Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 239

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20:36 Thu, Jan 15

Thornhill Academy

No Time to Bleed

:))

Cage

Pain sits behind my eyes like a hammer held just shy of swinging. It’s a constant, throbbing pressure that refuses to let me forget exactly how close I came to dying. My depth perception is fucked. I keep misjudging distances, walls closer than they look, the floor slanting in ways it shouldn’t. Losing an eye doesn’t come with a dramatic moment of adjustment. It comes with nausea and irritation and the quiet rage of knowing your body betrayed you mid-fight. I sit because standing makes my head spin, and because if I fall over now, Kael will never let me hear the end of it. The stitches pull when I breathe too deep. Every movement drags heat across my face, skin tight and angry where Rhaziel’s work sealed me shut just enough to keep me alive. Blood still seeps through in places, slow and sticky, trailing down my jaw no matter how often I wipe it away. Across the chamber, the cage rattles as Allison moves inside it. She doesn’t have much space to move, just a few steps to either side, but every step looks measured, shadows coiled close to her body like they’re waiting for permission to strike. The sound of metal answering shadow crawls up my spine, sets my teeth on edge. She isn’t thrashing or panicking;

she’s watching. The wraith is watching her prey.

Evander’s voice cuts through the tension. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

I don’t look at him right away. I’m too busy grounding myself, breathing through the pulse behind my eyes, ignoring the way my hands

tremble when I unclench them.

“You’re already in bad shape,” he continues, quieter now. “Burning that much power on top of blood loss and shock wasn’t smart.”

There it is. The truth of it. Though there’s no judgment in it, just facts.

I finally glance up at him. “Neither is letting her tear the place apart.”

Kael shifts nearby, arms crossed, eyes flicking to the cage and back to me. “You’re going to wreck yourself if you keep doing that,” he mutters. “And then we’re down a warlock when we actually need one.”

A low snarl ripples through the shadows in the cage, like Allison heard him thinking too loudly. I don’t smile. I don’t joke. I don’t have it

in me.

“She almost broke free,” I say flatly. “The wraith, she’s learning.”

Rhaziel’s gaze sharpens, shadows around him tightening in response.

“She tested the resistance,” I continue. “I stepped in because I needed to, because we can’t let the dark magic learn how to use it’s host

better.”

Cassian goes still beside the table, attention snapping to me fully.

“She’s still in there, it’s not just the magic,” he says quietly.

“Yes,” I agree. “And that’s what makes her dangerous. It will use her memory and her knowledge to adapt.”

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27

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No Time to Bleed

Silence stretches, and the cage hums louder as Allison shifts again, claws scraping once against the bars before she stills, eyes burning straight into me. There’s fury there, hunger and beneath it, something sharp and furious that feels uncomfortably like awareness. I push myself to my feet despite the way the room tilts. My vision swims, but I lock my jaw and ride it out. Falling now would be worse than the pain.

“Are you sure you want to come?” Evander asks.

“You won’t be able to get in if I’m not with you,” I say.

Evander’s jaw tightens. “You’re barely holding yourself upright.”

“I don’t need to be pretty,” I snap. “I need to be present.”

Kael scoffs softly. “You’re one eye down.”

“And still standing,” I fire back. “Which is more than I was supposed to be.”

The mark at my neck burns faintly, a reminder that I don’t belong to myself right now. That Rhaziel claimed me for a reason. I can feel

the Shadow Realm pressing in around that bond, tolerating me instead of rejecting me.

Rhaziel steps forward at last. “He is correct,” he says evenly. “There will be many barriers that only he will be able to guide us through.

We need him, half dead or not.”

Allison’s shadows surge once, sharp and violent, then pull back in tight, as if restraining themselves by force of will alone.

Evander exhales slowly. “Then we move. Now.”

Rhaziel doesn’t waste another second. He turns toward the cage and lifts one hand, shadows already responding to the motion like

they’ve been waiting for it.

“Everyone,” he says. “Now.”

Evander moves first, stepping up beside the cage, one hand braced against the runed bars. Kael follows with a grunt, fingers curling tight around the, Cassian hesitates for half a heartbeat longer than the others, eyes locked on Allison through the bars, jaw clenched so tight it looks painful. Then he steps forward too, palm flattening against the cage, shoulders squaring as if he’s bracing against a storm. Rhaziel’s gaze cuts to me. I don’t need to be told twice. I push myself off the table and stagger the last few steps forward, ignoring the way the room tilts violently with every movement. My hand finds the bars beside Allison’s face. The metal is cold, and she’s right there, close enough that I can feel the heat of her through the cage, the pressure of her magic pressing back against my skin as it recognises me. Her eyes snap to mine instantly. For a breathless moment, everything else falls away. Then her lips curl, and the wraith bares its teeth in something that might almost be a smile. Rhaziel steps in close, shadows already unfurling from him, wrapping around all of us at once. I feel the pull immediately, deep in my chest, the mark at my neck flaring hot as the realm responds.

