Murmurs explode across the room. The fourth-years look stunned, some angry, others calculating. But underneath their reactions, I catch something else.
Fear.
“This is being investigated as an isolated incident.” Constance’s words ring hollow. “Additional security measures are now in effect throughout the academy. Grief counselors will be available in the Trinity Chamber for those in need of support.” She pauses, and the silence stretches thin. “Classes will proceed as normal.”
She sits without another word, and the hall erupts in hushed chaos.
“Delia found him,” someone whispers behind me. “Do you think maybe she did it?”
“First student death in decades,” another voice adds.
“Shut up.” The third voice is sharp and scared. “Unless you want to be next?”
I turn to see who’s speaking, but they’ve already gone silent, faces carefully blank.
Nina sits in her usual place in the middle of the table, a few seats closer to the Emberhearth, and I realize she’s been watching. Not the announcement, not the other students’ reactions, but watchingme.
Her gaze snaps away, but not before I catch a glimpse of that black notebook open in front of her. At the top of the page, underlined twice: “Star touched as G warned?”
Then, quickly, she closes the notebook and tucks it into her bag.
“Speculation and rumors will not be tolerated.” Constance’s voice cuts through the whispers. “We will respect Miles’s memory with dignity, not gossip.”
The dining hall falls silent again, although I can practically feel the unspoken questions vibrating in the air.
“While Logan recovers,” Constance continues, “Margot Ridgeway will serve as temporary student proctor.”
Until he recovers.
My heart clenches, the words echoing through my mind.
Because what happens to someone when their emberlinked partner dies? Miles and Logan have been bound together for over a year, their magic intertwined. Now half that bond is just... gone.
Did he lose a part of himself, too?
I’m yanked out of my thoughts when a girl rises from the fourth-year table, and I have to blink twice to make sureshewas the one Constance called up. Because where Logan commands attention through sheer presence, Margot bounces with energy. Her strawberry blonde curls catch the firelight as she bounds to the front of the room, and her smile is so bright it’s almost aggressive.
She’s the girl who was talking to Logan on the first day at dinner, who seemed to be agitating him.
“Thank you, Headmistress.” Margot’s voice rings with the kind of enthusiasm that belongs at a pep rally, not a death announcement. She turns to look at the tables of students, and continues, “I know this is a difficult time for all of us. But we’re going to get through it together.” Her smile widens. “The Blaze Academy family is strongest when we support each other, and I want you all to know that as student proctor, I’m here for you. Day or night, rain or shine, whatever you need.”
Evie shifts beside me, grimacing slightly.
Margot pauses to look at each table again, her voice dropping to what I assume she thinks is a respectable tone. “Now, let’s honor Miles with a prayer to Hecate. Everyone please bow your heads.”
I lower my chin, but keep my eyes open, watching Margot raise her hands toward the ceiling. The chandeliers respond, their flames brightening and dancing in patterns that feel choreographed.
“Great Hecate, goddess of crossroads and magic, keeper of the keys between worlds,” she begins, her voice taking on a sing-song quality. “We ask for your guidance in this time of loss. Help us remember that each day is a gift, and that each moment is precious.”
Someone behind me shifts uncomfortably, their chair scraping against stone.
“Let us use this tragedy as a reminder,” Margot continues, “to tell those around us how much we appreciate them. Reach out to your friends, your emberlinked partners, and your professors. Tell them they matter. Because we never know which day might be our last.”
My stomach churns. Because I know, deep in my gut, that Logan would be horrified that Constance chose this girl to replace him until herecoversfrom whatever he’s going through.
“In closing,” Margot’s voice rises again, “let’s honor Miles by pushing ourselves to be better witches, better friends, and better members of both the student community and the magical community as a whole. That’s what he would have wanted.”
Would he? I didn’t know Miles beyond our few tense interactions, but something tells me he wouldn’t want his death turned into Margot’s motivational speech.
