Gray's POV

"Gray, Gray... wake up," Else's voice rang out.

I opened my eyes in wide alert as I looked around myself. I was in the hall, bodies still laid around us. Instantly, I remembered what happened that got me here. Stella was gone. My father took her. He needed her for his self-destructive plan, and I had to find her before it was too late. Worry filled me as I stood up, feeling a deep ache within in my chest. I gave a cough as I tried to clear my lungs, but they felt congested.

"Where is Stella?"

I leaned on the wall for support as I sorted out my thoughts. "He took her."

Else frowned as she wiped her bloodied hands on her ripped dress pants. "Damn it."

A howl came from the hall and we both knew it was a Darkling calling for help. "They broke through the barricades, didn't they?"

Else nodded as her attention turned to a Darkling running towards us in the hall. She threw a knife at it as it closed the space between us. The Darkling crashed to the floor as Else threw another dagger at it to finish it off. The beast sank to the ground, giving one last howl before smoking, filling the air with a burning smell. "They just keep on coming. They are wearing down our forces."

<>

I frowned as I followed her back to the grand entrance hall. Bodies lay from students and Darklings. For now, the room was silent as the Darklings lay dying as their smoke filled the air. As I met the eyes of the students in the massive room, I saw they were all on edge. These students were never ready for battle. They were told that Churchwell was a peaceful place, so why would they need to be ready for this. They were lied to, just like I was.

"Else, get ready, a second wave is coming," Egrick said as he got his spear ready. He stood at the mouth of the door, looking out into the grounds, preparing for the next group of Darklings that came.

She nodded as she pulled a knife from her pocket.

As much as I wanted to stay here and defend the school, I couldn't. Stella was more important than anything else. I had to find her before I defended the school. "Else, I can't stay and fight. He said he was using her to get to the royal family. I have to find them."

Else sighed as if knowing this would happen. "I'll be right behind you as backup."

The thing was, I wasn't sure if I wanted her behind me as backup. I knew she would pick the royal family over any of us. Her devotion to them was unhealthy and scary. In a war, I wasn't sure if I could trust her with my back.

"Egrick, I will be back," Else said to him.

He nodded as howls grew louder in the distance. "Come back as soon as you can. We need everyone here."

"Any word on the protection spell working again?"

"A few professors are working on it, but you know as much as I do, the spell is complicated and requires a lot of power. Graywick did a good job of breaking the spell and dispersing all the magical artifacts for it. It might take hours before it's working again."

Else placed her hand on his shoulder and handed him a dagger. "I will be back as soon as I can." With that, she followed me out of the room and down the hall.

As much as I didn't want her to come, I had a feeling she knew some important details that I didn't. She might even know where they were. The castle was big, and I didn't want to waste any more time looking for them. "Do you know where he could have taken her?"

"My guess is the dean's office. That is where the Royal family is, discussing plans for war."

I didn't want to question why they were not down here fighting with all the rest of us, but the thought caused anger to rise within me. I saw the bodies, we were losing, and they were hiding in the office, saving their own skin, 'making plans' when there shouldn't be any major plans to make except fight to survive. "Why is it so important that he bring Stella with him?"

She frowned as she got into the stairwell. "Because surviving a Darkling attack as a human entitles her to certain royal benefits. Legally, she has a place on the court if she wants because she Churchwell magic in her veins. But I think he is going to use her to distract them."

"And then kill them."

She nodded as screams filled the halls. She opened her mouth then closed it as if not sure she wanted to tell me the truth. "The thing is, all the Royal family are half-bloods. Every single one of them. You want to know why they cast out all other half bloods. Because they want to be the only ones that hold that power. Half-bloods are more powerful than pure, and they want that for themselves. That is why they have their rules."

Her information caused me to stop in shock. Slowly, the gaps in my knowledge came together, making more sense to me. The more I learned about the Royal family, the more I realized I hated them, maybe even more than my father.

Else turned to face me again. "Gray, I will tell you everything I know, but we really need to keep going."

Silently, I followed her up the stairs as the howls and screams continued. "They are attacking again."

She nodded. "Once we stop Graywick, this will all be over."

Although I was pretty sure not even she believed that statement. My father's wrath was terrible, but the Royal families were just as bad. I think deep down Else believed that herself. Even if we stopped my father, there would be things we would have to fight against with the royal family.

We rounded the staircase and took another flight up. As I took a step forward, I felt something clench my leg and pull me off my feet. In panic, I looked to see a Darkling's mouth around my ankle. Pain shot up my leg, causing me to yell out. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a dagger Else gave earlier this evening, and stabbed the beast with it.

Almost instantly, it let go of my ankle and retreated, but I stabbed it again before it ran away.

"Gray, duck," Else's voice rang out behind me.

Obediently, I followed her command as she threw a knife at the beast. It roared in pain, however it only sank to the ground, giving up the fight.

Else ran down a few steps and checked my ankle with a frown. She looked up at me with careful eyes, waiting to see what I would do. We both knew it didn't look good, but we didn't have a choice to stop. "Can you stand?"

I was fairly certain my ankle was broken, but I didn't mention it. We still had at least two more flights of stairs to climb to get to the dean's office. "Yeah, I can stand," I said as I carefully stood up, making sure to not have any pressure on my ankle. I limped forward as pain shot up my side.

