Dark mages could only siphon from ether mages. It was the main reason ethers were thought to be extinct. I had believed them to be gone, until Selene. They were rare to begin with, but dark mages had been hunting them for centuries, and about two decades ago, they were to have thought to have been killed off. The only natural enemy of dark mages were dragons—enchantments didn’t work on them, and they warded off negative magic like a shield.
They were also known to be extinct.
“You understand what it means,” she said.
Deep down, I did.I am an ether mage.But I didn’t want to process that right now. The entirekill Seleneovershadowed that thought.
“Even if any of what you are saying is true, Selene had nothing to do with any of it. That was sixteen years ago.” I kept the other swirling emotions at bay.
“I stopped once I fully realized what she was to you.” She watched me, like I was supposed to know what that meant.
The door opened and Headmaster John strode through.
“One of our guards needs to talk to Bernila.” He stayed near the door. “I have to cut your session short.”
“Did you know you had a level five ether mage in your academy?” Miss Lee pinned the headmaster with a glare—a side of her I had never seen. “After all, you run the tests. Not only did you let one ether mage slip through, a powerful one albeit, you failed to detect a second one.” Her eyes softened as her gaze drifted to me. “You must protect him. They’ll only keep coming. Especially now, and especially ifsheis here.”
“Miss Lee.” The headmaster pinned her with a deadly glare. “You managed to keep your identity hidden in your background check and for the duration of your employment. That alone is a crime. I understand your need to protect family; however, that doesn’t justify your lies. The reason you are being transferred to a containment facility under the council and will remain there without release is a result of your attempted homicide. I take the security and safety of all our students very seriously.”
Headmaster John pivoted away from her cell and ushered me out.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Selene
Iwasreallystartingtohate the fact that my increasingly frequent trips to John’s office were allowing me to memorize what was on his shelves.
“Are you alright?” John asked for the third time this evening. Despite his eerie calmness, he hadn’t sat since I entered.
“I’m fine.”
I wasn’t fine. My sister could’ve been killed. I thought the safety of the academy’s dome and trained guards would have been enough. It wasn’t even the dark mage who had killed Mom—but it had been someone from the same clan. And they weren’t going to stop. As long as I remained at the academy, Vivian wouldn’t be safe.
“Would you like some coffee?” He went over to the wooden cart and poured himself a mug, the rich aroma wafting over to me.
Despite the excited zing in my brain and grumble in my stomach, I was only here for answers—not coffee. The migraines from the caffeine withdrawal had long subsided, but not the urge to have a steaming cup.
“Did Ender’s grandmother let the dark mage in?” I asked, leaning against his desk. He set the carafe down and strode over to the window with his mug, not showing if it had bothered him that I hadn’t answered his question about coffee. He took a sip as he looked outside, the view overlooking the courtyard, giving him a small view of the training fields.
“I have reason to believe otherwise.” He smoothed the cuff of his collared shirt with his free hand. “She wouldn’t want any harm to come to Ender.”
“But she did want me dead.” If the stick to the eyeball wasn’t obvious enough.
“Dark mages can only siphon from ethers.” John turned to face me. “She would never take the risk of exposing her grandson and getting him caught in the crosshairs.”
“Because he’s an ether mage.” I was pretty sure I felt it when we were in the Academy’s basement fighting off thoseDemonherrats and again after the dark mage attack.
“At this time, we are unsure how the dark mage got past the barrier and how theDemonher Rattustook hold in the academy’s basement and escaped into the library.” His voice was calm, his lips didn’t waver, and his brows weren’t creased. The only telltale sign that this entire situation had upset him was the red-tinged whites of his eyes and the fact he had started slowly pacing. He and the guards had been fighting fiveDemonherrats when the dark mage had arrived, so they hadn’t been able to get to the cafeteria right away. One guard hadn’t made it.
“The dark mage must have had help.” The place was like an impenetrable coconut, strong on the outside but malleable from within. “TheDemonherrats have been in there for weeks.”
John’s gaze assessed me. “You knew there wereDemonherrats in the basement?”
I blinked.Whoops. In hindsight, I should’ve shared that information immediately.
“Mr. Hastings had found the secondary door to the basement unlocked and something had tampered with the enchantments. There had been no signs ofDemonherrats in the basement during its reinforcing. It seems you and Ender had a more exciting trip than we had thought.”
“You knew we went down there?”
