CHAPTER 91: DANGEROUS PATTERNS...

Charis

I was patiently waiting for the boys in Kael’s room.

I sat curled up on the corner chair in Kael’s room, hugging my knees and staring blankly at the flickering lamp beside his desk. Every passing second set my teeth on edge.

My pulse hadn’t stopped racing since I left Headmistress Vale’s office, and now I was trying not to replay Peter’s announcement in my head.

What the hell was going on in this school?

I waited until evening with no sign of the boys. At this point, I was beginning to worry. For one, my school bag was still in my locker in the classroom, so I didn’t have my phone with me. There was no way I could contact the boys, but wait.

Almost to midnight, I finally hear the faint echo of footsteps approaching. The door clicked open and slammed shut. The moment they entered, Rhett rushed straight to me and embraced me tightly, kissing my forehead with relief.

"That was too real not to be true," he murmured against my hair.

"What was too real to be true?" I asked, shrugging out of his embrace with confusion. "What kept you all for so long? I was beginning to think that something had happened to three of you."

"We had meetings," Rhett said quietly. "It was a long one, but don’t worry, everything would be fine."

"So, what truly happened? Could you please tell me? I’ve been dying with fright and curiosity thinking about the Alpha Prime’s announcement this afternoon.

Slater came towards me with a grim expression and showed me an image on his phone.

When I saw it, my stomach flipped. A student—male, maybe my age—was lying in a pool of blood. His throat had been ripped open, and his limbs were at a weird angle.

"I..." I looked up at Slater, my heart pounding. "What is this? Why are you showing me?"

Slater sighed heavily. "Three students were attacked in the early hours of this morning by snow rogues. Kael was the first person to arrive on the scene before..."

He paused for a minute to collect his thoughts before continuing. "Kael thought the boy with the blond hair similar to yours was you, until Marcus came and confirmed that it wasn’t. Two of those students were killed on the spot by those snow rogues. The third one survived, all thanks to Kael’s intervention, but he’s in critical condition. We’ve never had this much death in one day."

"There have been deaths like this before?" I asked, trying to breathe.

"Yes," Rhett answered solemnly, "but mostly students who go outside the school unauthorised. Snow rogues are deadly, and around this time, when it begins to snow in Ravenspire, they hunt in packs. But if you always stay indoors and avoid moving alone at night, you’ll be fine."

"Still, we can’t depend on that alone for our safety," Slater continued. "Eamon, I hate to say this, but that communication band Marcus gave you will come in handy now more than ever. Always wear it. And staying with Kael right now is a good idea..."

"He can’t always stay with me," Kael interrupted curtly.

I turned and saw Kael undressing, pulling his shirt over his head. The sight of his bare chest sent a familiar rush of desire pooling in my lower belly, which was not what I should be focusing on right now.

"I’m on patrol every night until further notice," he explained flatly.

"He can stay with me," Rhett suggested immediately. "My house is one of the most secure on campus, and I have help—"

"No," Slater said immediately, shaking his head firmly.

"Why not?" Rhett arched his eyebrow with obvious irritation.

"No!" Kael growled, his voice much louder than usual. He seemed to notice his outburst and sighed before continuing more quietly. "I can’t trust you with him. You might try to..."

"To kiss him or be handsy like you do?" Rhett said with a sneer. "Getting jealous now, Kael? It was fine when it was you doing all the kissing, and now that I sneak one kiss, you get possessive."

"I am not jealous," Kael said vehemently, clenching his hands into fists beside him.

"You’re careless, Rhett. You get easily distracted, you might sleep through the night and forget he exists."

"You don’t know me, Kael, and I am not careless. How many times do I have to tell you this?" Rhett’s voice was rising with anger. "Weren’t you the one who wanted him to leave Ravenshore from the first day? Have you suddenly changed your mind because—"

"That’s enough, guys," I said firmly, stepping between them before this argument could escalate. "I am not worth fighting over. I’ll stay with Slater."

"I have patrols too, but not every day," Slater said with a resigned sigh. "We need to make sure you’re always with someone."

