THE MORNING LIGHT creeps through the edge of my curtains. I toss and turn under my comforter. I’ve been in and out of sleep all night, afraid that if I actually passed out, someone would come in and attack me. I’m fairly certain that this past week is going to make me the lightest sleeper in the world.

Between the guard’s bizarre comment and the terror of Blackwood’s challenge, the events of last night have only compounded my list of fears. Plus, I still can’t get the sight of Stefano’s body, the gasping sound Charles made when the arrow pierced his chest, or the hate in Nyx’s eyes when she attacked me out of my thoughts. If Layla and Ash are right that the Lions want me dead, there has to be a bigger reason than me failing to take the fall for Stefano. Matteo is clearly a more important Bear than I am, and they’re not going after him like this. Ash said that people in this school might recognize me, and all I can assume is that Brendan and his crew must think they know something about me, and that something could be the difference between my life and death. And on top of everything, I’m getting more stressed by the day about my dad and Aunt Jo.

Suddenly, there’s a muffled scream and I launch out of bed so fast that my legs nearly get tangled in my blankets. I shove aside the trunk that I placed in front of my door and bolt into the common room.

Layla already has our main door open, and Pippa’s on the other side in the hallway with a horror-stricken expression on her face and her hand pressed to her heart. I follow her eyes down to the body of the X guard by her feet. His throat is slit and blood is pooled on the floor below him.

“Oh no…no,” I breathe, grabbing my stomach.

I look from the body to Layla, who’s staring at the guard and is so still that I can’t tell if she’s in shock or logging every single detail. She went to Ash’s room last night and told him the guard had threatened me—and possibly her. Now that same guard is dead and laid out in front of our door. I know Ash is fiercely protective of his sister, but even he wouldn’t have done this…would he?

Up and down the hall, doors open and girls peer out to see what the commotion is all about.

I can tell by the way Layla’s leaning that she wants to bend down, probably to touch him and figure out how long he’s been dead. But she doesn’t dare with this many onlookers. I try to focus on anything else, but my eyes keep involuntarily returning to the guard.

“Everyone back in your rooms! Immediately!” Blackwood has appeared, and the girls and their maids quickly shuffle into their rooms.

Layla closes our door, and I’m grateful to shut out the bloody image. I open my mouth to say something, but she shakes her head.

“Not now, November,” she says, heading for her bedroom.

“We need to talk about this,” I say in a demanding whisper. “We need to—”

“What I need to do is think,” she says, and closes her door. Is she, too, wondering if Ash did it?

I hover in the common room for a while, but I can’t make out any talking coming from the hallway. Eventually I hear some rustling and what I assume is water sloshing on the floor, then silence again. I spend the next hour pacing, biting my nails off, and watching the day brighten outside the window. Just when I’m certain I can’t stand another minute of silence, Pippa opens our door.

Her face is red and blotchy and she can barely make eye contact with me.

“Pippa,” I say, wanting to offer her some comfort but unsure how to go about it.

She wipes her nose. “He was a nice man. A good guard.”

“You were close?”

She nods. “He was planning on leaving here in a year and—” She stops herself and takes a breath, like it’s all too much.

She places a tray of breakfast food on our table.

“I’m really sorry,” I say, but she looks at the table and not at me.

“After you eat, you’re to go straight to class,” she says, and, having delivered her message, promptly turns around and leaves.

Layla’s door remains closed. I frown. Class instead of a summons to Blackwood’s office? Not even an assembly to announce what happened? And poor Pippa. Layla was right—something is very, very off.