Page 110 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

“All students are required to go to the common hall and stay there until we say you’re allowed to go to your rooms,” she sniffled, and talking broke out.

A few younger and older students had already made their way inside.

“What’s going on?” Naomi asked in alarm.

It felt like my head was sobering up within seconds now as I tried to figure out what might have happened.

“I’m not in the position to tell you anything right now,” our teacher answered, looking down at the ground while tears ran freely down her face.

Something bad happened. I can feel it.

“When something happens that requires the police to be involved, you cannot expect us to remain calm,” someone cried in panic.

Mrs Fanning flinched. “There has been an accident. Now everyone, hurry inside, or you’ll be in detention for the rest of the school year!” She lost it, and I couldn't tell if her tears were now filled with rage or were full of sorrow.

Everyone grabbed their stuff and hurried inside, but I looked around for Doe. She wasn’t with us. Panic took hold of my heartas I spun in a circle, searching for the sight of her bright hair. I had been buried so deep inside my head that I hadn’t noticed her absence.

“Where is Doe?” My shaking voice was filled with panic. I think I’ve never felt panic like this before. I kept her safe. I always did. She was my responsibility to keep safe. I—I don’t know where she is.

Where’s my Doe?

Someone grabbed my shoulders and squeezed painfully. Nathaniel’s grey eyes drilled holes into me. “Breathe. You’re drunk and losing it, brother.”

Thunder rolled through the sky in a warning. I hit him in the chest, not wanting him to touch me, not wanting anyone’s hands on me until I knew she was safe. “Where’s she?”

I looked around again, noting that our classmates and the others had gone inside by now. She wasn’t here.

What if something has happened to her?

No. No. No.

“Archer, calm down!” Naomi demanded.

I shook my head, feeling the panic inside my chest crush my lungs and cut off my air. I couldn’t stomach the slightest thought of not knowing where she was and if she was safe.

My head started spinning, and a stinging sensation of pain shot through my chest. I clenched my shirt and gasped, my knees giving out underneath me.

Blinking, I looked through eyes that weren’t my own. Those eyes stared at an old photograph of Dottie and James that hung on an all-too-familiar wall.

Archer?

Her voice echoed in my head.

My soul snapped back into my own body. The voices of my friends calling my name, asking me if I was alright. But I could only think of one thing.

The hideaway.

Whatever just happened made me look through her eyes, and I know the location I just saw.

Jumping to my feet, I started to run.

Everything around me blurred. I knew where I had to be, and my body did the rest for me on autopilot.

The library. The bookshelf. The hidden door. The stairs and finally the key.

I pushed the door open and if I was a sane man, at this very moment, I would have gaped in shock at the man standing behind her. But my eyes entirely focused on the girl whose soul was bound to mine.

Dorothee’s eyes were swollen from all the tears that had fallen down her cheeks and onto her white dress, making the collar almost completely transparent. Her nose was red and her lips bloody because she chewed them until the skin broke when she couldn’t find another alternative to let free of the pain that lived inside her.

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