“So much for staying under the radar,” Viv mocked.
“So much is right.” I sighed and pushed open the cafeteria door.
The oak wood tables were empty, as expected during a lockdown. I walked across the walnut floor and into the kitchen, which was off-limits to students. Where everything in the cafeteria was wood, everything in the kitchen was stone or marble.
My muscles were fatigued, my body drained, and I was starving. This had happened often after training sessions with Mom, especially when I fought the creatures she conjured. Our little secluded paradise gave us the privacy and room we needed for such sessions, and I would be ravenous and exhausted afterward.
The food trays had been picked up from lunch, and dinner hadn’t been set out yet. A large stainless-steel fridge sat just beyond a stone island, and I made my way to it. Viv stood right behind me as I opened it.
“Lame.” Viv swatted at the air and walked away.
There was salad, subs, sandwiches, and some soup from lunch. I grabbed a random sub and made my way back over to the island, ignoring Ender, who stood by the door and watched me. I hoisted myself up and began stuffing my face.
“Not awkward at all.” Viv rocked on her feet. “You know what … I bet they’re hiding the dessert in the back.” She went through a set of swinging double doors before I could finish chewing and protested. I would have to yell at her later for leaving me alone with the arrogant air mage.
Ender came over and leaned back against the island next to me. I pretended he wasn’t there as I pushed the lettuce falling out of the sub back in and uncrossed my dangling legs. Even though his shoulders were relaxed and his arms were back against the counter, I was always prepared for an attack. My position made it awkward to fight if needed, but I could easily jump down.
“Level two, huh?” He sounded …amused? I didn’t look at him while I ate.
John had tested us the first day we arrived using the standard test employed throughout all academies. Mom had warned us that someday we might be put in a position where we would need to be tested. She had taught us how to trick the test into thinking we were a lower level by tucking away our magic and only allowing a small amount to seep from the imaginary little box in our chest while our blood was drawn.
Deceiving the test was harder than it sounded; it used our blood and scanned for both the element and potency by using a device that had been made centuries ago. The devices weren’t common because the mages who had created them no longer existed, and the spell had disappeared along with them. Somewhere in the world, there most likely was a group of mages creating a new andimproveddevice.
“Selene …” Ender faced me, his voice dropping as he kept an elbow on the counter.
“Sal,” I said.
“What?”
“I go by Sal.” No one had called me Selene until here, and I had to correct every single student and professor. Then again, I had only ever really talked to Mom and Viv growing up—or the birds and iguanas. But no one needed to know that.
“Moon goddess,” he said, and I raised an eyebrow. Yes, Selene was the name of the moon goddess, but how would he know?
“I read.” He shrugged, answering my unspoken question.
“Or you’re just a creep,” I said.
“It’s a beautiful name. It suits you. I wonder if the goddess was also a spitfire.”
I almost dropped my sandwich. He was grinning, and annoyance flared inside my chest.
“Why did you help me?” I asked, and he took a moment before responding.
“They would have destroyed the Academy,” he said matter-of-factly.
“No—with my books in the hallway.”
Ender looked at me, his lips pressed in a flat line. I held my breath, waiting for the truth that it was for selfish reasons: a ploy to aide his stature or something along those lines.
“You worked up an appetite,” he said instead, nodding toward my almost-gone sandwich.
“You’re a smug jerk.” I took another bite of my sandwich. His apparent confidence in himself, frequently being shirtless, always finding a way to annoy me …
“They have cake!” Viv burst through the door with a decent-sized piece of chocolate cake on a plate. “It must’ve been some teacher’s birthday.”
Viv stopped and looked between us, the door swinging closed behind her. I bet she felt the tension in the air because I sure did.
“Bad timing.” She glanced at me. “Should I go?”
