The first thing I noticed about Axel when he returned?
He was limping.
The second?
There was a fresh scar slashing across his collarbone.
The boy who usually smirked like a rebel prince now wore a storm in his eyes.
"Don't ask where I was," he muttered, collapsing into his chair beside me during combat theory.
I didn't ask.
Because I knew.
Wherever he'd been…
He had seen something he wasn't supposed to.
Later, after class, he cornered me behind the gym.
"No one else knows," he said, eyes scanning the area. "They told me to keep my mouth shut. But I figured if anyone here's playing their own game—it's you."
My heart thudded.
I played dumb. "What do you mean?"
Axel leaned closer, voice low.
"There's a council beneath this school. Not professors. Not even the headmaster controls them."
He paused.
"They call themselves The Crimson Council."
"They wear red pins during formal events. Hide in plain sight."
I blinked. "Students?"
"Some. Some are outsiders. Operatives. Investors. Even… killers."
He grimaced. "I was caught eavesdropping on a meeting under the East Wing. Thought it was just a hazing prank."
He pulled his collar aside, revealing the scar.
"They branded me for fun."
I stared at the mark. It looked like a snake swallowing a sword.
It wasn't just a scar.
It was a warning.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
He sighed. "Because when they left, they mentioned your name."
My blood ran cold.
"Ash Vane. The fox. The fake."
Axel's eyes met mine.
"Who are you really?"
I didn't answer.
I couldn't.
But I didn't lie either.
Instead, I asked, "Are you with them?"
Axel scoffed. "If I were, I wouldn't be limping."
Fair enough.
That night, I barely slept.
I dreamed of red corridors, masked figures, knives in my back.
And when I woke up, there was another note in my boot locker.
"Ashes may lie,
But embers speak.
Meet me at the bell tower.
Midnight. Come alone."
No name.
No signature.
But I recognized the handwriting.
Ryan.
He wasn't missing.
He was hiding.
At midnight, I climbed the bell tower's rusty stairs, heart pounding.
Wind whipped around me. The city below glittered with indifference.
Ryan stood near the edge, hands in pockets.
When he turned to me, his expression wasn't the usual lazy mischief.
It was haunted.
"They're planning something," he said. "A test. A blood one. Soon."
I frowned. "What kind of test?"
Ryan looked me dead in the eye.
"One that separates the criminals from the corpses."
Then, his gaze softened just slightly.
"I know what you are," he said.
Panic surged through me.
But he held up a hand. "Relax. I won't expose you. You're not the first."
I narrowed my eyes. "Not the first what?"
He hesitated. Then whispered, "Girl."
Silence fell like a blade.
"I knew from day one," he admitted. "The way you walk. Hold your breath when you speak. You're trained, but not trained for this."
I bit my lip. "Why didn't you say anything?"
He smiled faintly. "Because sometimes the best lies… are the ones we protect."
As we stared at the night sky, Ryan said, "Be careful of Mikhail. He's loyal to no one."
I didn't respond.
Because I knew something no one else did.
Mikhail had helped me. Not once. Twice.
Either he was playing a deeper game.
Or… he was the most dangerous of them all.
As I turned to leave, Ryan said one last thing.
"There's another player on the board. Someone no one's seen. No one knows."
I looked over my shoulder. "A student?"
"No," Ryan whispered.
"A professor."
End of Chapter 13