I frantically search out Kel in the crowd, and it doesn’t take long to find him. He’s standing beside my father, a vicious smirk on his face as my father claps him on the shoulder, no doubt congratulating him on a job well done. My hands are tied. If I warn Graeme about the impending attack, I confirm their suspicions. They’ll know for certain that I can read minds. But I can’t sit idly by while the safe house is attacked.
“They know,” I say meekly, my voice thick as I force it around the lump in my throat. “They caught me.”
“That doesn’t matter right now,” Ian says while Cassian texts Graeme. “You’ve done the right thing, my darling. Theonlyright thing.”
“We should go,” I plead. “Please say we can. I can’t be here any longer.”
Especially as my father starts toward me, the crowd of guests parting for him as he strides toward me. I try to slip in beside Ian as the headmaster takes the stage to make his annual Lunaria address, but my father is as fast as a viper. He grabs my hand and puts it on his outstretched arm, and I dutifully slip in beside him, shooting my pack a quelling look. Whatever my father has in store for me, I can manage it. I can withstand his cruelty just as I have for years.
Headmaster Langford taps the mic with the tips of his fingers, then beams out at the crowd, utterly unaware ofwhat has transpired—and what will transpire at any moment. Saints, I pray, let the omegas be safe. Let Graeme and Jack be safe.
“Tonight, on this blessed Feast of Lunaria, we gather to celebrate the changing of the seasons and welcome all the blessings that spring bestows upon us. I’m extraordinarily pleased to announce the first of many blessings. Matthew McNamara, an outstanding caster and scholar, joins the Fairhaven Academy faculty as our newest Casting professor. I hope you’ll all welcome him warmly…”
The headmaster’s words fade out as my head begins to swim. I was wrong to think I could tolerate my father’s cruelty. Not with what he knows now. He pushes his thoughts into my mind, just as Kel did, and I’m helpless, unable to guard my mind to stop him. I see scalpels piercing bare skin, the welling of ruby-red blood. Bare bodies piling up.
I try to shake off the brutal images and turn my attention back to the headmaster’s speech, focusing on his words with all my might.
“Tonight, we honor the tremendous accomplishments of our graduating class of seniors. These mages have already lived through unprecedented times, and we’ll soon see them off into a world so unlike the one they knew when they entered our academy’s hallowed halls. These brilliant young scholars and mages have defended their classmates against evils that have struck at the very heart of the academy we all hold so dear. They have fought back against the pernicious evils that have emerged and poisoned our fine institution.”
IV tubes snaking into skin. Glowing sigils so familiar they make me sway in my stilettos. A scribe. A scalpel. An omega with a serial number on her shoulder, etched there in dark black ink, fighting three Soldiers of Saint Aldous.
“This graduating class,” the headmaster continues, “trulyembodies our academy’s founding virtue of courage. They are guided and strengthened by it, and it is my sincerest hope that they’ll be able to draw on this courage as they continue to seek justice during these dark, dark times. I am heartened that it is this class of talented mages we send out into the world, heartened that it is this class of mages who will join our fight to protect freedom for all. These young men and women have worked hard to become the mages they are today, and I wish them, and all of us assembled tonight, what I do every graduating Fairhaven Academy class: Lux nostra virtute per tempestas.”
Students and alumni alike recite the academy motto in response.
Let our courage light our way through the storm.
Flames and ash and bodies, burning.
A headache pounds at my temple, and my head spins. Dizziness overtakes me, and I swoon, sinking to the floor just as the final words of the chanted motto ring out.
My father glares down at me, a vindictive smile in his eyes. “Stay down, witch.”
CHAPTER THREE
Whispers travel through the ballroom like wildfire as all eyes turn to me. Cassian and Ian immediately come to my aid, helping me stand. Ian dabs blood away from my nose with a handkerchief, then guides me through the crowd to the edge of the hall. I duck my head to avoid the stares directed my way, causing another drop of blood to drip from my nose and onto my gown.
“Easy there, my darling,” Ian says softly, pulling me tight to his chest. “Are you all right?
Saints, what must he be feeling through our bond right now?
I force a nod so as not to worry him further, and, in truth, his cedar-and-bergamot scent is calming my frayed nerves.
“Have you heard from Graeme?” I murmur to my first mate, but Cassian only shakes his head.
Holding my head high again, I scan the room, and my eyes land on Kel, who’s engrossed in something on his phone. When he looks up and meets my father’s eyes, he nods, flashing him a victorious smile. I’m tempted to reachout with my affinity to see what Kel read from his phone, but my head is throbbing from their invasions.
My father regards me shrewdly, a faint smile gracing his lips.
“I suspect the raid has begun,” Ian says quietly when Simon and Luca join us at the edge of the ballroom.
Then, I’m surrounded not just by my own pack, but by Doctor Huong and her mates, Daniel and Huy, a soft-spoken Vietnamese man, as well.
“Let’s get you to the infirmary, sweet girl. I’d like to check you over before one of your mates loses his mind. Are you all right to walk?”
Luca snorts derisively, tucks a hand beneath my knees and draws me up into his arms like I weigh nothing at all.
“I can’t go to the infirmary!” I hiss, my voice low as I struggle in Luca’s arms. “We have to get to the safe house. We can’t let Graeme and Jack fight off the Soldiers alone.”
