~ Manhunt ~
When the wall finally slid to the side and Hanghard walked in, I jumped out of my seat. “Is Knight okay?”
He glared at me and then looked at his headmaster. “Armstrong got away. I lost him near the front. He may have fled the school entirely, but I doubt it. With that arm, he wouldn’t be able to survive out there.”
I stared at his master, hoping he’d finally let me go. Then maybe my headmaster could tell me how Luke was doing.
“I’ll alert both schools and send guards to the tunnels and out on the grounds,” the headmaster said. “He must be found. In the meantime, I need you to take her to her headmaster. Tell him not to let her out of his sight until I join him. It’ll be Knight’s request that she be kept alive and safe when he wakes up. Nothing can happen to her.” I could tell he resented Luke for that.
I could also tell that Hanghard resented having to look after me, as he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the open wall.
“Use your shadow suits, both of you,” his headmaster said, walking out of the room behind us. Hanghard and I looked at each other as we did what we were told. His grip tightened, making me want to cry, but I held it in. We all walked together until we entered the dining hall.
The delicious smells and the sight of my schoolmates laughing and eating breakfast filled me with joy. Until then, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see them again. It felt like the nightmare of the last two weeks was finally coming to an end. If only Roman wasn’t still out there and I knew Luke would be all right...
I’d never wished death on another person, but I did at that moment. As long as Roman was alive, Luke was in danger. I hoped the Cinders would get to him before we did.
Tobias walked to his brother at their table and leaned down to whisper something in his ear.
Seeing my headmaster made me smile. I’d missed him and his fatherly way more than I can put into words.
His eyes became wide as he looked in my general direction. Then he got out of his seat swiftly and hurried toward his office. Hanghard pulled me along behind him.
“I need everyone’s attention now,” Cinder Headmaster called out from the table, his magnified tone instantly silencing the room. “North Havener Roman Armstrong has been charged with the kidnapping of North Havener Kristine Fayre and the attempted murders of North Havener Rose Jennings, Cinder Titus, and Cinder Knight.”
The buzz of everyone’s astonishment spread throughout the hall. We were halfway across the room, then, and I saw my roommates sitting at our table. But they weren’t talking like everyone else. They were staring at the Cinder headmaster, obviously very concerned.
It felt like my ankle would snap as I pressed it against the ground as hard as I could. I pulled against Hanghard, trying to stay and listen, but my feet slid and I stumbled as he dragged me on.
“SHUT UUUP!” Cinder Headmaster shouted. The room got quiet. “Time is short. I need your cooperation. The allegations against Knight and Fayre were put in place to throw Armstrong off until we could be sure it was him. Now we are. If you come across either of these two innocents, you will leave them unharmed. They were only acting as instructed to ensure that we caught the one responsible for threatening our Winter Competitions. I need every one of you, Cinder and Havener, to stop what you’re doing and aid in this search for Armstrong immediately. I must leave now to gather the rest of our students and inform them as well.”
Kids hurried out of their seats to leave the room—some looking confused, some scared, and some angry—as Hanghard flung me into Headmaster’s office and shut the door with both of us inside.
“Where is she?” Headmaster asked as Hanghard appeared behind me.
“I’m here,” I said, turning my arms out.
“Oh my dear girl.” Headmaster hugged me tightly. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”
“My master said not to let her out of your sight until he returns to talk to you,” Hanghard said.
“Yes, yes, of course. Thank you for bringing her to me.”
Hanghard grimaced and then disappeared before he left the room.
“What on earth happened?” Headmaster asked me. “And what’s this about Roman Armstrong?”
“It was all him—everything...”
Headmaster pulled his chair around the desk and sat beside me as I told the dreadful story for the second time that day.
“You’ve been through a lot,” he said, shaking his head when I was through. “I can’t believe Roman Armstrong did this. He’s always had a rather bad temper, but this...I just can’t believe it. What am I supposed to do with him?”
My first thought was to hand him over to the Cinders and let them deal with it, but I held it back out of respect for my headmaster.
He smiled over at me. “I’ll bet you could use a good rest and some ice for that ankle. I’ll call the hospital wing and have them send someone down.”
“Could you see how Luke’s doing?” I asked, grabbing his arm.
“Certainly.” He took his con from his pocket. “Call Dr. White, please,” he said when we saw Connie.
“Calling Dr. White.”
An extremely attractive man appeared a minute later. “This is Dr. White. Oh, hello, Headmaster. Is everything all right?”
“Not exactly. I need a medic to come have a look at Miss Fayre’s ankle. It’s hurting her pretty badly. And she’ll also need something she can rest on here in my office.”
