Chapter 772

Baxter:

We were all waiting anxiously.

All the cards were in Livia’s hands.

If she played them right, we could get out of this mess.

Otherwise, I had no problem shifting into my wolf and fighting a Lycan.

Axe was even more restless than I was.

He wanted to come out in his full form.

That was why I hadn’t taken the wolfsbane that day.

I didn’t know whether the trigger would work on a Lycan instead of the suppressor.

What if he knew about our plan?

What if he deliberately took the trigger and attacked all of us?

There were countless possibilities.

This wasn’t a good gamble.

“You ready?” Daniel asked, handing me my black cap.

I nodded and took it.

However, I noticed he was getting himself ready as well.

“What are you doing?” I asked in confusion.

“I’m coming with you,” Daniel replied, adjusting his jacket.

“No, Daniel. I don’t think it’ll be safe for you.”

I said it out of genuine concern, but I noticed the look he gave me.

It was obvious he didn’t like what I’d said.

“What?” I asked again in bewilderment.

“I’m not that weak,” he muttered, pouting as he looked away.

“Well then, you shouldn’t have cried, should you?” I shot back, watching him look up at me before letting out a growl.

“Well, crying is good for letting out your emotions.”

As soon as he said that, I glared at him.

“This was exactly what the world made people believe. Don’t cry in front of others. You can cry when you’re alone, but never in front of anyone else, because people are ruthless. They never understand. They treat your tears as their victory. And they label you as weak because of it. So never cry in front of others,” I warned him before stepping back and looking him up and down.

He wasn’t actually timid.

It was the way he carried himself.

He always kept his hands stiffly at his sides, barely moving them even while walking.

“Now loosen up,” I instructed, patting him on the back.

He rolled his shoulders back, then relaxed.

“Now come on. Let’s go.”

I didn’t tell him to stay behind because I could already tell he was emotional.

When Daniel and I reached the abandoned school an hour later, we realized we were early.

From the outside, it looked exactly the way people described abandoned places. The walls were cracked, the windows were broken, faded paint peeled from every corner, wild grass had swallowed most of the front yard, and rust clung to the old school gate.

Yet the moment we stepped inside, the silence disappeared.

People were laughing.

Applauding.

Voices filled the entire school.

“They’ve really turned this place around,” Daniel muttered, looking at me.

I gave him a nod.

The hallway had been cleared of debris, and dim decorative lights guided people toward the auditorium.

We followed the crowd, keeping our heads low.

As soon as we reached the entrance, my eyes swept across the massive theater.

The old auditorium had been transformed into a performance hall.

A huge stage stood at the front, brightly lit.

Rows upon rows of seats were occupied by students and other guests.

Hundreds of them chatted excitedly while waiting for the play to begin.

Some held drinks while groups of friends giggled and whispered, completely unaware of what really going to happen that night.

I exchanged a quick glance with Daniel before we slipped inside.

We stayed close to the walls, weaving through the crowd without drawing attention.

My eyes never stopped moving.

The exits.

The balconies.

The guards.

Everything.

Sawyer was nowhere in sight.

“Do you see anything?” Daniel whispered and I shook my head.

“No.”

As we kept moving through the crowd, a sudden feeling settled in my gut.

Something was wrong.

I came to an abrupt halt, and Daniel almost walked into me.

“What happened?” he whispered, sounding confused.

“We shouldn’t be standing among so many people,” I uttered.

“Why?” he asked quietly. “Wasn’t this the whole point? We wanted everyone to see

that Sawyer is a monster.”

He was right.

I stared at the crowded theater.

Then it hit me.

“No.”

Daniel frowned, waiting for me to explain.

“Daniel, we gave him the trigger.”

He kept staring at me.

“Imagine he transitions into a Lycan in the middle of all these innocent people.”

I swallowed.

“You know what a Lycan does. It doesn’t fucking care.”

As soon as I said that, Daniel’s eyes widened.

The realization hit both of us at the same time.

“Oh shit. Why didn’t that occur to me?”

shakiniel muttered, his voice

shaking just enough to tell me he was every bit as anxious as I was.

“We need to get out of here,” I said.

Earlier that day, I’d replaced the water in the school’s sprinkler

system with a mixture of lique

silver and finely ground iron.

I also had an iron-laced silver dagger hidden beneath my jacket.

If anything went against the plan, I was ready to trigger the sprinklers.

But that didn’t mean the Lycan would immediately collapse.

It would become even more agitated and start attacking everyone around it.

Daniel gave me a nod as he realized we were taking a terrifying gamble.

But it was too late.

The moment we turned to leave, Sawyer walked through the entrance.