“Who do we accept among us?”
“Only the brave. Only the strong. Only the best.”
I snorted a little at their slight change from the school’s motto.
The boy in the hood surged forward, his nose almost touching my forehead when he stopped. “House Ruby is the best house at this school. We do not take that title lightly, and we defend it with our very blood. Anyone who will pollute our house name will be discarded like the chaff you are.”
Fairfax had warned me to lie low, play by their rules, stay invisible. Too late.
Lifting my chin, I nodded.
The boy sneered at me and backed away, surveying the new crop. He reached out a hand and clapped Covington on the shoulder, and he returned the gesture with enthusiasm. Clearly he wouldn’t be the one sent home.
I glanced at Vanya on my left and lifted my brows. She didn’t move other than to slide her dark eyes in my direction.
“At attention, hatchling,” barked the hooded boy. “I mean you.” His finger poked at my chest, just beneath my collarbone. The touch felt like a violation, but no one moved. I scoffed at him, but he only leaned forward. “Who even are you?” His eyes flicked down my frame and back up. “I will personally rejoice when your sorry hide is left in the woods tonight with a gag and a bottle of?—”
“Luther,” said a boy’s voice behind him. “She’s here, isn’t she? Back off.”
The boy whose finger was still pressed against my chest lowered his hand slowly, his eyes brightening as he surveyed my appearance once more. Every face now looked at me; I could feel their eyes like the bite of freezing rain on a stormy day.
“Who is she? Someone’s charity case?” said the boy named Luther, his words boring through me. “House Ruby has no room for charity. You should have picked a different door.” He leaned forward, his nose uncomfortably close to mine. He sniffed, cringed, and backed away.
A flush of heat exploded up my chest and neck. Did I smell like a bottomsider? Like the ham we’d fried this morning in our tiny kitchen? Suddenly, I feared I was filling this entire room with the smell of my poverty, and I wanted to turn right around and vanish out the door I’d entered.
“Time will tell who’s a good fit for this school,” the other boy said, edging around Luther, who grunted in a way that sounded both like an agreement and a rebuttal. The boy who’d spoken was shorter, with cropped black hair and dark skin that caught the glow of the single lamp. His handsome features and wide shoulders struck me like a physical blow. He winked at me, and I was rendered mute.
Luther finally turned his attention away from me and ran through the schedule for the rest of the day, but I lost interest aftertourandsupplies. Instead, I looked around, studying the faces of the older students in the room that I could see without turning fully around. They studied us with as much interest, a strange hunger in their eyes that gave me the shivers.
“Our tour will conclude with a demonstration of what you will learn here,” said Luther, turning now to face the boy who’d winked at me. “Shep here is the fastest rider in the school.” He placed a hand on the other boy’s shoulder. “House Ruby is proud of this accomplishment, and we will not give this title up to another house. You are not here for the academics; you are not here for the prestige; you are not here for the opportunities that will open to you after graduation. You are here to win. And win you will, or you will face the consequences.”
Shep cleared his throat, cutting off whatever else Luther had been about to say. “But we’re here to help you win. And besides, the dragons out there never fail to select the best candidates.”
The black dragon had, in fact, deposited meright in frontof the entrance to House Ruby, though he hadn’t seemed pleased about it. I was here now, and I had to make the most of it. Fairfax had said he wanted me to succeed. Perhaps House Ruby was going to help me toward that end.
“Let the tour begin!” Shep said, clapping his hands and severing the heavy tension in the room.
The two older boys stepped aside, gesturing for the other students to file out of the small room through the stone archway.
As I passed, Luther again got in my face, his dark eyes glittering with hatred. “Mark my words, you will not last the night in my house.”
A wave of heat passed down my frame. I’d endured what none of these privileged kids had ever had the misfortune to encounter. I was built of a different material than they were, harder, refined by the furnace of discomfort. He could try to beat me down or to whittle me away, but he would fail.
I flashed him a smile as I passed. The doorway to the left revealed curling stone steps that lifted out of sight. The wooden door to the right was closed. Ahead, where the other students had filed, was a large room lit by gray sunlight and a crackling fire.
At once I thought the fire was overkill. It was still summer, after all. But as we walked into the large room, I realized quickly that stone walls and high ceilings made even summer days feel cool.
An impressed smile touched my lips as I took in the cavernous space, with its stone arches buttressing the ceiling high above my head. Comfortable furniture littered one side of the room, and small wooden tables filled the other. I followed behind the Covington boy as we filed into the large room. Tall windows overlooked sloping grounds. Behind the school, spires of evergreens reached up through tendrils of fog that lay over the forest like spiderwebs. The leather couches reflected the cool light of day, beckoning us to stay and relax. When the last student had entered the room, Luther turned and closed a section of a bookshelf to hide the hallway beyond. The blond girl nearest me sneered. “What, never seen a secret passage before?” she asked.
I shook my head as I turned to catch up to the others. “No, I haven’t,” I admitted. My eyes lingered on the opulent room, but we were ushered out into a wide hallway, creaky wooden floors accepting our weight with loud protests.
“Hatchlings, this is the official entrance to House Ruby,” said Shep, addressing the new students. “Until your initiation period concludes, you cannot enter through this door. You must enter through the exterior door in the courtyard.”
“Even if it’s raining?” whined the blond girl.
Luther and Shep nodded.
I gave a small eye roll, but Shep noticed. His face remained stern but somehow less angry than Luther’s as he swept his gaze down the line of first years.