“Did you say Kristine Fayre is there?”
I leaned into the picture. “I’m here, but how’s Knight doing?”
“The Cinder? Well, he lost a lot of blood and we had to take the bullet out of his abdomen. He’s a lucky kid, though. It barely missed his liver.”
“So he’s okay?”
“Yes, he’s asleep right now, but he’ll be fine.”
I let out an unsteady breath as tears came to my eyes.
“He’s in a lot better shape than Roman Armstrong. That kid’s going to need some pretty extensive surgery to repair his arm.”
“You have Mr. Armstrong?” Headmaster asked, as I felt relief in knowing he wasn’t still out there.
“Yes indeed. A couple of North Haven kids brought him in. He put up quite a fight, even though his bones are all over the place in that arm and he’s got a bullet in his shoulder.”
I must have shot him. In spite of everything, this really bothered me.
“Is it true that he kidnapped Kristine and he’s the one behind the attacks?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, unfortunately it is. I’ll be in to check on him later, but right now could I get those things for Miss Fayre?”
“Couldn’t we just go up there?” I asked.
“I’m not sure you should be walking around.”
“It’s okay. I really want to go see Luke.” I could suck it up and deal with the pain. Those few precious minutes I had with him that morning weren’t enough.
“If you’re sure, I suppose we could go up.”
“Thank you.” I reached out to hug him.
“I’ll send someone to meet you halfway with a pair of crutches,” Dr. White said.
“Thank you, Doctor. Headmaster Con, return.” He helped me out of the chair and kept an arm around me as we left the office.
“Oh—just a minute.” Headmaster left me beside the table closest to his office to go back inside. He reappeared with a con in his hand. “My brother refused to tell me where he found this. Wherever it was, we couldn’t track it. But he brought it to me the day after you disappeared.”
“Is that my con?”
“It is.”
“Thank you!” I gave him a good squeeze as he put his arm back around me.
Hunter was already running down the hallway with a pair of crutches when we walked out of the dining area. “Hey, Hunter,” I said, happy to see him.
“Hey, Kristine. Let me help you.” He handed me the crutches and walked beside me, doing his best to help Headmaster in helping me. “How are you feeling?” he asked me as we started to go up the stairs.
“Better, since Luke’s okay.”
“He’s the Cinder, Knight, isn’t he?”
“Mm-hm.” I needed to remember to use that name, even around the North Haveners.
“We’ve got him in here,” Hunter said when we reached the medical floor, stopping in front of the third door to our right.
Inside the room, we found Luke in a hospital bed with a blanket tucked under his arms, looking just as pale as before. It was scary to see him like that.
“Can I wake him up?” I asked.
“Probably not. We had to give him some anesthesia when we took the bullet out of his side, and it’s probably better to let him sleep as long as he can.”
I nodded and moved to the chair against the wall. “Can we wait here for his headmaster?” I asked mine.
“Of course we can, but I still think you need to rest.”
“I’ll get a cot and some ice,” Hunter said before he left the room.
I laid down the crutches and scooted my chair closer to the bed so I could hold Luke’s hand. It was freezing, so I rubbed it between mine until Hunter came back.
“Here you go, Kristine,” Hunter said a little later, pushing a cot through the door. “Why don’t you climb up here and I’ll look at your ankle?”
I moved my chair so he could put the fresh cot right next to Luke before I climbed on. Hunter ran his fingers all over from my toes to my knee. Then he turned my ankle around slowly. I winced a couple of times, but he didn’t seem too concerned about the injury. “It’ll probably hurt for awhile, but I don’t think anything’s broken. You’ll want to use the crutches for the next couple of weeks, though.”
A terrible thought came to mind suddenly. “Will I be able to run in the next race?”
“Uhhh,” Hunter glanced at our headmaster. “Rose ran the last races two days ago.”
“Are you serious?” I stared with wide eyes as I felt hot fear rush to my cheeks.
“Yeah...are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
I looked down and shook my head. Thorn probably wanted me dead. “Did she win?”
“No, her leg was still pretty weak. She lost both races. On the plus side, Nadine’s team won in the soccer competition.”
I let out a breath of relief. Maybe Thorn would let it go, since she’d still won. “How about if I take some x-rays to be sure everything’s okay in there?” Hunter asked me.
“Okay.”
“Couldn’t we let her rest for a little while first?” Headmaster asked him. “She really has been through a lot.”
“Sure. I’ll come back to check on her later.”
I tucked Luke’s far arm under the blanket and decided to hold his other hand, as I lay down and closed my eyes. I didn’t think I would be able to fall asleep, but I was more than happy to lie beside Luke until he woke up.