Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 189

Chapter 189

Cassian

I haven’t moved in hours. I haven’t dared to. Allison is still asleep against my shoulder, her breath a warm, steady brush against my collarbone. Her weight is light but grounding. I’ve sat through entire war nights like this-unmoving, hyper aware, refusing to blink longer than necessary-but never with someone resting on me. Never with someone who makes me want to hold still for reasons that have nothing to do with survival. The forest is quiet, and I widen my mental reach, letting my power stretch thin threads of awareness through the trees, across the brush, into the distant edges of the abandoned town. I trace the minds of sleeping creatures, the dull hum of a fox’s hunger, the drifting emptiness of a dreaming deer. And then a human mind flares against mine. It is sharp, frightened and moving fast. My spine goes rigid as I push deeper. Images slam into me out of order-door kicked in, hands dragging someone outside, the crack of a fist, a scream. Council colours. Enforcers. Trackers. Trackers forced onto skin. They are tearing through the town where Allison, Kael and Evander stood yesterday. They followed the residual magic. They found nothing. So now they’re destroying everything. I slip deeper still into the mind of the terrified runner. A young man. Half-starved. Barefoot. He’s darting between shadows, clutching something to his chest. He knows he won’t outrun them, but he runs anyway. He is thinking only one thing: They’re looking for her corpse.

My heart stops, then restarts in a vicious, punishing rhythm. The enforcers are not far. Miles, not regions, and they are moving fast, sweeping north, in the exact direction we need to travel. I choke back a curse and lift a hand to Allison’s cheek.

“Allison,” I whisper, tone already sharp with urgency.

She stirs instantly at the change in my breath-it’s instinct for her to wake to danger. Her lashes flutter, her cheek brushing the seam of my shirt before she fully wakes.

“Cassian…?” she murmurs, still thick with sleep.

“We have to go.”

Her body snaps awake before her mind does, her muscles tensing in a single, quick coil. “What-”

I push the memory surge into her mind-what I saw, what I felt, what the fleeing boy saw. Not enough to overwhelm her. Just enough to show her. Council. Town. Chains. Search. Her breath stutters once, then she is moving.

She is on her feet in one heartbeat, inside the cabin in the next, shadows trailing behind her like streaks of ink in water.

“Kael! Evander-wake up.” Her voice is low but fierce, urgent enough to cut through sleep. “They tracked our signatures to the town. Time to move. Now.”

Kael jolts upright with a startled choke. Evander rolls to his feet fluidly, assessing her tone before confirming anything else.

“Are they close?” Evander asks, already reaching for his jumper.

“Yes,” I answer as I enter the doorway. “Too close.”

Kael groans, rubbing a hand over his face. “Fuck. Morning already sucks.”

“Move,” Allison orders, and the steel in her voice makes my chest pull tight with pride. “We have minutes before they try this direction.”

They grab what little they have. Evander’s leg holds steady. Kael’s ribs no longer make him wince. The draught has done what it needed to. Good. They can keep pace. Allison is the last one out the door. She stops only to check the space she leaves behind, making sure none of her, none of us will be found.

I guide them with a sharp gesture. “This way. North-west, then cut through the ash-birch grove. It’ll hide our trail and distort magical detection.”

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Chapter 189

Kael staggers as he jogs to catch up, muttering, “Why do you know so much forest shit?”

“I survived the war,” I say simply. “Keep moving.”

We sprint, fast and quiet.

The first stretch is downhill on loose soil and broken roots. Allison moves like something made of instinct and shadows, light on her feet despite exhaustion Evander keeps exactly one pace behind her, protecting her spine. Kael stays at her side, shoulders braced, ready to take the hit if something bursts from the underbrush. I bring up the rear, senses thrown wide like a net. I scan the horizon and find no minds close enough to detect us-yet. But the fear from the fleeing runner still bleeds faintly against my consciousness. I push further with my mind-focusing on direction, not content, skimming the edges of awareness for patrol groups. Two signatures flare faintly. Enforcers. East of us. Too close.

“Faster,” I hiss. “We have company converging.”

Allison doesn’t question. She takes off in a burst of speed that does not belong to someone so exhausted. I feel her magic strain against her skin. It’s too soon for her to use it, not after the last two days, but survival demands what it demands. Kael catches up with a growl, and Evander stays close, breath steady. Branches whip past us as dawn brightens the sky, threatening to expose everything in cruel, unforgiving light. The ash-birch grove appears-this white trunks twisting upward like skeletal fingers. We slip between them, weaving through the maze of pale bark. We break into a clearing and stop only long enough for Allison to catch her breath. She braces her hands on her knees, chest heaving.

Kael puts a steadying hand on her back. “Trouble-slow down. We’re clear for a minute.”

Evander scans the treeline, jaw tight. “How close were they?”

I close my eyes and reach again.

The fear-mind is gone-faded east, either captured or hidden. The enforcer’s minds move like predators, searching, sweeping, but not yet following our direction.

“They haven’t shifted toward us yet,” I say. “But they will. Once they realise she’s not dead, they’ll widen the search.”

Allison looks up sharply. “Wait-they think I’m dead?”

“That’s the only reason they haven’t used a full tracking formation,” I confirm. “Your concealment erased your magical trail. They assume your body is somewhere in the area.”

Her jaw clenches. Hard. “Let’s hope they think that for as long as possible.”

Kael nods with pride. “Our girl faked her death. Iconic behaviour.”

Evander gives him a look. “Focus.”

Allison wipes sweat from her brow and straightens. “Where do we go next?”

I turn toward the distant line of dark trees stretching into the horizon. “We keep north west. Stay off the roads. Stay under tree cover. If we move fast, we can reach the ridge before the next sweep.”

“And after the ridge?” she asks.

My gaze slips to hers, steady and certain.

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17:42 Thu, Jan 1 Ma

Chapter 189

ETKA

“After the ridge,” I say softly, “we live.”

Something bright flickers in her eyes like hope, maybe… Or defiance.

“Let’s go,” she murmurs.

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