The lecture hallwas packed with students, rows of elevated seats rising before me in a sweeping arc. Thick drapes covered what must be floor-to-ceiling windows. A couple of wall lamps at the back of the hall cast a weak amber glow, leaving the room in relative gloom, but even the dim lighting couldn’t hide the ornate wooden moldings that braced the ceiling.
None of the students looked over the age of seventeen. At almost twenty-two, I was the oldest of the bunch, which made sense, considering this was an introductory class.
But still, it was bloody embarrassing.
I took a spot at the front, closest to the exit. As Selethis fiddled with the slide projector, and the class waited for her to resume the lesson, it hit me—I’d forgotten to grab my bag this morning. Just as well, it would probably have gotten lost or damaged out in the borderlands. But now I had nothing to take notes with.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder and passed me a notepad with an ink pen clipped to it.
“You can keep them.” The girl behind me pushed her glasses up her nose and smiled. With her wild, curly chestnut hair and round face, she looked too young to be here.
“Thanks.” I took the items.
The room went dark, and the wall at the front lit up, along with the white crystal embedded in the projector. It pulsed slowly, siphoning magic from the air to power the machine. Machines usually needed to be connected to a grid powered by magi-generators, but now, new inventions with built-in crystal siphons were being developed. They were pricey though, but from the looks of it, Nightsbridge could afford them.
“As you all know, we have a new student with us today,” Selethis announced. “Let’s take this opportunity to briefly review the pertinent facts that we’ve learned over the past few weeks. Who would like to explain The Overshadowing?”
Hands shot up, and Selethis pointed to a boy in the back. “Mr. Robin.”
“The Overshadowing was an event that occurred three hundred years ago. Resulting in the barriers between worlds thinning, causing a merger of worlds. This allowed Horrors and Echoes intoourworld. No one knows exactly what caused it, though.”
I knew this much already. How The Overshadowing had warped technology and mutated certain creatures and insects. I needed to know more.
“And how did we stop it?” Selethis asked another student.
“Wedidn’t stop it,” the girl said. “The daeva did. Beings from another world. Guardians of sorts. They helped the humans and supernals of Nova Terra seal the breaches and restore balance. But the Horrors and Echoes—creatures from other worlds—bred, evolved, and took over the land. It’s why the Covenant is so important.”
“You’re jumping too far ahead,” Robin said. “You haven’t explained the Covenant yet.”
The girl drew back her lips, baring her fangs to hiss at him.
“Enough.” Selethis didn’t raise her voice, but her command echoed throughout the chamber. The silence that followed rang in my ears.
Fang girl dropped her lips back over her teeth and fixed her gaze on her desk.
“Miss Pouvoir,” Selethis called on another student. “Explain the Covenant.”
A pale girl with bright purple hair sat up straighter. “The Covenant was a pact formed by several supernal bloodlines and covens. The same bloodlines and covens who fought at the Apex Breach, working together to seal it. When they succeeded in closing it, they vowed to provide adolescents from their own bloodlines to cull the threats spawned by The Overshadowing. Thus, the Covenant was formed.”
Selethis gave her a nod. “Good. And what was the location of the Apex Breach?” Selethis asked.
“Here,” Pouvoir said. “In what is now known as Nightsbridge. It’s why the Horrors and Echoes remain. The daeva were able to draw them here with their otherworldly power, but failed to eject them all from this world before the breach was closed. So, the Arcanus built wards to keep them penned in.”
There was no mention of daeva in any of the history books that spoke of The Overshadowing. The public accounts focused on the event’s impact on our world’s technology and infrastructure, skimping on the details of what had occurredduringthe event. And when it came to the question of what caused The Overshadowing, all we had was conjecture.
“Carter, name the houses, covens, and packs,” Selethis asked, moving on.
A girl with a sleek bob rattled off a list of names. “The Haematophage houses of Damascus, Vayne, and Moon. The sorcerer bloodlines of Reign, Ironhart, and Onyx,” Her gaze slid my way briefly before she continued. “Packs are Thorn, Indra, and Pouvoir, and covens are Embercrest, Silverthorn, and Evergreen.” She sat back with a smug smile.
“You forgot Blackthorne,” a voice piped up from across the room.
All eyes turned to me—descendant of the Blackthorne exterminator. Great.
“All right,” Selethis said. “Good.” Her gaze landed on me. “We’ve covered a lot in the past few weeks, but you should have been provided all the textbooks you need to catch up. The history of each bloodline and coven is detailed, and you will learn it. Understanding each other is key to a unified front against a common threat. All animosity and conflict must be left outside of Nightsbridge. If we cannot work together, the Horrors will prevail.” She paused and ran her gaze up and down the rows of students. Silence stretched for several seconds as students exchanged glances and hesitant smiles. “There will be a test at the end of the month. Going forward, we will be learning about the pact between land and sea.”
She pressed the clicker in her hand, and an image of a ship appeared on the wall. “Before the pact, we were forced to hunt the undersea Horrors from above the waves. No easy feat, as you can imagine.”
“What kind of undersea Horrors?” someone asked.