Seeing my limp, Else wrapped her arm around me to help. "We can get up there together."

I nodded as I took another step, trying to swallow the pain I felt.

We made it around another flight of stairs and the pain from my ankle was almost too much to bear. Each step I leaned more on Else for support.

"We almost got it, Gray," Else said as howls came from the staircase below us. Else frowned at me, knowing I wasn't any help, especially with my ankle. "Can you make it up the flight yourself?"

I wasn't sure I could. "Yeah, I can do it."

She nodded as she let go of me. "I'll get rid of them and join you when I can."

I nodded as I took another step as pain resonated through my body. Already I could feel the Darkling poison start to seep into my bloodstream. I just hoped Else had some kind of cure, so I didn't have to bear this pain for long.

The growls grew louder, and I knew I had to quicken my pace. Only 10 more steps to go. Else yelled out and I knew they reached her. Only five more steps. I pushed forward through the pain until I reached the dean's door.

I looked back, hoping to see Else, but she was nowhere in sight. Hoping she would come soon, I opened the door and let myself in. In the large office room, I spotted the royal family sitting in chairs, looking nervously at me. The screams and howls were just a distance noise as the silence overwhelmed me.

The Royal family looked at me with a frown, then looked at a chair that had its back turned away from me. "Where are they?" I asked, knowing that they would know who I was asking for.

"Ah, Gray, so glad you could make it," Graywick said as he spun around in a chair to face me.

I frowned at him with hate. Stella wasn't here, and he knew where she was. "Where is Stella?"

He laughed. "Not even asking about the royal family?" He turned to them and smiled. "This happens when you send people away. They don't even care about you. Funny how life turns out. Gray holds the keys to stop me but all he cares about is his little human girlfriend."

"Where is she?" I asked again, wanting facts. He was right, I cared nothing about them, all I wanted was Stella to be safe.

"She's there." He pointed towards a lump in the corner of the room. 

Almost instantly, I limped over to her side, pushing past my own pain. I shook her, however she didn't move. 

"She's fine. Just a little worn out."

"What did you do to her?"

He frowned. "Why are you always quick to judge me when you should look at the royal family. All of this is their fault, it always has been."

I turned to face them, hoping they would provide some answers to why Stella knocked out, however they were silent.

"Spells went flying and, but lucky for her, I was near and deflected most of them," he said as he stood up from his chair and walked over to the king. He pulled him up by his collar and watched as he quivered in fear. "Now you have to decide. Are you going to let me do this?" he asked me as his hand glowed.

I stood silently with a frown. I knew he was testing the waters, seeing where I stood. The smirk on his face told me he enjoyed this.

My father's attention turned to the king and sighed. "It didn't have to be like this. You didn't have to cast me out like you did. You were the king; you could have changed the rules. I begged you to do it and now look at this, now you are begging for my help. Why haven't times changed."

"Please don't," the king begged as he tried to get free.

I looked at the other royal family as they sat unmoving. I knew some kind of spell held them in place and that was what my father wanted. He wanted them to watch as he finished each one of them.

"So Gray, what are you doing to do?" my father asked, bringing the attention back to me. He gripped a knife in his free hands as he placed it against the king's neck.

I swallowed the lump of emotions I had in my throat. Both were equally terrible, and I think he knew that. Deep down I think he knew I wouldn't save the Royal family, not after everything they had done to me and everything I learned recently. That was my father's plan all along. He didn't want me to spy. He just wanted me to know the truth of all the terrible things they had done. That was enough for me to turn.

Breaking us from our moment was Else's voice. "Don't do it Graywick," Else said as she ran into the room, closing the door behind her. She held a bloodied dagger in her hands, ready to use it if needed.

Graywick smiled at her, then looked at me, as if seeing what I would do. I didn't move as his grip around the king tightened. He shook his head then waved his hand, freezing Else in place.

Else looked at me with worried eyes. "Gray, do something."

Her look of concern made me realize what I was doing. If I let him kill the king and the rest of the Royal family, I was just as bad as him. The Royal family may have been terrible, but there were other ways to stop them. There could be solutions made peacefully. Death wasn't the answer, it never was, and I wasn't a killer. I couldn't let myself turn into my father. I took a step forward, which caused my father to frown.

My father frowned at me as if I did something terribly disappointing. "Nope, wrong response." With that, he slit the throat of the king.

"Dad!" the son called out, breaking the spell that help him in place, but as he got closer, my father sent sparks flying into his chest. Seconds later, the son fell to the ground, dead. He quickly moved to the queen, shooting sparks into her chest, then to their daughter.

In a matter of seconds, all four of the Royal family members were dead at our feet. "Remember, this is for a better future," my father said and jumped out the window, fleeing the scene.

Else looked at me with a face unreadable. She looked around her as her eyes welled up with tears. "I tried so hard for this not to happen. I tried so damn hard. I did everything they wanted, hoping it would help. But all that sacrifice amounted to this."

With a frown, I looked at her, feeling disappointed in myself as well. I could have stopped him. I could have done a lot of things, but I did nothing. And in the end, that was worse. "What happens now?"

"Everything changes."