"Well, I can go back to the regular dorms, unless someone has taken my space," I suggested hopefully.

"No, too exposed," Kael shook his head immediately.

"You guys are acting weird," I sighed with frustration. "Snow rogues attack individuals, right? I need to be with other people and everything will be alright?"

"Snow rogue kills follow a pattern, Eamon," Rhett said quietly, his expression growing more serious. "They target people like you. Your hair..."

I laughed, though it sounded forced even to my ears. "That’s absurd. You’re just making that up. There’s no way they’d be going after people specifically because of blonde hair."

"No jokes," Slater confirmed grimly. "The first boy who was killed was a natural blonde, but in a darker shade. These students who died today were all blondes. Snow rogues follow killing patters and this time around, they’re targeting blondes.

"No," I shook my heard. "You’re making stuff up."

"It’s not being made up, Eamon," Rhett said quietly. "Snow rogues are night creatures, they’re blind during the day and see at night. And when the moon is out you cannot really tell any color apart. That’s how it is for them. It’s a theory but I think the first person that attacked them was a blonde and so, they’re out for revenge."

I stood frozen, staring at the three boys as the implications sank in. I kept expecting Slater to tell me it was all a huge joke but everyone looked serious. How was I supposed to come to terms with the fact that my appearance would put my at a disadvantage of being attacked.

"What happened to your phone?" Kael crossed the room to where I stood.

I looked up at him, noting he had that blank expression from before at the ref. "It’s in my bag in the classroom. Why?"

"Why?" Kael exploded. "I don’t have time for this, Eamon. I can’t deal," he said and walked away.

I turned to Rhett and Slater hoping either of them would enlighten me but they seemed not to do why Kael was angry.

"We’ll have to let you take turns with each of us," Slater said quietly, turning to look at me. "Since Kael will be starting his patrols today, you’ll stay with me. On days when it’s my turn for patrol, you’ll go with Rhett. We’ll have to trust Rhett a bit more, Kael," he paused to address Kael who was at his reading table, holding the edge of the table until his knuckles turned white. "Unless of course you want him to go stay with Marcus."

Kael slammed his hand against the wall with such force that I was surprised it didn’t leave a dent, his eyes were red with fury. I’ve never seen Kael like this.

"Leave. All of you. Now!"

"Kael, but we haven’t even—" Slater, started to protest.

"I don’t care," Kael exploded, his voice echoing off the walls. "Just fucking go!"

"Of course, what can we expect from a coward," Rhett huffed. "What are you angry about?"

"Rhett!" Slater said with a warning tone. "Let’s just go."

I wanted to go to him, to try to calm whatever was eating at him, but Slater shook his head firmly and guided me toward the door. Together, we left Kael’s room, leaving him alone with his anger.

In the corridor, Rhett’s security team was waiting for him. After exchanging brief nods with Slater, Rhett left with them, leaving Slater and me to walk back to his room in heavy silence.

Once we were inside Slater’s room, I couldn’t help but voice the question that had been bothering me.

"What’s wrong with Kael? Why is he acting so angry?"

Slater sighed deeply before answering. "Can’t you tell he’s mad at you?"

"Mad at me? But I didn’t do anything wrong," I said, confused.

"After he found the bodies this morning and Marcus confirmed you weren’t among them, he tried calling you several times. There was no response."

"That’s not my fault either," I protested. "Maybe he called when I was in Headmistress Vale’s office."

Slater turned and stared at me intently. "Charis, I hope you understand and realize what you’re doing."

"What am I doing?" I asked, though I suspected where this conversation was heading.

"You’re leading two men on," Slater said bluntly. "Kael is jealous, no doubt about it. He doesn’t want you to be with Rhett because he’s worried Rhett will make passes at you. And Rhett is openly declaring his feelings for you in front of the entire school. You’ve got to stop this before someone gets seriously hurt."

"And then there’s me..." he said quietly. "I still love you, Charis. I never stopped, and I’d be lying if I said your closeness with these boys is beginning to get to me. I can understand the first mistake with Kael, but your kiss with Rhett is trending..."