“Hold on,” Kael mutters.

The shadows surge. The chamber dissolves. Stone, light, distance, all fold inward like they’ve been swallowed whole, and for a split

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20:36 Thu, Jan 15

No Time to Bleed

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second, there is nothing but cold and motion and the sound of my own heartbeat roaring in my ears. Then the world shifts, and we are gone.

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cage is fighting so hard 🙁

2 days ago

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3/3

20:36 Thu, Jan 15

Thornhill Academy

The Ward Line

Cassian

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Shadow travel never eases you in. It rips and drops and leaves your body half a second behind your mind. Cold air slams into my lungs.

Gravel bites through the soles of my boots. I stagger one step before catching myself, hand shooting out on instinct toward the cage as it

settles with a low metallic scrape against the ground. The shadows holding it tighten immediately, responding to Rhaziel’s presence like

trained soldiers snapping to attention. Allison moves inside it at once. Not frantic or feral, more like she’s aware right now. The cage

hums under her weight as she shifts, fingers curling around the bars, head lifting slowly. Her gaze cuts across the clearing, taking in the

trees, the stone, and the distance. Orientation and calculation. The wraith understands relocation before the woman does, and that alone

sends a tight knot of unease into my chest. Cage exhales sharply beside me.

“I’d say twenty klicks,” he mutters, already scanning the terrain. His voice is rough, edged with pain he refuses to acknowledge. “Maybe a

little less.”

I close my eyes for half a beat and feel for it. The pressure of layered magic in the land. The subtle density shift that tells you when wards

are nearby. The space itself behaves differently here, that’s how I know.

“Closer to fifteen,” I say. “The outer ring isn’t passive. It’ll register mass, magic, and intent. Five more before they know we’re here.”

Cage nods once. No argument. He trusts my assessment, which means he’s already running numbers in his head.

“Okay,” he says. “Run it again.”

Rhaziel steps forward, shadows folding and unfolding around him like breath. Kael and Evander move in closer, flanking the cage instinctively. Allison’s attention snaps to them instantly. Her lips peel back from her teeth in a silent snarl, claws scraping once against the bars before she stills again, watching. We don’t have long.

“Rebellion’s already en route,” Rhaziel says. “My demons made contact before we left. They’ll shadow travel to our position once Kael and

Evander engage,”

Evander rolls his shoulders, heat bleeding faintly through his skin. “We go in loud.”

“Yes,” Cage says. “You go in loud,”

Kael grins without humour. “My favourite kind of entrance.”

I lift a hand slightly, drawing their attention back before the banter goes any further. “Once you cross the ward line, they’ll respond with soldiers. Not all of them. Just enough to assess and contain. That’s what they’ve always done.”

Cage’s jaw tightens. “They won’t expect dragons and hellfire on their front lawn.”

“Exactly,” I say. “You draw them out. The rebellion will cause enough of a commotion for you two to get out.”

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20:36 Thu, Jan 15

The Ward Line

Evander’s eyes flick to the cage. “Got it. Make some noise and slip out quickly.”

Rhaziel nods. “Then we move during the chaos.”

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He gestures, and the shadows around the cage tighten, lifting it just enough that the metal no longer scrapes the ground. Allison reacts immediately, weight shifting, hands tightening on the bars as the structure rises.

“No,” she snarls.

The word is raw, layered, vibrating through the clearing. Kael winces. Cage doesn’t look away from her.

“We take the service entrance,” Cage continues, voice steady despite the blood still tracing slow lines down his jaw. “East side. It’s shielded and shouldn’t be guarded. They don’t expect threats from that direction.”

Kael arches a brow. “Because who would be stupid enough to try it?”

Cage’s mouth curves, sharp and bitter. “We would.”

I nod. “Once inside, we go straight to the vault.”

“And if we encounter Council members…” Evander says.

Rhaziel’s voice is flat as he finishes. “We strike first.”

“Good,” Kael says. “We’ll ask them questions when they’re dead.”

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