By morning, Ravenshade Academy had become a war zone.
Rumors moved like wildfire. It began in the dorms before sunrise, whispered from a girl in room 4C to the senior boy she snuck out to meet. By breakfast, it was on everyone's lips.
Elijah Voss had been expelled.
Selena sat alone at the corner table of the dining hall, a space usually reserved for outcasts and ghosts. Her untouched tray of eggs and toast lay cold in front of her as she scrolled through the flood of messages in the school's group chat.
Anonymous: Damn. Didn't think the nerd had it in him.
Ava Blackwell: Guess even the quiet ones are snakes. Wonder who's next ;)
Selena's hand tightened around her phone until her knuckles turned white. It wasn't about Elijah anymore. The dominoes were starting to fall, and her turn was coming. This was no longer a secret war she fought alone — the whole school was turning feral.
Across the room, Ava Blackwell ruled as always — a vision in silk and smug satisfaction. Her laughter rang out like a bell, sharp and cold, as she leaned in close to Damon Cross. They whispered and laughed, the world bending around them like they owned it. Selena watched their practiced moves, the way Ava's fingers brushed Damon's wrist, the way Damon tilted his head like a king dismissing peasants.
Selena took a slow, careful breath. They didn't know.
No one knew.
No one knew she was the one who slid that letter under the headmistress's door. No one knew about The Thorns.
No one but her.
And it would stay that way.
A sudden buzz in her pocket broke her thoughts.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: Phase 2. Meet me at the underground pool. Midnight.
Selena swallowed hard. The underground pool had been sealed off years ago after a drowning no one ever talked about. Students only whispered of what went on down there now. Deals. Fights. Things that left scars.
She pocketed the phone, her pulse thudding in her ears.
You asked for this, she reminded herself.
---
11:58 PM
The air was heavy with chlorine and something older, a thick scent of damp stone and forgotten secrets. Every step she took echoed off cracked tile walls. Broken lockers, shattered glass, and an eerie blue glow from the water made the place feel more tomb than gym.
Selena crept through the cracked glass doors of the abandoned pool complex. The overhead lights flickered, casting eerie, broken patterns across the water's rippling surface.
A single figure waited by the deep end—the same masked stranger from that night in the courtyard. This time, they wore a sleek black suit, their mask now silver streaked with crimson. The figure looked like something from a nightmare.
"You came."
"You didn't leave me much of a choice," Selena said, voice steady despite the trembling in her fingertips.
The masked figure held out a black envelope.
"Phase 2. Time to make your first real move."
Selena took it, the paper smooth and unnervingly cold. Inside were three photos: Ava, Damon, and Jace Mercer—the school's untouchable kingpin and Damon's right hand. Beneath each photo was a single word:
LIAR. THIEF. TRAITOR.
"You choose one," the figure instructed. "Expose them. Destroy them. But tonight, it must be public. Leave a mark."
Selena's throat tightened.
"And if I refuse?"
The figure stepped closer, voice like silk and smoke. "Then Elijah's fate will look like mercy."
She bit her lip hard enough to taste blood.
"Why Jace?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"Because he's your key to breaking Damon. Ava may be queen, but Damon's her shield. Take him down, and the rest falls."
Selena stared at the faces, bile rising.
Then she pointed to Jace.
"Him."
The figure handed her a small USB drive.
"Plug this into the student council's AV system before morning assembly. It'll do the rest."
Selena clutched it tight.
"And then?"
"You'll get your next target."
The figure disappeared into the shadows without another word, leaving behind the scent of smoke and the faint ripple of water.
Selena turned to the pool's dark surface, her reflection fractured and monstrous. A memory rose, unbidden — her brother Leo's face the night Ava and Damon framed him, his eyes hollow as security dragged him out. She clenched the USB so tight it dug into her palm.
This isn't who you were, a voice in her head whispered.
It's who I have to become.
She didn't leave immediately. She circled the pool once, staring at the broken underwater lights, the long-forgotten lifeguard chair, and the mural of a phoenix peeling from the far wall. The smell of chlorine was suffocating.
A sound behind her made her freeze. A faint shuffle, like someone watching.
Selena whipped around, heart pounding, but the room was empty.
Or so it seemed.
---
The Next Morning — Assembly Hall
Ravenshade's assembly hall was packed. The students buzzed like a hornet's nest, faculty perched at the edges like vultures. The headmistress's chair sat ominously empty.
Selena moved like a ghost.
Ava and Damon sat in the front row, smug and unbothered. Jace occupied his usual throne at the end of their row, lording over his kingdom of shadows.
Selena made her way to the AV booth, every nerve in her body screaming.
She hesitated.
Do it.
Her fingers trembled as she slid the USB into the console.
Play.
A screech of static filled the room.
The screens flickered.
Then a video.
Jace Mercer, caught on security footage, exchanging cash-stuffed envelopes behind the library with a known expelled student. Audio crackled.
Jace: Tell Ava it's done. Damon's father will be ruined by Monday. No one crosses us and walks away.
The room exploded.
Gasps. Shouts. Phones whipped out. Chairs scraped.
"What the hell—"
Jace shot to his feet, color draining from his face.
"Turn it off!" Damon bellowed.
But it was too late. Faculty stormed the stage. Security closed in. In seconds, Jace was surrounded.
Selena watched from the back, her lips curling into a cold smile.
Across the hall, Ava's gaze locked onto hers.
And for the first time, the queen looked afraid.
Selena's phone buzzed.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: Final initiation. Tonight. The rooftop. Bring a blade.
Selena's blood turned to ice.
A blade?
Her phone buzzed again.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: And bring Ava.
Selena stared at the message, her pulse roaring in her ears.
Her gaze shifted back to Ava, who sat pale and furious, her facade cracking.
This is it.
Ava had taken everything from her. Humiliated her. Destroyed her brother. Stolen everything she cared about.
And now?
Now she was being delivered to Selena like prey.
Selena stood, slipped out of the assembly, and into the storm brewing outside. Thunder rumbled overhead as the first drops of rain fell, cold against her skin.
She raised her phone.
Selena: Midnight. Rooftop. Don't be late, Ava.
And then, for the first time in years, Selena laughed.
A hard, dark, dangerous laugh.
She knew exactly how she was going to end this.