Emerald broke free from his embrace, walked over to Yngrid, and nudged her with his foot. “Is she dead?”

“She’s still breathing. Barely.”

He wrapped his arms around Emerald from behind. “Tell me how you want to handle this. Whatever it is, I’ll make sure you don’t suffer for nothing.”

“I’ll take my revenge myself.”

Alaric’s voice softened. “Teacher Greene, when you agreed to be with me, we agreed to face everything together. I swore to protect you. I failed this time, but I won’t let it happen again. At least let me make it up to you.”

“Who said I ever agreed to that?” Emerald muttered, trying to avoid...