Greymoor Academy: I Accidentally Bonded With Four Lycan Royals!

Maisie

I hit the ground hard, face-first.

Pain exploded across my cheek and jaw, but I barely registered it. I pushed myself up on shaking arms, breath coming in short, ragged gasps as I scrambled to my feet.

There was no time to feel pain.

My hands trembled as I wiped at the tears streaking down my face. I didn’t even remember when I’d started crying. Maybe somewhere between running from my mates and climbing through that cursed shelf like a madwoman.

This was insane.

I knew it was insane.

But I had no other choice.

The answers weren’t in books.

They weren’t in the library or the ridge or anywhere my mates could find them. The only thing that might know what Margaret was really planning, the way to stop the world from breaking, was something that existed on the other side of it.

Draw a circle, summon a demon, pay the price, have your wishes granted.

The thought made my stomach twist violently, but I didn’t stop moving.

My fingers brushed against something cold and smooth on the wall to steady myself.

The moment my skin touched it, fire erupted along the corridor with a violent whoosh. One by one, torches burst into flame, casting long, dancing shadows across the stone until the entire hidden library glowed in dim, flickering orange.

I flinched at the sudden light, heart hammering so hard it hurt. The flames felt too alive. Too aware. Like it knew I was here.

I felt something drag down my spine, yanking me forward, towards that part of the library where I knew the circle was.

My bladder felt full. But I didn’t have the time to feel fear.

Seven days.

And if that meant doing something unforgivable, something that might damn me in the process, then so be it.

Because I would rather burn in hell than watch them, anyone I loved, die. I’d seen it happen once with Dad and it broke me. I knew I couldn’t take it if it happened again.

I took a shaky breath, staring at the circle etched into the floor. "Goddess," I sobbed, my hands trembling as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the small, folded piece of paper I had torn off one of the books from my closet as a last resort.

I didn’t know if this would work. Or what the cost would be.

But if seven days were all I had before I lost everything, then I was willing to give everything I could.

Maybe they were right.

Maybe I was truly insane for this.

I fell to my knees and grabbed the broken chalk on the floor.

My first three attempts at drawing the circle resulted in the chalk breaking. Maybe this was a sign not to do this. Or maybe my hands were just unsteady.

I squinted at the pages. "The circle has to be perfect. Any break and whatever you summon within its confines can escape, take possession of you or find its way into the world. Black salt or blood will suffice in the event that the chalk doesn’t work. But be careful. Blood works best for powerful summonings, but it could also bind the demon to you, and it might be able to track you later."

It took half an hour, but I got it right.

My gaze flicked back to the page again and I almost cowered away. "The price: Demons don’t work for free. They may demand a piece of your life force. A memory. Blood. A future favor. Or something deeply personal to you. Finally, knowing the true name of what you’re summoning works best."

I was sorely out of my element. How was I supposed to know the true name of a demon?

I sat back on my heels, scrubbing my hand down my face. It came away wet. "Please," I whispered. "Just... work. I don’t know what else to do."

Nothing changed. Nothing happened.

I tried again, pressing harder with the chalk, retracing every line, but it wasn’t working.

A sob tore out of me. I slammed my fist against the ground in frustration and felt something sharp slice into the side of my palm.

Then, the strangest thing happened.

Drops of my blood rolled across the ground and touched the chalk. And I watched as the blood started to move.

It spread like it was alive, racing along the lines of the circle, turning the white chalk a deep, glistening red.

And the moment the circle closed, every single flame in the library went out at once.

The darkness was absolute.

Then the air grew heavy. Cold. Thick enough to choke on.

A low, humming pressure built beneath my skin as the circle began to glow, faintly at first, then brighter, pulsing like a heartbeat. The light rippled outward in waves, and the temperature dropped so sharply I could see my own breath.

I scrambled back on instinct, heart slamming against my ribs as the near blinding glow intensified.

And then the light exploded outward.

I threw my arm up to shield my eyes as a violent gust of wind tore through the library, whipping my hair around my face. Books collapsed from the shelf and wood cracked behind me.

The pressure in the room spiked so hard my ears popped. For one terrifying second, I thought the circle had broken and this was definitely the moment I died.

But then, the light collapsed inward, and the wind died instantly.

The library fell into eerie silence.

There was something standing in the circle.

At first, all I could see was a tall, broad frame standing perfectly still inside the now, faintly glowing circle. Then my eyes adjusted.

I didn’t know what I expected.

Horns, maybe.

Red eyes, perhaps.

Something grotesque, definitely.

But I definitely didn’t expect to see a pair of... Dior pajamas on the slightly bulky frame with bare feet. And a silk sleeping mask on a face with disheveled brown hair.

The demon tried to step forward and slammed straight into the invisible barrier of the circle. The impact made the air ripple.

It let out a string of vicious curses—all in surprisingly perfect English—slamming his palm against the barrier again and again like he could physically break it.

"No, no, no! Not again! Fucking—stupid—retarded—sod—bloody—idiot—who do I have to murder to have one good night’s sleep? Stupid—moron—"

And when it yanked the sleeping mask of its face, unnatural black pupils bore into mine.

Then it’s face contorted with rage. "Of course, it’s you. Who else would be so foolish? Do you have any idea what time it is? Do you have any idea how rude it is to be yanked out of bed at such an unholy hour?"

I blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of what—who—I was seeing and why he was standing in the center of a summoning circle.

A few weeks ago, I had found a fugitive in the woods, handed him clothes and food, and he’d vanished simply into thin air after that.

And I had considered it just another one of those insane things that happened in my life.

But said man was currently glaring at me through the circle, looking like the only reason he wasn’t strangling the life out of me was because he couldn’t get out of that circle.

A few weeks ago, I had asked Philip Gruer what he was.

Now I knew.

Gruer, however possible that was, he was a demon.