment, staring at the crumpled note still in my hand.

"Then he's already lost," she said finally.

I blinked at her. "What?"

"Because I'm still here," she said. But something about the way she said it was steady, and sure of herself, which made my throat tighten.

"Mercy, if anything happened to you because of me"

"Stop," she said. "I've decided. You don't get to talk me out of it."

I stepped closer and pressed my forehead against hers.

"I won't let what happened to them happen to you," I whispered.

"I know," she said.

Then, we stood there a moment, her hands were curling into my jacket, while my hand was resting against the side of her face.

"Can I ask you something?" she said quietly.

"Anything," I said.

"That girl in the library," she said quietly. "She didn't tell me much. Just that Kaelen knows about me now. But how does he even know I exist?"

That question sat heavily between us, because I didn't have an answer.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Nobody outside my family was supposed to know I even left home."

"So someone told him," she said 

"Maybe," I said 

She looked up at me, searching my face the way she always did when she wasn't sure if I was hiding something.

"You'll tell me if you find out who," she said. It wasn't really a question.

"I will." 

She nodded slowly, like she was choosing to believe me, and stepped back, while putting a small, careful distance between us again, the kind we always ended up closing without meaning to.

"I should go," she said. "Before someone sees us like this."

"Mercy."

She turned back. "Be careful," I said. "Please."

Then she held my gaze a second longer than she needed to.

"You too," she said, and walked off toward the school, leaving me standing there with the crumpled note still in my hand and a question I couldn't stop turning over in my head.

Then, I looked down at it again, at the small bleeding crown drawn in the corner.

Nobody outside my aunt was supposed to know I was even here.

So how did Kaelen find me so fast?