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After dealing with the worst cases in the infirmary, Cassandra appeared in the cafeteria She host, healing people here and there as she went Her nurses followed suit Like a silent wave, they healed and treated everyone in the room

“We did good,” I said quietly “I didn’t think ould, not after how badly everyone freaked out with Owen’s pathetic little attacks last year”

“Everyone in this school has been in the underworld for a while now” Xero’s expression was serious “It has a way of hardening you”

“Or breaking you” I thought of Wyatt and the others who had been sequestered away downstairs “Do you think they’ll ever adapt? The ones who haven’t been handling it well?”

Xero squeezedthat they won’t have to”

I gazed around the room, which hummed with the low murmur of conversation Everyone was quiet and subdued They’d all been through hell That had a way of toughening people up, no matter what their hell happened to be I’d been to hell and back a few times myself

So it is doable Noe just need to e the “back” part

We’d been sitting for maybe an hour—all of us too exhausted to move—when Toland came in and stood at one end of the cafeteria He looked out over all of us soet our attention He’d had it the h the door

?

??I want to commend each and every one of you for the part you played in protecting our school You fought well”

He paused for a o on Dread filledhard

“The wards were not destroyed, but they have been weakened” His lips pressed together under his thick lers at the end of the fight, we don’t know for certain whether any of our attackers escaped, or how they knew to find us here But regardless, there is only one conclusion we can draw at this time: our cover has been compromised”

Nobody gasped or groaned, but the ath the calm Everyone was back on red alert

Toland shook his head “The wards are still intact for now We appear to be isolated here, apart from any civilization, so any escaped scouts will need to travel before they will be able to bring anyone else to us We have time But we have less ti forward Keep your heads clear, protect your spirits, and do not lose hope You’ve proved yourselves to be a formidable army Take solace in that”

A wave of depression crashed through me, displaced almost immediately by a wave of adrenaline