I was dead serious.
A thousand-year-old blood mage Raicanya instructor wasn’t something I could handle at the moment.
“Okay,” he muttered. “My people are loyal to him and I was chosen to go to Aynthia to train. That is how I met Saryna. I think Derrick is our only hope of finding a way to save the Realm from oblivion and from this world, too.”
“What?” I asked. “How is Earth a threat to the Realm?”
Saryna glanced at him nervously. “This is a lot to spring on her.”
I glared at her, and she recoiled.
“Have you learned about how mages have crossed into this world, some perhaps, having crossed centuries or millennia ago?” he asked.
I nodded. “Why?”
“It appears,” he said, “that one of them has been recruiting and turning mages into blood mages here, on Earth.”
A chill ran down my spine. “Here?”
Caelan nodded. “And it is not pretty. Humans are not designed to handle it like mages are. Many become monstrous beings that are controlled by their thirst. We are not sure who controls them, but someone is, or they would surely be causing far more chaos in this world than they are. Derrick has been sending mages on covert missions for some time, trying to learn more about their ranks. Right now, we are not sure if there is any connection to The Falls, but if there is not, it could be devastating if they were allowed to enter the Realm. Both worlds would come to an end.”
I dreamedof the night I spent with a prince in another world, under a sky of stars I did not know the patterns of.
Except for one.
But where was he to guide me through this darkness? Or had it all been a dream, far too good to be real?
I lay in bed, dreading yet another day that would drag on, where I would pretend everything was fine.
“Where are you?” I whispered to the darkness.
Malakai had not been found yet and I would’ve much preferred Blake being here with me rather than looking for him. Something about Malakai unsettled me and it wasn’t his careless attitude about harming others.
It was the words that haunted me in my sleep.
“I’ll be back for you.”
When I felt the calmest, I would recall those words, reminding myself I could never let my guard down. Malakai was always there, like the shadows, a reminder that I was never safe.
I spent the next day in the Meridian Hall as students came and went. The activity made me feel safe and allowed me moments to zone out and think of something other than my nightmares. I was recalling every single interaction I’d ever had with Derrick. The signs had all been there. I always thought he was extraordinary, so now that there was less whiplash about mages in general, I could accept that.
But that other thing.
That, I couldn’t accept.
It was too big, with far too many things to consider along with it. I remembered what I’d read. How easily I accepted itwhen I discussed it with Roslyn and Isabella. But now that it was real?
I mean, how could it be possible? How could Derrick be a blood mage? He was the most patient, gentle person I knew, wasn’t he? And a thousand years. That was a lot of lifetimes. Did he ever care about me at all?
I was only in his life for a few years out of a thousand.
Tired of dwelling on the enigma that was Derrick, I decided to spend my day training. According to Corinya, I should be close to awakening my first elemental affinity. Isabella had done it weeks ago with steady progress since. She was already using her everi to speed the growth of a seedling into a flower. It was amazing.
And frustrating.
I was no closer to awakening an elemental affinity than the new Adepts were. Riya and Eli had both been awakened recently and joined our classes. I swore Riya was probably going to awaken an affinity before me and I was dreading the look Commander Everson would give me when that moment came.
Between training and theater rehearsals, I was exhausted. I climbed into bed early that evening, looking forward to the extra sleep when Roslyn and Isabella marched into my room and insisted that I get dressed.
