Page 39 of Saints & Sinners

I’d spoken too soon. He didcome back.

Relief washed over me briefly as I peered around the edge of the bookshelf, but when I saw a scrawny figure moving quietly through the aisles, I realized it wasn’t Hunter, and panic consumed me instead.

I dared not breathe as the man, with his face hidden beneath the hood of his jacket, made precise movements as if searching for something or someone.

My pulse pounded louder, and I tried to think. I started to creep through the stacks, keeping my body low. My fingers brushed the spine of old heavy books as I manoeuvred my way around the library. There was an opening for the entrance. I could run quick before he caught me, or I could—

Stop running, Grace. That’s all you do. You always run and wait for someone else to save you.

My hands trembled as that voice spoke inside my head, the same one that would tell me I was worthless.

I closed my eyes, knowing that what I was doing was just as foolish either way. I backed up onto another shelf and reached for a heavy book. The footsteps of the intruder seemed to get louder, and I took a deep breath before I lunged out, the book raised high and ready to slam it down on the person’s head—

“Grace!”

I froze, my body stiffening as the book hovered inches aboveHunter’s head.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked, his voice sounding exasperated.

“I—” I lowered the book as my face flushed bright red from embarrassment. “There was someone here, I thought—” I stopped myself, my hands still shaking.

His eyes narrowed, processing my words. He glanced around us, checking the front and then behind him. “What did you see?”

I shook my head, feeling ridiculous, yet my chest was heaving. “A man. He was wearing a jacket, but I couldn’t see his face. I just knew it wasn’t you—”

Before I could say more, a scream echoed outside the library, and my knees buckled at the shrilling sound. I looked up at Hunter, wide-eyed. His shoulders tensed before he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door.

We sprinted down the stairs, the sound of our footsteps swallowed by the growing chaos outside Nadael’s office. My chest tightened as we rounded the corner where a small crowd had gathered, their faces pale.

And that was when I saw him.

Lucas.

He lay crumpled on the cold stone floor, his body bent at unnatural angles. Blood pooled beneath him, dark and viscous, spreading in thick rivers. My breath caught, and for a moment, the world tilted.

“No,” I whispered, the word barely audible over the panicked voices around me. My legs refused to move, rooting me to the spot as the image of Lucas’s lifeless body burned into my mind.

Something’s happening to my brother!

This is all your fault!

You did this!

Hunter’s hand clamped on my arm, steadying me before I couldcollapse. “We need to go.”

“I can’t—”

“Now,Grace,” he snapped, his grip tightening as he pulled me away. The world blurred around me, but Lucas’s broken form stayed vivid, etched into the darkness behind my eyelids.

Chapter Twenty

The courtyard buzzed with movement and whispers, but it all felt muted, like I was hearing everything through water as I stood beside Hunter. My feet felt rooted to the ground; my breath shallow as I thought about the blood. The way Lucas’s body had been twisted and broken. The image wouldn’t leave my mind, no matter how tightly I closed my eyes.

“Grace!” Marnie’s voice broke through the haze as she threw her arms around me, and for a moment, I let her warmth anchor me. But even her embrace couldn’t drown out the whispers around us.

“She was there.”

“Maybe the intruder was after her.”

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