Schools were such strange places. Lifelong friendships and lifelong grudges often started in the same room.

~ Rebel Beast

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Venus was waiting for Caelis right at the academy entrance, which wasn’t surprising considering he had sent him a message minutes ago that he was on his way back.

The driver barely had enough time to slow down before Venus opened the passenger door and climbed into the seat beside him.

"My prince," Venus greeted.

The vehicle began moving again.

"How did it go?" Venus inquired, his gaze subtly raking Caelis up and down, checking him for injuries.

While the Serpent King rarely laid a hand on his son, some of his punishments might as well have accomplished the same thing.

Though Caelis had assured him over the phone that he was fine, it hadn’t stopped Venus from imagining increasingly horrific scenarios throughout the night.

"Father is working with the humans."

"What?" Venus’ jaw nearly dropped to the floor. He shook his head. "No way."

It didn’t make sense. During the last Concordia Program, the Serpent King had practically encouraged them to wipe the human vermin from their lands. So what could have changed?

"What deal did he make with the humans?"

"I have no idea," Caelis answered. "But he wants us to protect a human named Karen Donovan."

"Is that so...?" Venus trailed off, looking away with an expression that immediately caught Caelis’ attention.

"Is there something you’re not telling me?" he asked with a frown.

"About that..." Venus winced, looking at Caelis with a sympathetic expression. "The humans were attacked a little while ago. There are talks that some of them died. We don’t know if Karen is among th—"

"Stop!" Caelis’ voice boomed through the vehicle.

The driver reacted instinctively. The brakes screeched while the vehicle lurched violently before coming to an abrupt halt.

The door flew open and Caelis stepped out urgently.

"My prince, wait up!" Venus scrambled out after him, but Caelis wasn’t listening. He was already marching toward the human residence.

Students scattered from his path the moment they saw his expression. A few recognized him and immediately lowered their heads. Others simply got out of the way.

He had been told humans were resilient, like cockroaches. In that case, Karen Donovan had better survive. Otherwise, he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to tell his father.

Caelis rarely failed his assignments, and he had no intention of starting now.

Back at the human dormitory...

Maverick and Dimitri took in the entrance.

Feathers littered the front lawn like black snow. Blood stained the steps leading into the residence. Several windows had been shattered, leaving jagged teeth of glass around the frames, which had undoubtedly served as the birds’ point of entry.

The damage was worse than he expected.

If he remembered correctly, he had left eight members of House Therion to guard the residence. Two on each side of the house with rotational shifts in between so they could rest.

The arrangement had been intentional.

Four wolf shifters since wolves could communicate through their pack link and relay information almost instantly.

Two bear shifters for their size, endurance, and ability to physically hold a position when things became chaotic.

The remaining two had been badger shifters. They were stubborn creatures with powerful senses and a reputation for refusing to back down once they dug their heels in. Together, they should have been more than enough to handle a normal threat. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Except the dragons had been smarter this time. This wasn’t a fight but an ambush. One that his patrol team had obviously been unable to handle.

Speaking of his patrol team, most of them were clutching one eye or both with blood pouring down their faces. It would be a miracle if none of them went blind from this.

But the most common injuries were the deep cuts and multiple puncture wounds.

One wolf shifter had a strip of flesh missing from his cheek, while a bear shifter was covered in so many cuts that parts of his uniform had turned red. Despite that, he was still helping one of his injured teammates to his feet.

The sight made Maverick’s jaw tighten.

"They are so dead," Dimitri said through gritted teeth.

House Aetheris would be in for a surprise if they thought Therion would not retaliate after this attack. They had drawn blood first.

"Go," Dimitri told him. "I’ll help them get treatment."

Maverick nodded. The only relief he had was that these were shifters and that they would heal from this.

Unlike the humans.

That thought got him moving into the house faster. Except the inside was worse than the outside. It looked as though a tornado had ripped through the residence.

Furniture lay overturned across the common room. Cushions had been torn apart and several light bulbs were shattered. Like the outside, black feathers were everywhere. Some were even stuck in streaks of blood smeared across the wooden floor.

The air reeked of blood, fear, bird droppings, and burnt food. The combination made the entire place feel suffocating.

Anger coursed through him. How was any of this supposed to work?

The beasts hated the humans. The humans feared the beasts. Somehow the adults running this program expected eighteen-year-olds to fix what generations had failed to solve.

Why didn’t they just end this damn experiment and let everyone be?

"Professor?"

His train of thought was cut off when someone called his name. He turned to find the team captain, Mike.

Just like the others, the young man bore his own injuries. Several scratches ran across his face while dried blood stained his hands and uniform. One sleeve of his shirt had been torn nearly to the shoulder.

"Where are they?" Maverick asked, referring to the humans.

Although now that he listened closely, he could hear the pounding of hearts and muffled whimpers coming from behind the bedroom doors.

"The surviving humans are probably huddled up in their rooms," Mike answered. "They’re too terrified to come out."

"Surviving?"

Maverick’s heart faltered because that could only mean one thing.

Someone had died.

Mike swallowed. His voice was unusually quiet.

"You should come see the bodies. They’re in the kitchen."

Maverick wasn’t sure he was breathing anymore. It felt as though an invisible noose had tightened around his throat.

His legs began moving before his mind could catch up, carrying him toward the kitchen while a thousand thoughts raced through his head.

Then they stepped inside, and he saw them.

The breath he had been holding escaped immediately as relief hit him so hard it was almost painful.

To Maverick’s horror, he realized exactly what his first thought had been.

It wasn’t her.