Thundering footsteps sounded behind me as the masked man pursued me, threatening to run me down.
My knee seared with pain, but I pushed on, ignoring the blood that dripped down the front of my leg. A banged-up knee would be the least of my concerns if the masked man caught up to me. As quick as I could, I turned the corner to run down another hallway.
Exhaustion weighed my body down, making my legs feel as heavy as lead. It was hard to push through, but if I fell, my life would possibly be over. I would rather feel pain than feel nothing, so I dug my feet into the ground and launched myself down the hallway as fast as my legs could possibly take me.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, echoing throughout the hallways. I immediately dropped down, covering my head with my hands and shutting my teary, burning eyes. I prepared for something hard to strike me from behind and swipe away my life, but the bullet never came. I spun around and saw the masked man on the ground, bleeding from his back.
Sol suddenly ran around the corner, hurrying over to me and kneeling next to me.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes sweeping over me. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing,” I assured him, seeing the handgun in his hand. He had saved me. I couldn’t begin to explain how relieved I was to see him. Alive. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”
The corner of Sol’s mouth turned up slightly like he was awed to hear me say that. He then grabbed my hand and helped me to my feet.
“We need to leave. Now,” he told me with urgency.
I glanced at the masked man on the ground and nodded. It wasn’t safe here. It hadn’t ever been safe here since the Kings took over. I looked up into Sol’s eyes, giving his hand a squeeze. With him, I felt safe.
“Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 23
BIBA
Tired and aching, I let Sol take me to an inn outside of Wachsbrunnen. I stripped off my pants, which now had burn marks and tears, and sat on the edge of the bathtub, letting Sol clean up my knee. The skin was lightly burnt, irritated, and bleeding, but it wasn’t bad enough to go to a hospital.
“What happened?” Sol asked me as he lightly patted my knee with a wet washcloth, kneeling in front of me.
I gripped the edge of the bathtub tightly, gritting my teeth against the pain. Even the slightest touch stung, but I stayed still and let him continue to clean it.
“The person you shot set Buffy’s room on fire. I think. Maybe it was Zephyr.” I sighed as I shook my head. “But I don’t even know anymore.”
Sol frowned to himself, keeping his eyes on my knee as he patted the skin dry carefully.
“I don’t think it was Zephyr behind it,” he said quietly before wrapping my knee up with gauze.
I gave him a confused look.
“Why do you say that?” I questioned him. He had disappeared for days. Where had he been?
Sol set aside the roll of gauze before looking up at me.
“I think it’s Arvo behind all of this. All of the attacks. Everything,” he told me with complete seriousness.
A shocked look broke across my face as I stared at him, running his words through my head again. Arvo was sneaky and connected, but could he actually carry out such calculated attacks? I didn’t peg him as a serious strategist because of his party boy personality.
“Are you sure?” I asked him. I couldn’t eliminate the possibility of Arvo being the one behind everything. He was still a King. He was powerful and ambitious—maybe that drove him enough to kill whoever stood in his way.
Sol nodded before rising to his feet.
“He tried to kill me, but I escaped. I know he’s the one who tried to have me killed. He’s had eyes on me for weeks.” He sighed heavily. “Then, they exiled you.”
I frowned as I slowly got to my feet, leaning most of my weight on my good leg. When Arvo thought that Sol had betrayed the Kings, he cast him out him and then tried to kill him. Maybe Arvo tried to do the same to me and set fire to the room thinking that I was inside. Arvo wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy person.
“He wants to kill us, Biba. He knows that we pose a threat to him acquiring as much power as possible,” Sol told me as he crossed his arms.
“How?” I asked him. Sol and I could only do so much against the Kings, especially since we were outcasted. They had eyes on us all the time, so it wasn’t like we had the element of surprise.
“We want to save Stormcloud, right?” Sol replied.
I slowly nodded. My family history was intertwined with the school. In a way, I belonged there, but it was hard to stay when things were so dangerous, giving away to competing power dynamics. I didn’t want someone like Arvo to rule the academy.