Chapter 65
Ellie POV
I had officially hit the point where words stopped being words and turned into worms.
They squiggled across my notes, rearranged themselves into nonsense, and mocked me.
I sat cross-legged on the academy lawn, surrounded by open textbooks, loose pages, ink-stained fingers, and the creeping dread of imminent academic death. The autumn sun was warm on my shoulders, but it did nothing to thaw the ice slowly forming in my stomach.
“Okay,” I muttered, flipping through my notes. “Anatomy of the lower respiratory system, dosage conversions, nerve pathways… and…”
The part where if I fail one exam I get kicked out and my life ends.
Ugh.
I tried to build a new study guide from scratch, rewriting topics, reorganizing, highlighting things that the older classmen learned ahead of us. My handwriting was starting to tilt like it, too, wanted to throw itself off a cliff.
Someone drugged me.
Someone filed a conduct warning.
Now if I failed the midterm, I’d be expelled.
Every time I thought about it, my lungs tightened.
The worst part? I didn’t even know if the exam would be fair. Karina had that smug little “I definitely rigged something” look whenever she passed me now. Which meant this wasn’t just a test.
It was an execution.
“Okay,” I said again, because apparently that was my new favorite word. “Okay, Ellie. You’ve got this. Just… learn an entire year’s worth of healer theory plus every obscure trick question they might throw at you in, what, a week? No big deal.”
I planted my face in my hands and groaned.
“Talking to your notes now?” a voice said behind me.
I glanced up to see Sarah standing there with a sandwich and a raised eyebrow.
“I stopped talking to people,” I said. “So this is what’s left.”
She dropped down beside me. “How’s the meltdown going?”
“Steadily progressing,” I deadpanned.
She took a bite, watching me. “You’re seriously worried about this midterm, huh.”
I stared at her. “I have a written warning that says if I fail, I’m expelled. And I have enemies.”
“Okay but, like, reinvention comes with that.” She gave me a gentle shove with her shoulder. “You’re brilliant.
You got into the Healer Academy after everyone said you couldn’t. If anyone can brute-force-save-their- life with flashcards, it’s you.”
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+25 Bonus
I pulled a face. “You really know how to romance a girl.”
She grinned. “I try.”
I sighed and looked down at my spread of notes. Smudged ink. Tea stains. Six different reorganized versions of the same topic. I’d been at it since morning, stomach buzzing with too much caffeine and not enough food.
“I just…” I picked at the edge of a page. “I don’t even know who’s targeting me anymore. I thought it was Vivian. Then suddenly Karina slams a conduct warning on my desk like she’s my personal executioner.”
Sarah’s smile faded. “I told you, she wants Dominic. You were fated mates. Of course she hates you.’
“Ex-fated,” I muttered.
“Not yet. But, point is, she might make the exam harder just to watch you choke.”
“Wow,” I said. “Comforting.”
“You wanted honesty,” she shrugged. “But also, you’re different now. When your back’s against the wall, you don’t curl up. You fight.”
I opened my mouth to argue.
A loud ripple of noise cut through the lawn-shrill squeals, shouting, almost like a wave. Students started standing up, drifting toward the far side of the grass.
“What’s going on?” Sarah asked, craning her neck.
“No idea,” I said, already stacking my notes. “Probably another religious club trying to recruit.”
“You say that like you didn’t end up volunteering.”
“Once,” I said. “That happened ONCE.”
We were still bickering when the cheering got louder. Curiosity tugged at me. I didn’t want to care, but it’s hard to focus on cardiac procedure when a hundred people are screaming like someone just got engaged or set on fire.
“Let’s look,” Sarah said, already standing.
“I have to study,” I protested weakly.
She grabbed my arm and yanked me up. “You can study after we find out what fresh nonsense this is.”
The crowd thickened, students clustering in a circle. I squeezed through bodies, heat and perfume and cologne pressing in on all sides until finally, the center of the commotion came into view.
My heart stopped.
Dominic stood there, right in the middle of it all. Tall, confident, his stupid perfect posture radiating calm. Vivian stood in front of him, chin tilted, hair immaculate, eyes shining with fake softness.
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