Chapter 225 Clementine: “Please step out of the phone booth.” I heard a heavy, commanding voice and began to turn around. I feared it was him. He stood there watching me, his eyes locked beneath his black, round head. “Mr. Headmaster—” I started to explain, but he silenced me with

Chapter 224 Clementine: I had been waiting for a while just to make sure the ringleaders would be asleep before I went to sneak downstairs. Then I remembered Bodhi’s words written in the diary. He had mentioned something about the ringleaders always watching. I recalled Ms. Lenora and Mr. Rick’s

Chapter 223 Clementine: Miss Rue had her eyes wide open as she watched me until she placed a hand on her chest and smiled, holding sushi rolls in her other hand. “Oh my god, I almost forgot I had asked you to come,” she laughed, walking inside and taking her

Chapter 222 Yorick: It was always a task to go visit my parents when I was at the academy. I felt like I had finally escaped it. I was so happy to be there. Then I found out Clementine was there. I thought maybe that was another task I had

Chapter 221 Clementine: I just had a feeling something wasn’t right, but I kept walking until I reached the last step of the stairs. I noticed the silence downstairs except for one room that was lit. I could tell it was Mr. Rick’s room because the door and its frame

Chapter 220 Clementine: I fell asleep while lying there, crying about my miserable life. When I woke up, I realized the sun had already gone down. There wasn’t much left for me to do here. I could only stare at the walls and remember the awful time I had spent

Chapter 219 Clementine: “Take care, okay?” Troy said, brushing his finger gently across my cheek before pulling his hand back. He remembered I’d told them not to touch me again. I was glad they respected that. I didn’t want to keep reminding them. “You too,” I told Troy as he

Chapter 218 Haiden: Watching Clementine stand in the doorway, waiting to say goodbye, was so hard for me. Every part of me wanted to take her with me, but I couldn’t. There were things going on that I knew would hurt her badly. And it was tied more to my

Chapter 217 Clementine: I grew up pretty much alone, so it wasn’t that big of a deal for me. Still, it didn’t help that I was feeling so much. Maybe it was because after arriving at the academy and spending time in the North, I started to miss being a

Chapter 216 Clementine: As soon as Ian started going through the pages to tell us about the shadow people, he suddenly stopped. The rest of us exchanged glances, more like sneaky glances, wondering what had just happened. We watched Ian as he lifted his head, closed his eyes, and then

Chapter 215 Joshua: “I can’t believe Suki stabbed another Crusader, and none of you said a word to me.” Mr. Rick had been pacing the room, throwing tantrums. I hadn’t argued with him, because I honestly had no idea how to. But that didn’t change the fact that Suki was

Chapter 214 Clementine: As the awkward silence dragged on, I decided to pull the attention away from Ian refusing to tell us about this place, even though it could literally help us in so many ways. Instead, I shifted to something else that had just hit me hard. “I’d seen

Chapter 213 Clementine: I watched Ian get up in the morning and get ready in silence. The others were quiet too. It was getting to be a little too much for all of us. The upbeat energy we used to have at the start was suddenly gone. I couldn’t help

Chapter 212 Clementine: “Come on. A little sugar is good for you. It’ll keep you upbeat,” he murmured, smiling at his own words. He wasn’t wrong. I needed the energy. I raised my hand, took it from him, and bit into it. “I’m sure you didn’t bring me here just

Chapter 211 Clementine: After that, we all went back to our dorms, and I’d finally stopped crying. It was just an outburst, and I felt guilty about it. Once inside the room, I paced around anxiously, clenching my fist. My hair was still wet from the shower I’d just taken.

Chapter 210 Clementine: Once we were told about the intensity of the task and how many other crusaders had died trying to finish it, we just went silent. I could tell everyone was grateful we had come back alive at all. But there was more. The door opened again, and

Chapter 209 Clementine: We were never given counseling for it. They expected us to come here and act like the north was just the past or some game show. It wasn’t. It meant more to us. Miss Lenora looked shocked and disgusted by my squadmate’s reaction. “If anything, ask the

Chapter 208 Clementine: I closed my eyes to deepen the kiss, but the moment he bit my bottom lip I woke myself up. “What the fuck?” I muttered as I stared around and realized it had just been a dream. He hadn’t come to see me. He hadn’t kissed me.

Chapter 207 Clementine: Silence hit us harder than anything before. Our team, in particular, was even quieter. I noticed Ian counting something on his fingers, but I couldn’t tell what until he lowered his hands and turned to look at all of us. He gave everyone a quick glance before

Chapter 206 Clementine: “She is what?” Yorick asked, closing one eye as he tried to finish the sentence. “Great, you guys are already here. You must have heard it. I felt a mate bond with her just now,” Troy said in a confident tone, as if that should guarantee he