There's a weighted pause, then, almost naturally, the decision tips like scales. The group leans toward the path of light. Fear makes the dark look too much like suicide, no matter what logic says.
The herd begins to shuffle, bodies moving as one toward the glowing path. Shoes scuff on the stone floor. The sound of their nervous chatter builds like buzzing bees.
Heidi doesn't move.
Amias's words echo in her skull: Not everything in here is what it seems.
She inhales, unease rolling through her like cold fog. Her feet feel glued to the ground. Her wolf stirs, hackles prickling. "I love danger, but I wouldn't want us to die, Heidi. So maybe stop your minions, huh?"
Heidi doesn't even realize she's opened her mouth until the word bursts out: "Wait!"
The stir it causes is immediate. Dozens of students halt in their tracks, twisting back toward her with impatience scrawled across their faces. The silence is heavy with irritation.
