There will be no times at all.
The professors remain silent as they watch the students, and the moment the final word is spoken, the students sit as one. I quickly drop into my chair. I barely registered what’s been said, but one line sticks with me:There will be no times at all.
What the hell does that mean?
Chapter Eleven
~ Shade ~
Before I can ask Kenzie about the ominous chant, shadows slide across the tables, and plates of food start appearing in random bursts when the darkness clears. Beside me, my roommate furrows her brow in concentration, and shadows swirl in front of her. When the shadows disappear there’s a steaming plate of what looks to be some kind of vegetarian schnitzel. It’s decorated with a strange red sauce and accompanied with a warm, buttered bun that smells so good my stomach growls.
It doesn’t take long, and the tables around the hall are filled with food. On the professors’ table, there are so many platters they hardly fit. Raith rubs his hands together gleefully, grinning as he drools over the massive roast closest to him.
“Perks of shadow magic,” Kenzie tells me when I keep staring at her food like a starving puppy. “Imagine what you’d like to eat, and it’ll appear in front of you.”
“Anything?” I perk up, but then I remember what happened when I tried to change my outfit, and my hopes plummet. What if the shadow magic gives me something disgusting, or even worse, somethingalive?The blood rushes from my face. “Or how about I share yours?” I suggest.
Around our table, a few of the students snicker. While they’re not staring at me directly, I can feel them watching me closely, like they’re waiting to see what I’ll do. It’s…unsettling.
“There are bets on your first meal,” Kenzie mutters quietly. “It’s a thing for new students. What you choose will impact what people think of you.”
I snort. “So I’m going to be judged by my food choice?” It sounds ridiculous but going by the serious expression she sends back my way, she isn’t kidding.
Oh, great.
“Come on new girl,” mohawk guy goads. “Let’s see what you’ve got.” The man has a huge steak in front of him, drowned in gravy and sitting with a pile of honey carrots.
“Oh look Tarlaz, we’re just in time!”Elgen’s rasping voice sounds in my mind.“I was worried we’d missed it.”
I jerk my head around, but I can’t see where the shadow is.
“Told you we had plenty of time. Remember, if her first meal has potatoes in it, then I’m the winner,”Tarlaz replies.
I try to block out the shadows’ voices, and my gaze slides to the professors. Even they are staring at me expectantly, like they’re just as interested to see what I’ll conjure up.Great. Looks like I am the nighttime entertainment after all.I wish Kenzie had warned me about this earlier, but it’s not like it would have changed anything.
“Okay,” I mutter, licking my lips nervously. “Easy peasy. Just think of food. Who doesn’t love food?”
Going from Kenzie’s concerned expression, she’s as worried as I am, but I force myself not to look at her.
Taking a deep breath, I rack my brain for the safest food I can think of.Please, please let this work.
Shadows gather on the table in front of me as I concentrate, tingles racing through my body as the magic of my ring activates. An uncomfortable sensation skitters across my muscles, but I’m pleasantly surprised when I don’t feel any pain. The sensation fades, the shadows clearing to reveal a plate in front of me.
A grin splits my face. “I did it!” I shout excitedly, snatching up the chocolate bar and holding it in the air triumphantly above my head.
Tarlaz and Elgen both let out a disappointed hiss in my mind.
“Ugh,”Elgen grumbles.“There’s not even bacon.”
“And look, it’s the chocolate with that disgusting rose jelly,”Tarlaz adds.
I ignore them, because why would a shadow care about food, anyway?
There are a few defeated moans and groans from students around the hall. Mohawk guy slumps in his seat. “Not cool, new girl. Not cool.”
I choose to ignore him as well, because I just conjured my favorite chocolate bar and not something disgusting or weird, and I couldn’t be happier. Grinning, I give myself a mental pat on the back and place the chocolate bar on the plate again.
Across the room, Galen is smirking at the other professors, and I can’t help but wonder whether they had their own wager going on.Unbelievable.
