Her dismissal was sharp, final, and I couldn’t even be mad at her for it. She was right. I probably did owe Liam an apology, though the stubborn part of me bristled at the thought. Later, I told myself. After the headmaster.

Stepping out into the hallway, I was greeted by silence. The air felt different here—thicker, colder, like the walls themselves had been built to listen. The corridor was empty except for two things: a black cat curled lazily on the bench beside the door, tail flicking in faint irritation, and the ghost lady. She lingered in the shadows, watching me with that same unnervingly knowing look.

“Finally,” she said, her tone wry. “I was starting to think I might actually have to bring you back myself. That was a last resort, though—it would’ve used too much of my energy.”

I nodded stiffly, unsure how to respond. Part of me wanted to question her—how was she here again, why did she keep appearing—but exhaustion dulled the sharp edge of my curiosity. My gaze instead landed on the cat.

I had always loved cats, and this one looked harmless enough. Instinctively, I crouched, reaching out to brush my fingers lightly against its sleek fur. The cat’s warmth grounded me, something familiar in a world that had turned upside down.

“You really shouldn’t be doing that, dear,” the ghost murmured, her voice floating closer like cold air brushing the back of my neck. “I doubt the shifter will like it.”

Her words barely registered before the cat’s eyes snapped open—bright, intelligent, and far too human. The glare it leveled at me could’ve cut steel. I jerked back, expecting claws, but instead the cat rippled. Its body elongated, stretched, and reformed in the space of a heartbeat.

Where the cat had been now sat a girl, legs crossed casually on the bench, still glaring daggers at me. My mouth fell open as my brain scrambled to process what I had just seen.

I threw my hands up. “Why am I even shocked anymore?”

Dropping onto the bench beside her, I buried my face in my hands. My nerves were frayed thin, and the absurdity of everything was starting to weigh me down. The silence stretched uncomfortably between us until her voice broke it.

“Are you okay?”

I let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t know. I really don’t. First, I nearly died from a poisoned dart and woke up to a woman who looks like a better version of Frankenstein’s wife. She’s got this student helper with completely white eyes and bones in his hair. Then the cat I thought was just a cat turned into you.” I hesitated, biting back the rest. And there’s a necromancer ghost claiming I’m one too.

She chuckled softly. “That’s understandable. I heard you’re one of the lost, so you know nothing about anything, really. Which is why I’m not upset you pet me—just don’t do it again.”

“Lost?” I echoed. “I heard the nurse call me that. What exactly does it mean?”

Her sharp gaze softened. “It’s what we call anyone who didn’t grow up knowing who they are. They always knew they were different, but not why. The headmistress searches for the lost and brings them here, to Maze Academy. Because a lost child being left alone… it can be dangerous. Some of the lost might never tap into their powers, but those who do? They can accidentally do something catastrophic. You’re lucky you only tapped into your powers enough to see ghosts, instead of raising the dead.”

Her words sent a chill down my spine. I froze, body tense, memories clawing their way up through the walls I’d built around them. She caught my silence and narrowed her eyes.

“You didn’t, did you?”

I swallowed hard before answering, my voice low. “Once… I had this stray cat I loved feeding. My foster father hated it. One day, he poisoned her food. I found her limp, already gone. I held her, sobbing, while he laughed. I just wanted… I just wanted a chance to say goodbye.” My throat tightened, but I forced the words out. “And then she moved. She nuzzled my cheek and meowed—a sound my little-kid brain thought meant goodbye. Then she went limp again. The thing is… she’d already been dead for an hour.”

“Wow… I’m sorry that happened.” Raven’s voice softened for the first time since we’d met, her sharp edges dulling for a moment. “You should tell the headmaster. She can put you in the right class.” Her tone shifted back to practical almost instantly. “Which reminds me, we really should get going. After I drop you off at the headmaster’s office, I have to head back to class.”

We both stood, and she led me through the halls. The walk itself wasn’t very long, but it felt endless thanks to the constant commentary from the ghost lady drifting at my side. She seemed to know nearly everything about the school—its history, its secrets, even the scandals whispered between generations of students. Normally, I would’ve been fascinated, but right then, I was too drained to care. My mind was still tangled with everything that had already happened. Thankfully, she finally quieted when we stopped in front of a heavy wooden door.

“Alright, here we are.” Raven’s lips curved into a sly little grin. “Just knock and she’ll let you in. Oh, I’m Raven, by the way. If you see me in the hallway, don’t forget to say hi.”

She darted off before I could even open my mouth, her words still hanging in the air as her footsteps faded down the hall. I blinked after her. Who the hell ran to class? Then again, Maze Academy wasn’t exactly a normal school. Maybe classes here were something else entirely.

Turning back to the door, I gave it a tentative knock and waited. When nothing happened, I tried again, louder this time.

The door flung open, making me jump. Standing there was a woman—her scowl sharp enough to slice through steel—who looked exactly like the ghost lady. My heart stuttered in my chest.

For a moment, she didn’t notice me. Her glare was still fixed inside the room she’d come from, her jaw tense, eyes blazing. I glanced between her and the ghost at my side. It wasn’t just a resemblance. They were identical. Mirror images—right down to the way their brows furrowed in the same direction.

Not wanting either of them to notice the way I was staring, I took a few small steps back.

“I want to find what’s been causing those disappearances,” the headmaster said sharply, her voice cutting the silence. “And I will not be accused of harming my own students inside my school. So leave.”

From within the office, another voice answered, deep and low, though I couldn’t catch the words. Whatever he said only seemed to deepen her scowl.

“Leave,” she repeated, colder this time.

A silence pressed down over us, heavy as stone. Then he appeared.

The man who stepped out was like nothing I’d seen before—a creature caught somewhere between human and wolf. His shoulders were broad, his features sharp, his skin kissed with a faint, unnatural bronze. Blue eyes cut across the hallway like shards of ice, and when they landed on me, distaste filled them instantly.

“I thought necromancers went extinct after your sister went missing,” he sneered, his gaze dropping to me like I was something rotting. “But it seems you’ve found another one of those pests.”

The headmaster’s eyes flicked to me, then back to him. Her tone was as sharp as the look she gave him. “Please refrain from insulting my students, Mr. Forst.”

He didn’t answer her. Instead, he gave me one last withering look before finally stalking down the hall, his presence lingering even after he’d vanished.

Only then did the headmaster turn her full attention to me.

“Well.” Her voice softened slightly, though it still carried authority that seemed to fill every corner of the hall. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Ms. Grace. Though I would have preferred you made your presence known before all… that happened.”

“I knocked,” I muttered, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

Her eyes narrowed, the kind of look that made it very clear she didn’t appreciate either my tone or my choice of words. Without responding, she simply stepped aside and gestured for me to enter her office.

My gaze flickered to the ghost, who was still standing at my shoulder, her scowl a perfect mirror of the living woman’s. If they truly were sisters, then something dark ran between them. Something raw.

The headmaster followed my glance, her brow furrowing slightly, as if trying to figure out what I was looking at.

“Are there a lot of ghosts in the school?” she asked carefully.

“Not as much as in the forest,” I said, shuddering at the memory.