“What exactly is the Samhain Trial, anyway?” I asked Eva once I was sure no one else was around.
Eva shrugged as she unzipped the jumpsuit, threw it on the ground, and pulled on her skirt. “According to my parents, it’s different every year. They don’t tell anyone in advance. Mind witches spell ex-participants from giving particular details of their experience and apparently the incantation is super strong. All my parents could say was that it’s like a mini-mission. Like the ones the government will assign us after graduation.”
I thought back to Demonology as I shed my jumpsuit. It had only been that morning, but it felt like much longer—years even. “So we’ll probably battle a demon or rabid fae or vampire.”
“I guess we’ll just have to see.” Eva shrugged. “All I know is we’re gonna be late for Herbalism, Potions, and Poisons if we don’t get moving.”
I glanced at the clock. “Crap!”
I grabbed my bag, and we ran out the door to our next class.
Chapter Nine
My muscles groaned as I lifted myself up off my mattress to close the curtains and keep sunlight from interrupting my sleep. Once I’d taken care of business, I collapsed back into the bed, desperate for a few more hours of rest.
It was Saturday, which meant we had one afternoon class that day—Physical Conditioning, for three freaking hours. It was enough to make me cry, because after only a week at Spellcasters, I was exhausted with a capital “E”. My body hurt in places I’d never thought possible. As for my magic . . . well, I felt depleted, as if I’d run a marathon—or at least what I thought running a marathon would feel like. Since I hated running, the comparison was a theoretical one.
Amethyst had assured me it was normal for someone to feel drained if they were unaccustomed to using magic and then went all out. She said that after a couple of weeks, I should be fine. All I could do was wait, practice, and hope that in the meantime, I would grow stronger and more skilled.
Because it sucked being the worst in my year. And no matter how many mantras or positive affirmations I repeated, there was no denying the fact that I was totally the bottom of the barrel.
The way Diana and her minions looked at me like I didn’t belong there didn’t help to motivate me, either. I simply hadn’t expected to come to a new place and have only a few friends and be so terrible in comparison to my peers.
I placed my hand over my eyes, hoping that my brain would stop obsessing, and just let me go back to sleep. Worrying helped no one, but sleep did.
I snuggled deeper into my blankets and buried my face in the pillow. No sounds came from the hallway or the common area below. I wasn’t surprised. After hours of training and studying every day, my classmates should all be exhausted. If they weren’t, I needed to know their secret.
Minutes passed, and birds chirped outside. I let the sounds of nature lull me, and I’d almost drifted back to sleep, when a bullhorn shattered my calm.
I shot up and let out a yelp of fear. A few pounding heartbeats later, Eva barreled through my door, her eyes wide, and her sleep mask half over her mouth.
“What the shit was that?” she asked.
“No clue. It came from the common area.”
After I made sure I was presentable, we tiptoed out my door. Other students already leaned over the banisters on each level to stare into the common room. Incredibly, a few people were actually down there, studying. Diana, of course, was among them.
However, the person who caught my eye was Headmistress Wake. She stood like a pillar in the dead center of the common room. Blue magic wafted from her lips as she spoke in a booming voice.
“Attention, students! Attention! Is everyone awake?”
Diana’s finger wafted through the air, counting. “Everyone’s awake, Mother,” she said.
I stifled an eye roll. What a suck-up.
“Excellent,” Headmistress Wake said. “I have a surprise for you. Consider it our first workshop of the year.”
Murmurs flew all around. Even Hunter, who rarely looked surprised, tensed. From what I gathered through the rumor mill, Spellcasters’ workshops were eclectic. Apparently, there was always a bartending workshop and a how-to-care-for-your-familiars workshop, but the rest varied depending on the guest lecturers who Headmistress Wake invited that year.
“This will differ from other workshops, but is nonetheless vital. Do your best to make a good impression, and be in the Shipton Solarium in thirty minutes.”
With that, the headmistress gave us a quick nod and strode from the room.
I turned to Eva. “Any idea what we’re walking into?”
Eva shrugged. “Just don’t wear a dress. I wouldn’t put it past them for our first workshop to be something like parkour.”
I groaned. Parkour in addition to the three hour training session later? I hoped Eva was wrong. If not, I probably wouldn’t survive the day.
