The pair were outnumbered; we all were.

We needed the ratios to change. I needed to stop this damn song.

Blood rushed in my ears as I sprinted forward, bumping the inert Evil Barbie—totally by accident—and I forced my attention to narrow until only my target existed. Sorry, selkie, your show is getting canceled.

“Nai!” Rage yelled, his voice buzzing in the distance, a mixture of panic or anger. “Stay put!”

No time for chitchat. I didn’t care if he approved of my battle plans.

Tipping my wrist back, I flicked the kitchen blade just as I had a billion times in the woods of Montana. The slender silver knife sang as it sliced through the air, and the female selkie’s voice became a wet gurgle as a thin line of blood beaded on the right side of her neck. Her eyes widened, and she clutched her throat. The strike had hit true, just as deadly as Rage’s.

Within seconds, the rest of the cafeteria roared to life, no longer frozen.

I pivoted to get to Honor and Noble, and pain exploded up my arm. My vision turned white, and I screamed. Agony pulsed up my arm; my fingers went limp as the machete tumbled from my grasp, clattering on the ground.

Blood ran from my elbow to fingers, and I clutched the injury and spun … to see a Siren warrior bringing his blade up for a death strike. I flinched, preparing for the blow, but the pain never came.

There was a wet thwack followed by a thud at my feet. My eyes sprang open to see Kaja standing over the selkie. She pulled the blade from his body and held it out to me.

Total BFF.

“Thanks, girl.” I snatched it from her and spun, bolting for Noble and Honor. Thank the mage that the selkie warrior only grazed my arm, or I might be missing it right now.

Darting through the melee, I pushed away those rousing from their cursed sleep until I reached my two favorite Midnight boys.

One selkie lay on the ground, blood pooling beneath him, but the other three were raining blows onto Honor and Noble. At any given second, it was two on one, and I tried to assess which brother was in more need of help.

Noble slid his weapon out from underneath the selkie’s and went on the offense. The risk was big, given the numbers, but it seemed to be working.

Honor reached up to deflect another selkie’s sword, leaving a gap from his armpit to his hip.

Time seemed to slow as the other warrior lunged for the kill.

“No!” I screamed, darting forward. I crashed into the selkie, using my momentum to drive the machete into his side, right between his ribs. He stumbled back; the knife dropped from his hand, and then he slumped to the ground, pulling me down with him. I released my hold on the machete and scrambled off the warrior. Climbing to my feet, I stared at the gore pooling beneath him.

Holy mage. I…

The selkie’s eyes widened, and he grabbed for the blade, but his fingers slipped from the slick surface. Without considering my actions, I reached forward, and in one swift movement, I yanked the weapon out and … dropped it.

Bile burned the back of my throat. My stomach churned. I spun away from the dude with his silvery and pink entrails spilling out of his abdomen.

I had to fight not to close my eyes. I’d been preparing for battle my whole life, only to discover I wasn’t that prepared.

I’d never killed anyone before…

Noble shouted, and it snapped me from my stupor. There were still two selkies fighting to take the brothers down, but now they turned their focus on me. Stepping back, I reached over by the trashcan, picked up a metal food tray, and then whacked the selkie nearest me, right at the base of his head. The edge of the metal cut right into the side of his neck, and he went down screaming. Noble took care of the other one, cut him open like a fish.

Gross. Training with my father did nothing to prepare me for this. Seeing a man bleed out and—

My thoughts derailed as Rage suddenly swam into view.

“What the hell were you thinking!?” Rage grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me forward until my body pressed up against his. “You could have been killed!”

The motion, combined with my nausea, wrenched my insides, and I pushed his hand away.

“You’re welcome,” I growled, stepping back and turning away from the blood and guts for fear of puking.

Around us, dozens of people were shouting, but the attack had died down. No more sounds of fighting. Mother Mage, I hoped the others were all okay. But…

The nausea churned my guts, and my breath grew shallow.

Just like that, in a split second, I took a life…

Saliva pooled in my mouth, and I sprinted for the nearest trashcan. Leaning over it, I grabbed the rim and vomited.

“It’s one thing to train for killing and quite another to actually have to do it,” Noble’s sweet voice came from behind.

I thought it was him resting his hand on my shoulder until Honor spoke.

“Thank you, Nai.” Honor’s voice was barely a whisper, and he rubbed circles onto my back through my shirt. “You saved my life.”

Why were these two so sweet and Rage so douchey?

I nodded and spit the last bit of bile from my mouth. “It’s all good.”

I’m fine. Everything is fine.

Does this school offer therapy?

I’d never seen someone’s insides spill out like that. Even the occasional skirmishes with the rogues were nothing like that. Even hunting with my dad and taking down a deer, I’d never seen insides become outsides. He was young… at most in his twenties… with his whole life ahead of him…like me.

“Come on,” Honor said, cupping my elbow. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“I’m in charge here, Nai.” Rage invaded my space, pushing Honor back. “If I say stay put, you better damn well listen. You pull something like that again, next time, I’ll throw you in the dungeon of my father’s castle for a week.”

Did he say dungeon?

His eyes glowed orange, and I knew his wolf was close to the surface, but legit… what … the … hell? Definitely not my mate.

“Everyone here—” I waved my arm in a wide circle “—might bow to your every whim, but technically, you aren’t the alpha king yet, so you’re not in charge of me.” I was 67.3% sure of this.

Or was he in charge of me?

The fuzzy swirling in my head made it difficult to put a percent on that—maybe not 67.3%, more like 43.9%—but I hated bullies more than I was worried about being right.

Towering over me, Rage glowered, running his eyes over the length of my body, causing my cheeks to warm. “Actually, as first prince, I am in charge of you, along with every other student when it comes to safety.”

Well, damn.

Fury burned away the nausea, and I straightened my spine to get every last inch of height as I glared at Rage. First prince? Whatevs. I offered him a one-finger “first prince” salute. “Don’t tell me to stay put next time, and I won’t have to ignore you.”

I crossed my arms, and my wolf growled. Dude better back down, or his pretty face was going to get up close and personal with my snarling teeth.

Rage stepped forward, and dark fur rippled on his arms. “It’s my job to keep the students at our school safe when the king isn’t around. He gave me that charge. Don’t test me, Nai. Understood?”

Dammit. Maybe he did have some power around here. Where was my rulebook? Probably with my supply list and official uniforms.