“Pais!”
I lifted my head, rubbing at my bleary eyes. Half of these texts had tiny freakin’ writing. I was going to need glasses ifI kept this research up.
“I’ve been waiting for you for an hour.” Belle’s voice was low and vibrating with annoyance. She placed her hands on the backof the chair opposite me, and I noted how nice she looked. Her hair was shiny and straight, makeup darker than usual and onpoint, and she was in a cute little black dress and heels.
That was when it clicked on, and I let out a gasp. “Holy fuck. I’m so sorry. I got totally caught up in this research andspaced on the time.”
I’d promised that I’d ditch the library for one night and go to a party in the gardens. This one was school sanctioned, soI’d felt safe in attending, but then the library books had dragged me in and time had slipped away.
Pushing to my feet, I started to apologize again, but she got in first. “Honestly, I’m worried about you. You’re obsessed,not sleeping, and barely eating. You look like shit, friend.”
Her bluntly honest words hurt, and I felt the need to react defensively. “There’s a darkness stalking my steps, Belle. I’ve felt it, and I think . . . maybe I’m in danger.” This was the mostI could tell her without coming out with the whole monster thing. “I need to know why and how, so that when it happens again I can deal with it.”
She just shook her head. “I’ve never felt what you do. None of us have. I’m not saying you aren’t in danger, but I think thismight be PTSD from Walter’s attack. That’s all. You need to talk to someone.”
This wasn’t the first time she’d suggested I get help from a professor or maybe a magical therapist. They could use healingenergy to soothe the brain, especially when there had been real trauma.
“I don’t think it’s PTSD.” I rubbed at the ache in my temples. “I’m not crazy. I know what’s been happening to me.”
Belle nodded, without any real emotion. “Okay, Paisley. I get it. But I’m done waiting for you tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She was gone before I could open my mouth to offer another useless apology. Her words, though harsh, were not unfounded—Ihadn’t been a very good friend for a while now. That recent attack in the graveyard had taken a piece of me, and now I didn’tfeel safe in my own life.
The lake I’d excused away, and Walter was a deranged psychopath, but a legitimate monster had me spiraling... and keepingit all to myself wasn’t getting me anywhere.
Knowing I’d get nothing more productive done tonight, I returned all the books and left the library. As I stepped outsidein the balmy night, I basked in the glorious warmth, the chirp of cicadas off in the distance. Party sounds echoed acrossthe grounds, resurrecting my guilt and sadness. I hated letting my friends down.
Maybe I should have gone into more detail about the graveyard attack with her. I’d mentioned that I thought I wasin danger, and that someone had been there with me, but left the monster part out completely, lest she think I was crazier than she probably already thought.
Heat swirled in my chest as I fought my emotions, trying to calm down. I’d been practicing calling my energy and had improvedenough that there was a whisper of talk that I might possibly be a late-blooming spellcaster. I could touch most of the affinities,but I hadn’t found the key to my power yet. It was as if I forced small slivers out through the keyhole, but it was nevergoing to be enough for an affinity.
Dad was proud, glossing over my lack of true active magic. Mom, when I called her last, had been just as excited. “I toldyou, honey,” she’d said. “You will grow into the amazing witch I always knew you could be. But don’t let the pressure of beinga spellcaster get to you. Your path is yours alone, and it will be clear when the time is right.”
Then she’d promised to send a batch of my favorite choc-chip cookies with Dad, and I’d found myself desperate for home, forone of her hugs. The reality of maturing and searching for my future, while simultaneously missing my childhood and old life,was disconcerting to say the very least.
In my dorm, I opened my window for one last breath of summer air and let the moonlight wash through the window. My crystalssparkled, and I picked up the large moonstone piece, with its unusual emerald flecks embedded. This was my most comfortingcrystal, and here, in my room surrounded by its energy, I felt a peace and safety that was lacking outside these walls.
As I went to return the moonstone to my desk, a scream rang out so loud that even in my dorm I could hear it. I almost dropped the crystal, catching it before it slipped through my fingers, and placed it back in its spot. Another scream echoed through the room, fracturing the peace I’d found, and unableto stop myself, I raced to my door and peeked out to see what was happening.
The noise amplified as soon as I cracked the door, and there were dozens of students streaming along as more screams rangout—this was not a normal fight.
Stepping out of the room in my skimpy pj’s since there was no time to change, I joined the crowd. Most of them wore pajamasand confused expressions too. No one knew the source of the chaos.
When we crossed into Aura Hall, the screams were so loud they were almost deafening, and as a shadow reared up, I choked onmy breath, grinding to a halt. A creature filled the hallway, squished down by the ceiling, as it jabbed claws in front ofit. At first glance, it looked like an armored praying mantis, its grasping legs serving as serrated weapons. It was black,just like the last two monsters I’d seen, and it was grappling with a warlock in the hallway.
The relentless screams came from a group of witches, who were using elements and other magic to try to knock the beast offa warlock. I caught a glimpse of Jenna in the group, and panicked that she was about to get hurt, which was the only way Icould move again.
“I’m going to fetch a professor,” she shouted before I got too close, and then she was gone. Alice joined her at the lastminute, and I was relieved that they were out of harm’s way.
“Use air to send it flying backward,” a witch shouted.
The air elementals moved closer together, and the wind in the hallway picked up until my hair flew around me. They blastedthe creature in one shot and managed to send it skidding back only a few inches. These monsters were strong, and as I triedto push through the crowd, my newly procured defense spell burning a hole in my pocket, the monster lifted its head and screechedloudly.
“Watch out,” I screamed, but it was too late. The creature struck out with its grasping leg, the serrated edges slicing through the warlock, tearing him near in two.
If I’d thought the screams were loud before, it was nothing as the blood spattered across the walls, covering half the studentsstanding nearby. It wasn’t just blood either. The monster viciously tore that warlock into so many pieces there was no wayhe’d survive.
As shock and terror held most of the students immobile, I was able to move this time, because I’d felt this before. I knewthe fear tracing my spine, and I knew how to push through it.
