“Are these the only classes you have? I’ve heard about energy magic, and moving water, and metal control, and—”
He put up his hands. “We teach many magical specialties here, but you will start with these two.”
Fair enough. Best not to put the cart before the horse, as my father would say.
I tapped the wordBane. “I want this changed. That’s not my name. My father, Jeremy Brookshire, raised me, and I’ve carried his last name since I was less than a week old.” I tipped my head high.
His expression pinched, forming a slight frown. “Unfortunately, it was one of the conditions on your acceptance to The Academy. That your…family lineage not be kept a secret from students or staff.”
My face fell. Did they want everyone to hate me and bully me?Girl who might turn into a Nightling any second is sitting next to you at lunch. Run.
“Great,” I said sarcastically. “Is there anything else you’d like to ruin my life with?”
He shrugged casually. “Not right now.”
I actually smiled at that. I didn’t want to like Clarke. He had been the one to hit me with the truth about my ancestry, and I wasn’t keen on knowing all this stuff, but he seemed like a decent man.
“So, I go to Pyrotechnics now?” I asked, praying to the Light that Eden was in that class with me.
He dipped his chin in confirmation. “Did you find everything in your new home agreeable?” he asked.
He cared if I liked the house they were letting us live in?
“Yeah, it’s nice. Would be better with some food in the cupboards, but we’ll make do until my dad can get work.” I waved to him and headed for the stairs.
I was just at the base of the stairs when he cleared his throat. “Fallon.”
I turned to look at him. “Yeah?”
He sighed deeply. “Watch out for Master Knight. Your moth—Marissa Bane killed her entire family. She will not separate you from your birth mother easily.”
I physically felt the blood drain from my face. “And you thought it would be good to give me an entire class with her?”
He turned up his hands. “She’s the master teacher of Pyrotechnics, what can I do?”
My heart hammered in my chest and a thin coating of sweat covered my palms.
Great. Just great.
EIGHT
Master Clarke had given me a campus map, which showed its true size to be way larger than I thought. There was an entire network of small buildings and larger ones that connected via enclosed glass bridgeways, mixed with the rustic black brick older buildings. I was just looking down at the map and trying to orient myself to the Pyro lab, where my class was, when I turned a corner and slammed right into someone’s chest.
I gasped as the person reached out to steady me by grasping my exposed upper arms, just above my gloves.
No.
But no pain followed, and when I looked up into Ariyon’s face, it was like the entire world tilted on its axis. He was touching me, without pain, and it was just as good as I remembered. I saw the recognition in his gaze as surprise washed over him, and he let go of me as if I were made of fire. All at once, I remembered his threat to never return to the city and the cruel way he’d treated my father and me when he’d found out about my curse.
I realized now it was because he recognized I was Marissa Bane’s heir, or cursed daughter, or whatever.
Yet as hard as I tried, I couldn’t hate him. Not because he was the most beautiful man I’d ever laid eyes on, and not because he was the only man in the world who could touch me, but because he’d saved my father’s life.
“Did you get in trouble for the master marks?” I tried for an easy conversation that did not involve why I was here, or how I got here, or how revolted he’d been to learn about my curse. I was sure he already knew. He no doubt ran home and told Master Clarke that he’d met me. He was probably the reason for my arrest at Hipsie’s Tavern.
He scowled at me. “We’re not friends, Fallon. Please stay away from me.”
Then he stormed off, and it was like an arrow to the heart. He didn’t yell, didn’t sound angry. He even said please. He just wanted nothing to do with the evil little Nightling Bane girl.
