Sidonia lifted a practiced brow. “Did she take the antidote for her poison? Or did she take the antidote for another poison?Azul Prusanisn’t water-soluble, Miss Kingston. Even if that were the antidote to your poison, your charge remains poisoned.
“What do you mean?” Ariminta demanded and shoved Hazel away as she gagged again. “It’s all the same poison.”
“It’s not the same poison,” Ara said, her eyes widening as she realized the meaning of Sidonia’s words. “Our antidote won’t work on Hazel, Ariminta.”
The witch’s beautiful face twisted in rage, her voice murderous. “How dare you, Arabella Marudas? How dare you cheat like this? I refuse to be upstaged by some ill-bred, backwaterraritywith no true magical blood in her body. You cheated during your trials and you’re cheating now. Headmistress, I demand an inquiry.”
Hazel let out a dramatic sigh and collapsed, hitting Temperance’s side. The other Kingston triplet looked at the girl in disgust and stepped away, clutching her arm as if burnt.
Sidonia stooped, pulling an unconscious Hazel into her arms, gesturing Lily over. “Miss Kingston, if you are done with your hysterics I have a lesson to complete and if you ever behave this way in my classroom again I don’t care who your mother is, you will be finished at Calami. Am I understood?”
Ariminta shrank back. “Yes. I understand.”
Ara realized she was shaking, and her eyes burned, but she would not let these girls see her cry. She grabbed her wrist where her rose and vine augere bracelet rested, letting the metal dig into her skin, the pain grounding her. They would not have the satisfaction of knowing their words cut deeper than a blade ever could.
Hazel’s body began to seize and foam at the mouth, Ariminta and Temperance screamed anew and clutched each other. Lily went to her aunt and neither spoke, working together as if they had done this many times over, their magic understanding and interacting with the other in a way Ara wasn’t sure she could ever imagine.
Ara endured the rest of class, ignoring the looks and twisted jabs from the other students influenced by Ariminta's accusations. As soon as Sidonia dismissed them, she gathered her things and pushed past Lily and Roxie, ignoring Roxie’s whispered words, and ran from the room, hot, angry tears burning down her cheeks. She followed the winding thread of her magic to where it always led her when she was upset or in need of comfort.
She ran until she found and twisted the handle. The hinges groaned in protest as she forced the door open. The metal rusted from years of neglect. Harsh light filtering in from the glass ceiling overhead greeted her. An overpowering smell hit her next, a mixture of sweet rot and things long forgotten. What was once likely a beautiful, sprawling indoor garden was now nothing more than rows of forlorn stone beds filled with shriveled rose bushes and decay. She sank to the cold floor and sobbed.
Chapter five
Seren Marudas
IfSerendidn’tgetsomething to eat soon, she was going to murder someone.
Well, perhaps notmurder,but seriously injure the next person to interrupt her adamant path to the dining hall. She hadn’t slept well, dreams of her father–alive, happy, and then torn from her–had plagued her through the night. She’d gotten up so late, she missed breakfast and nearly her entire morning class, Rituals. Professor Syphers was making her pay for it, too, with a three-page paper over the content she’d missed on moon phases and their effect on magic.
It was bad enough that she was drowning in Transformation class. The muddy, brown-eyed professor, Musgrove, seemed to have it out for her, but now she wouldn’t get a chance to try her hand at the Pavor wand until the weekend. She hadn't pulled the thing from where she’d tucked it between the wall and her mattress. It demanded an insane amount of power when used and proved to be much more difficult than Calder made it seem. She scowled to think of him,charming bastard.
They hadn’t found what he was looking for, despite spending half the night searching the Tower thanks to the ability his cloaking spell gave them to move undetected through the halls. Still, they’d come up empty-handed, and he’d never explained exactly what sort of object was stolen. By the end, she’d been entirely too exhausted to care, bid him goodnight at the side entrance that led to the spot she met him, and collapsed into her fitful sleep.
“Seren!” Lily’s voice met her as she stepped through the propped doors of the dining hall. She was sitting in their usual spot, a table slunk back in the corner near one of the windows.
Seren quickly made her way over to drop into the open chair beside her with a huff. Immediately, a cup of steaming dark tea blinked to life in front of her. She lifted it, savoring the smell of warm spices, before eyeing her roommate.
Lily appeared just as bone tired as she felt, dark circles beneath the striking amethyst that colored her eyes.
“I hate to be blunt, but you’re certainly lacking the luster you rode in with,” Seren teased.
Lily scoffed, nibbling the edge of a buttered roll. "Well, you're no Electra Levesque either, though your venom would put hers to shame."
A broad grin pulled across Seren’s lips at her mention of the famed Calami witch who was known far and wide for her beauty but rumored to be descended from gorgons—half-snake women in the East. They'd learned about her during their tour on the first day as they’d passed an enchanting portrait of her on the fifth floor.
“Your flattery knows no bounds, blood witch.”
At that, Lily burst into sharp laughter that drew gazes from the tables beside them. She rolled her sleeve back before cupping her own tea for a sip.
Seren’s gaze was drawn to the slight movement. She glimpsed the small silver scars that danced along the back of her arms, ones she'd seen before as they dressed, but had always been too hesitant to ask about. Lily set her cup down, meeting her gaze before Seren quickly blinked away.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare, it’s just, why don’t you heal them?” Seren murmured, plucking a strawberry off the other girl’s plate despite the fact her own was full.
Lily shifted in her seat. “It’s fine, all blood witches bear the scars of our magic. We don't heal them, but instead wear them like badges of honor. And these” —she pushed her sleeves up as far as it would go, revealing thicker, deeper scars that must have hurt far worse—“my parents were–are–very adamant that my older brother and I learn to fight, not only with magic, but with a blade. Zade and I spent hours in the courtyard each day sparring. As you can see, he was the superior swordsman.”
The fondness in Lily’s voice as she spoke of her brother was painful. Seren had once talked of Arabella that way. Back when they were inseparable, and she could never imagine Bella betraying her. Abandoning her.
She had to shake the cold thoughts off. This was a new start. She wouldn’t let her bitterness get in the way of success at Calami. As far as she was concerned, Arabella was simply another peer now.
