THE AUREUM TRIAL: BLOOD OATH

re breathing, watching. Shadows slithered between the gnarled branches, twisting and stretching beneath

I knew, with every frantic beat of my heart,

a warning. Then, the snap of jaws, the thudding of hea

hen my ankle twisted and I fell, and the ground was suddenly gone, a sheer drop beneath me. My scream caught in my throat as I tumbled, crashing throug

before the wolves emerge

nes. I was trapped. I scrambled back, and my hands clawed at the damp earth, but the mom

kness, moving faster than my eyes could follo

ground with a force that cracked the earth. The creature whimpered, stunned, before scurrying back into the shad

there was

adow against the moonlight, towering above me, broad shoulders wrapped in darkness. My

gle gaze. In the deep at the center of his iris, was a piercing blue, sharp as ice, endless as the ocean, a secret hidden beneath frozen waters. But at the edges, where the light kissed his irises, emerald g

pounded so violently I thought he could hear it. I opened

se, as if I were still lying on that cold

d worn leather. My surroundings came into focus and the cracked vinyl seat beneath me, the rhythm

ta

impatience, broke through t

is

ing. The taxi driver was watching me through

ved. Ashwoo

my, my pulse erratic, the ghost of his touch still lingering on my wrist.

he window. And as I looked

HWOOD A

soaring stained-glass windows, their jewel-toned hues casting dappled light across the cobbled courtyard. Ivy draped itself like silk over the aged walls, softening the fortress-like presence of the academy, while towering oak doors,

every hair on my arms rising. I had never stepped foot here before. And

handle, and the air was cold the moment I stepped out, the scent of rain-soaked earth and pin

SHB

ptic clung to the air, but beneath it, I could still pick up traces of chamomile tea, my aunt's favorite. She l

murmured, "Com

in mine. "You should be resting," I wh

e luxury of time, sweetheart." A small cough rattled her

d. "Don't talk like...lik

girl. Not yet." Her fingers tightened around mine. "Bu

y voice cracked. "I

asping, like paper-thin glass on the verge of shattering. "You nee

happening. "This is my home," I had pleaded, my

for you. I kept you safe, but I can't keep you hidden anymore." She had brushe

oat and nodded, because what else could

ES

memory burned behind my eyes. The weight of her w

here I

rom the cold or the feeling that, despite never settin

licking softly against the cobblestone as I took my first ste