Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 241

Knock, Knock

Kael

Battle is supposed to be loud. Clashing steel, shouted orders, spells ripping the air apart like bad decisions you can’t take back. This is louder. This is chaos with teeth and it’s my kind of party. I burst through the first line of Council soldiers like a bad habit they should have kicked centuries ago, fire cracking down my arms, heat rolling off me in waves that make even trained men hesitate. That pause is all I need. I slam into them shoulder-first, laughing as one goes down hard, another scrambling backward with eyes blown wide like he’s just realised the stories were underselling it.

“Hands up!” someone yells. “On the ground! Now!”

I oblige… Briefly. I throw my hands up, palms open, give them a grin sharp enough to cut glass, and then I close one fist. The world explodes with all the pretty colours of violence. Fire blooms behind me, violent and bright, as the rebellion crashes in from the treeline with war cries that raise the hairs on my arms. Demons shadow-travel straight into the thick of it, bodies tearing into existence mid-strike, claws already swinging, teeth already bared. The Council’s neat lines dissolve instantly. Shouting turns to screaming. Orders turn to panic. Vengeance turns to hunger. Evander is already moving beside me, wings snapping out in a flare of heat and wind that knocks half a dozen soldiers off their feet. He’s calm about it. Focused. Which is unfair, because I am having the time of my life. I duck under a blade, grab the wrist, twist, feel bone give, and kick the guy back into two of his friends. Fire races down my spine, begging to be let loose. I let it. The ground scorches beneath my boots as I launch forward again, tearing through the next wave like I was built for this. Maybe I was. No, I definitely was. Somewhere to my left, a demon laughs. Somewhere to my right, something explodes. Above it all, the Council’s pristine tower looms, tall and smug and very, very about to regret its architectural choices. We’re not here to win this fight.

We’re here to make a mess.

“Left!” Evander calls, and I pivot instantly, incinerating a spell mid-cast. The caster screams and drops. Evander stops hard beside me, eyes already scanning.

“That’s enough,” he says.

I know what he means. The noise. The fire. The spectacle. Every eye is on us now. Every ounce of attention dragged right where we want it. We break away together, slipping through the smoke and bodies, fast and clean, vanishing into shadow like we were never there at all. The noise fades behind us, muffled by distance and terrain. My heart is still pounding, blood singing, fire restless under my skin. I hate stopping. I hate standing still when there’s still screaming to be done. But this part matters more. We find them exactly where they said they’d be. Cassian stands with his posture rigid, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion written into every line of him. Cage is a half-step behind, pale, furious, stubbornly upright when he really shouldn’t be. Rhaziel is everywhere at once, shadows folded close, controlled and coiled. And between them… The cage. Allison is inside it, crouched low, shadows rippling tight against her skin, eyes burning as they lock onto me and Evander the second we appear. Hunger. Recognition. Something sharp and delighted curling under it all. I grin at her before I can stop myself. Cassian doesn’t smile. He just steps forward and shoves a bundle of fabric at my chest.

“Pants,” he says flatly.

I look down. Right.

“Ah,” I say, completely unrepentant. “Forgot about those.”

Evander snorts as he takes his own, already pulling them on with efficient movements. I follow suit, still watching the tower through the trees as I tug fabric into place. The service entrance is right there. Plain and unassuming. Exactly the kind of door people like the Council forget to worry about. I roll my shoulders, fire settling into something tighter, meaner. Cassian moves to the side, giving us a clear path. His gaze flicks between us and the cage, jaw tight with restraint and fear and something fierce enough to hurt.

“Allison stays with us the whole time. No one loses sight of her. No one leaves her behind,” he says, not asking.

“Always,” I reply.

14:25

Mon, Jan

Knock, Knock

I step up to the door, place my hand against the cold stone beside it, and lean in close like I’m sharing a secret.

“Knock knock,” I whisper, grinning to myself.

I wait half a beat.

“Oh,” I add pleasantly. “No answer.”

I crack my knuckles, heat flaring bright and eager.

“That’s okay,” I murmur, already shifting my weight forward.

“I’ll let myself in.”

Allison

Everything moves wrong. The world lurches and my stomach twists and suddenly up is sideways and the shadows cinch tighter like they’re bracing for

impact. Metal groans. Stone slides past. Trees smear into shapes that don’t stay still long. My claws scrape instinctively, sparks snapping sharp and bright

and useless against bars that drink everything I throw at them. I snarl and bite the sound back halfway through, teeth clicking together hard enough to hurt.

Too loud. Too close. Too much. They’re near. I can feel them like pressure behind my eyes, like fingers hooked under my ribs pulling. Kael burns bright and

reckless, fire snapping and popping and laughing at the edge of my mind. Evander is heat held tight, controlled, and sharp enough to cut. Cassian is pain.

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