He led me to a bronze arch. “Your signature will be added to the Academy ports by tomorrow. Meanwhile, you’ll need another student to activate them for you. Polina will deliver your admission packet this afternoon.” He pressed his palm to the arch, activating it. “This will take you back to Bramble Tower. Use the rest of the day to get acclimated. Everyone else has had years to adjust to living in Nightsbridge, but as of tomorrow, you’ll be on the fast-track route.”
“I can handle it.” I made to step forward, but he gently gripped my arm to stall me.
Once again, his touch spawned delicious shivers. I could no longer convince myself that the sensations were in my head, and as his tawny gaze filled with shadows, my stomach dipped.
“Admission doesn’t mean acceptance,” he said. “Violence between students is prohibited, but accidents happen all the time. If you’re going to survive here, find people you can trust and surround yourself with them. Make friends, Anamaya.”
“Friends?” I stared up at him, shivers forgotten. Was he seriously that clueless? “There’s no such thing asfriendsfor an Onyx. Friends betray and lie and pretend not to know you when others find out about thefriendship.” I’d succeeded in making friends as a Denton, but friendships built on lies weren’t real. “I learned a long time ago that an Onyx can only ever trust another Onyx.”
“But you’re the last Onyx,” he said.
“Yep. And trust me, I’ve got my back.”
The Unwoven would be my buffer and Vitra my mentor—until I had my magic and theLibra Veritas. Then I was out of here, truth in hand, ready to tell the world about the lies the Arcanum Imperium had spun.
“See you around.” I gave him a mock salute and stepped into the port.
Damn, I couldn’t wait to get started.
CHAPTER 10
What do we truly know about The Overshadowing? About the cause and the origin? How can we be sure it was caused by humans at all?
EXCERPT FROM TRITON COUNTY DEBATE
Bramble Tower wasn’t just home to the Unwoven—it also housed the Domestic team that kept Nightsbridge Academy functional. I discovered as much when I walked into the sitting room to find the door to my bedroom open, sheets flying about on their own as they laid themselves on the bed and neatly tucked themselves in.
“Miss Onyx?”
I spun to face the young man standing in the sitting room doorway. He wore a flat cap that made his ears stick out, and the cuffs of his button-down shirt left his bony wrists exposed. His trousers were too short, leaving his patterned socks on display, but his shoes were clean and buffed to a shine.
“Me name’s Pip,” he said. “Head of Domestic. We’ll have yer room spic and span in no time. Uniforms have been ordered and will be with you by this evening, along with casual wear and undergarments.”
“Don’t you need my size?”
He gave me a once-over. “No worries, miss, I have a good eye for sizing.” He glanced over my shoulder into my room. “Wipe down the window, Mildred. I want no streaks.”
A cloth materialized from thin air and glided over the window in my room. “Ghosts?”
“We call ourselves Spectral Domestic Assistants—SDA for short.”
“We…? Are you?—”
“Dead? A long time ago. Now, if you require anything—anything at all—you can ask for me at the SDA office on the second floor. There’s always someone on duty, whether you can see them or not.”
Wait a second. “You live in this tower? All of you…specters? Watching us whenever you want?”
The twinkle in his eyes died. “I assure you, madam, we do not spy. An SDA agent will always announce his presence.”
Shit, I’d offended him. “I’m sorry. This is all new to me.”
His face relaxed, and a hint of a smile returned. “Of course. Understandable. The second and third floors are our residences. Fourth and fifth are for the Unwoven. You’ll find ports on those levels. The rest of the tower, sixth floor upward, belongs to Master Vitra.”
Cold fingers of air brushed past me, and I sensed several presences.
“All done,” Pip said. “A late breakfast will be brought to you as you missed the official meal due to your meeting this morning. It will be left on your desk.”
Desk? There hadn’t been a desk in my room. I turned to look, and sure enough, there was now a desk pushed up against the wall on the windowless side of my room, along with a stack of books filed neatly in a small bookcase.
