They made it back through the gap in the fence just as the sun cleared the treetops, and Samuel was waiting for them on the other side.
He stood with his arms crossed, expression carved from stone, and the four of them froze mid-climb like they'd been caught in the middle of something considerably worse than sneaking back onto campus. Which, given the blood soaking through Victor's shirt, wasn't entirely inaccurate.
"Explain," Samuel said. Just the one word, flat and cold enough that even Caleb didn't attempt a joke.
Nobody answered right away.
Samuel's eyes moved over each of them in turn, landing last and longest on Victor, on the dark stain spreading across his side. Something in his expression shifted, the anger giving way, briefly, to something closer to concern before settling back into hard neutrality.
"Infirmary," he said. "Now. All of you. We'll discuss the rest after Victor's been looked at."
Nobody argued.
