Chapter 793: The Ward Is Down

"So Elijah offered you the esteemed position of Jameson’s seat, and you never bothered to bring it up with me?" Adele raised the issue the moment they stepped out of Jameson’s office.

Micah replied, "I didn’t think it was a big deal. Not when I had no intention of accepting it."

"Not a big deal, eh?" Adele stopped abruptly in the hallway, forcing Micah to halt a few steps ahead when he realized she wasn’t following him.

He turned with a grimace. "What are you doing, Adele?"

"I’m just standing in the middle of the hallway," Adele replied sarcastically. "I don’t think it’s a big deal."

Micah walked back toward her and lowered his voice. "This is the freaking hallway, Adele. I don’t think it’s the right place to have an argument when there’s a chance a student might walk in on us."

But Adele wasn’t done.

"And why is that, Micah?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why? Is it because us arguing here would draw attention? Because it would be quite unfortunate if juicy gossip like that found its way onto the Oracle’s gossip blog." She emphasized the last three words .

Then she looked at him, her jaw tight.

"I thought we agreed, no more secrets, Micah."

"Like I said," Micah replied in an equally controlled tone, "I wasn’t going to accept the offer. I only had to make it seem that way so Jameson wouldn’t suspect otherwise and would behave under my threat."

But Adele wasn’t moved. She glared at him, silently waiting for him to own up. They held each other’s gaze until Micah finally broke with a sigh.

"I’m sorry, Adele," he said sincerely. "I really didn’t think it would be a big deal. I don’t intend to be chained to this school forever."

Adele took a step closer and said in a hiss, "While I appreciated your enigmatic nature, Micah, that is in the past. Now we’ve established that whatever affects you affects me as well, seeing as we’re bonded and all. So once more, no matter how great or small, no secrets between us. Are we clear?" she said firmly, staring straight into his eyes.

"Clear as day," Micah said.

"Good." Adele stalked off.

"Adele, wait—" Micah was about to reach for her when a deafening boom split through the air.

The sound was heavy and violent, like that of an explosion. For a second, both of them froze, stunned.

Then the noise of confusion began.

Students poked their heads out first, before stepping fully into the corridor. Staff members appeared as well, voices rising all at once.

"What was that?"

"Has someone bombed our school?"

"Where did it come from?"

The entire hallway buzzed with alarm.

"Come on," Micah said quickly, grabbing Adele’s hand. Together they pushed through the growing crowd and rushed toward the exit.

Except outside was worse.

Since it was break time, it meant students were everywhere across the school grounds, and the sudden noise had thrown the entire campus into chaos. Clusters of students were pointing in different directions, shouting over one another while others simply stood frozen in fear.

Micah scanned the sky, expecting to see a plume of smoke or debris marking the source of the explosion, but there was nothing. Not even a fire or a sign of what had caused the sound.

Confusion settled over him.

"What the hell was that?" Adele muttered under her breath.

Before Micah could answer, a student came sprinting across the courtyard, panic written all over his face.

His voice cracked as he shouted.

"It’s down!"

Several students turned toward him.

"The ward is down!" he screamed again, nearly tripping as he ran. "The ward is down! The zombies are going to eat us all! All of us are dead."

The words seemed to suck the air out of the world.

Adele’s breath caught in her throat.

For a single moment she and Micah stared at each other, the meaning of those words sinking in. Then they moved.

They broke into a run, heading straight for the ward even as the students’ screams rose behind them like a spreading wave of panic.

Micah and Adele moved fast and when

they reached the front gate, they found the two entrance guards already there.

Both men were crouched near the stone archway where the magical ward had once shone invisibly in the air. One of them bent low, examining something on the ground.

The other straightened as Micah approached.

"I just sent word to Jameson," the guard said grimly. "The ward is down."

To prove his point, he lifted something from the ground and held it a shard. A jagged piece of crystallized glass.

Micah’s brows drew together.

Then the man casually extended his hand beyond the gate and nothing happened.

There was no zap of electricity or an invisible barrier forcing him back. The guard stepped fully outside the boundary of the school and then stepped back in again without resistance.

