A heavy silence settles upon the room, and I glance sideways at Maxon and see that his whole body has tensed, as if he is bracing himself. Why is he acting this way? Is it really so hard for him to admit that I’d saved his ass?
The headmistress turns her gaze back to me. “The professors and I have deliberated at length about your future education,” she tells me. “While it would undoubtedly be easiest to simply place you with the first years, we feel that would be unfair due to your age, and the fact that you showed advanced proficiency when fighting those demons.” Her eyes glint. “You are an extraordinarily rare case, Miss Blake. We have never had a new student enroll at your age, never mind one who was raised in the human realm. This is just as new for us as it is for you.”
The hint of nerves in her voice makes the knot of tension in my stomach loosen. Somehow it helps to know that the professors are just as thrown by this situation as I am.
“In any case, we have decided that the best course of action is for you to sit in on classes with the sixth years.”
“Sixth years?” Maxon blurts out. “There’s no way she’ll be able to keep up! Just because she was able to fight off a few demons doesn’t mean she’ll automatically be able to fill in for five missing years of demon training!”
“Quite correct,” the headmistress says. “Which is why she’ll need to study hard outside of classes to catch up. And why you will be helping her.”
“What?” Maxon and I say in unison, sounding equally aghast. “I thought I was just supposed to be showing her around and getting her acquainted with our world!” he says indignantly.
“That was the initial plan, yes,” the headmistress says in a stern voice. “But given the severity of your actions, and the fact that you don’t seem the least bit repentant, your head of house and I agree that this is the best use of your time outside of class. As you know,” she continues, her voice rising to cover his protests, “students are not allowed to go on unauthorized reaping missions alone. We have very stringent rules put in place to prevent the sort of thing that happened to you, and normally such a breach of procedure would result in expulsion.Is that what you want, Mr. Bellator?”
“No,” Maxon says, his face going very white. He’s clutching the arms of his chair so hard I fear he’s going to break them. “No, of course I don’t want that.”
“Then you’ll do as you’re told, and use that brilliant mind of yours to get Miss Blake caught up.” The headmistress’s gaze softens a bit. “You are one of the best and brightest students in your year, Mr. Bellator. I want to see you graduate, and make your father proud.”
“Yes, Headmistress.” Maxon blinks hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. He looks away, and neither of them say anything for a long time.
“Er…Headmistress,” I say, more to break the silence than anything else. “Do you really think it’s possible for me to catch up? Five years of education seems like a lot to miss.”
“It does, but it’s either that or be stuck with the first years,” the headmistress says ruefully. “You may end up having to take some of the first-year classes anyway, but we are going to try this first. After all, considering how easily you dispatched those demons, it is possible you’ll show aptitude in some of the other classes as well.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Satisfied, she carefully tears a page out of the large notebook on her desk. “Here is your class list,” she says, handing it to me. “You will shadow Maxon in his classes for the remainder of the week, and I will re-evaluate your placement after that. There are obvious classes where you are behind, like Reaper History, which will require you to work outside of the class. On the other hand, I don’t think you’ll have much trouble with Human Studies.” She smiles.
I look down at the list. My first class is Demonology with Professor Dalmatius, just like he said. After that I have Defensive Spell Casting, Introduction to Opening Portals, Human Studies: Understanding Humans to Track Lost Souls, and Reaper History.
Holy shit. This…this is totally badass.
“Thank you, ma’am. Or is it headmistress?” Color rushes to my cheeks. “Sorry. I don’t know what to call you.”
“Professor Messor is fine.” She gives me a small smile, as if privately acknowledging the rhyme. “I will have books and supplies ready for you by the end of the day. In the meantime, you two will share.” She flicks her hand, and the door behind us opens, making me jump. “Now run along, you two. You’re going to be late for class.”
* * *
Maxand I slip into the room right as class is starting. The room is set up like a typical classroom, except it looks like a room from a medieval estate, if not a castle. The floors are stone, the ceiling is vaulted, and that same dark paneling covers the walls.
Professor Dalmatius is up at the front, standing to the side of his desk. He’s drawing a demonic sigil on a big chalkboard as we walk in, and a collective gasp is heard from all the students before whispers break out through the room.
Right.
They’ve all been talking about me.
“Ah, Miss Blake. I would introduce you, but it seems the class already knows who you are,” Professor Dalmatius says with a smile. “For those who don’t follow the academy gossip vine, this is our newest student, Miss Addison Blake. Please, take a seat.”
There are three rows of desks, and each desk seats two students. Max pulls a chair out for me and takes the spot next to me. Everyone is still staring as I scoot my chair in, giving myself a few seconds to take everything in. Max opens his book and slides it to the middle of the desk.
The words aren’t in English, but right as I open my mouth to tell him I don’t understand the glyphs, they suddenly shift into legible letters. I lean in, blinking.
“Reapers can read any language,” Max tells me. “Universal spirit perk.”
“Damn.” That would have been a fantastic ability to have when I was in college.
“Getting back to today’s lesson,” Professor Dalmatius says. “Let’s start by naming some of the basics to tracking demons.”