Micah cursed under his breath.

"How did this happen?" he demanded.

The second guard stood up from where he had been inspecting the ground.

"We were inside..." he explained, pointing toward the security booth beside the entrance gate. "when we heard the sound."

He gestured vaguely toward the shattered fragments scattered along the ground.

"Just like that, it broke."

Micah’s brows pulled together. "Broke?"

"Yes. The ward broke like glass," the man said. Then he bent down and picked up another piece of the shattered ward.

"A stunning one too," he muttered.

He lifted the shard toward the sunlight. The fractured surface caught the light immediately, scattering it in tiny rainbows across the ground.

The first guard frowned thoughtfully.

"Wasn’t this thing fixed just moments ago?" he asked. "Maybe that witch didn’t do the job properly."

Micah said, "Whether she did it properly or not doesn’t matter, the point is that we’re screwed. The school has no protection right now, and if a zombie manages to get inside... " He didn’t finish the sentence.

He didn’t need to, now when the looks on everyone’s faces said enough.

"We need to get the students into one place," Adele said, already thinking ahead. "Somewhere secure. Somewhere we can keep them together."

Micah nodded once.

"Raise the alarm," he ordered. "Gather every student in the ballroom. No one moves alone. No one leaves the building."

There was urgency in his voice.

"You too stay with them while I get help."

Adele wanted to protest but he had already pressed the phone to his ear.

"Go." He ordered.

With a groan, Adele ran back to the campus, heart pounding like the grooves of horses.Students were still shouting, some bawling their eyes out like children, while the others froze in place as rumors spread faster than anyone could control.

"Are the zombies coming to eat us?"

"What do we do?!"

Adele pushed through the chaos, her voice cutting through the noise as best as it could.

"Head to the ballroom!" she shouted, waving her arms. "Everyone head to the ballroom now!"

But fear had a way of swallowing instructions and the students did the opposite. At that moment a group of teachers rushed toward her, their faces tight with concern.

"What’s going on?" one of them asked breathlessly.

"The ward is down," Adele said quickly. "We don’t know how long we have before something gets in. Gather the students and take them to the ballroom."

"The ballroom?" another teacher repeated.

"Yes," Adele insisted. "It’s the largest enclosed space in the school. Get them there and keep them together."

The teachers nodded and scattered, calling to the students nearby.

But even with them helping, there was a lot of panic. Too many voices and too many frightened teenagers moving in all directions.

Adele clenched her jaw, scanning the grounds for something—anything—that would let her reach everyone at once.

Then she saw it.

Near the edge of the courtyard, the cheerleading team’s practice setup was still lying on the grass. Pom-poms were scattered nearby, and resting against a portable speaker was a handheld microphone.

Thank the goddess.

Adele grabbed it without hesitation. She turned it on, the sharp screech of feedback cutting through the courtyard.

Heads turned towards her.

Adele lifted the microphone.

"This is an emergency!" her amplified voice boomed across the grounds. "All students are to report to the ballroom immediately!"

"Do not leave the school grounds!" she continued. "Do not wander off on your own. Do not hide in classrooms! Head to the ballroom now. Stay together. Stay calm. Stay there until this crisis is over!"

This time they listened.

Students began moving in the same direction, teachers guiding them along the pathways toward the ballroom.

Relief filled Adele as the crowd slowly began to organize itself.

Then a sharp voice cut through the moment.

"Who ordered you to make that announcement?"

Adele turned.

Principal Jameson was marching toward her, fury blazing in her eyes.

"The students should go to their hostels and lock their doors," Jameson snapped. "Not gather in one place like sardines waiting for their deaths!"

"They’re safer together. Students don’t always follow instructions when they’re in panic mode. But if they’re in one place, there’s accountability and we can protect them better."

Jameson opened her mouth to counter her.

"If you disagree," Adele cut her off coolly, "you’re welcome to lock yourself in your office. Then we’ll see who comes running to save your ass when a zombie gets to you."

Without waiting for a response, Adele turned away and raised the microphone again.

"All students proceed to the ballroom immediately!"