She was really starting to piss me off and Blair and her stupid friends were watching her make a fool of me. I was taken from my home, imprisoned, and sent to this Academy, all without anyone asking my permission. No one cared whatIwanted.
Feeling that anger rise within me, like molten lava threatening to burst from my every pore, something stirred. It was deep down inside of me, in a hidden place I never accessed because I rarely got very angry. Hurt, yes, disappointed, yeah, but I wasn’t quick to anger.
Chasing the feeling deeper inside of myself I was reminded of how Blair grabbed my hair last week and hurt me, and then all at once I felt a heady rush of energy, which caused me to sway on my feet.
With a scream, I constricted my fingers to claws and a stream of dark purplish-orange fire erupted from my palm before shutting off instantly. Shocked gasps filled the room, including my own. All except Master Knight.
She simply dropped my hand, pulled off the glove and let it fall to the floor with the other.
“But…her fire magic is purple,” Blaire said, and I turned to watch Master Knight’s face as she nodded.
“Justlike her mother’s.” Then she looked at me with disappointment, and I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
For the rest of the class I watched the other students practice making palm flames with their perfectly normal orange and yellow fire while I stood there like a freak knowing purple fire was just under my skin.
By the time the bell rang, I wanted to cry with relief. I grabbed my bag and booked it out of there so fast, Eden had to run to catch up.
“Hey, you okay?” she asked me, concern etched all over her face. “Knight can be intense but she’s a really good teacher. My magic has really grown since—”
“I don’t want my magic to grow,” I told her honestly, and Yanric came to land on my shoulder.
‘It took every ounce of self-control I have not to peck her eyes from her skull,’he said.
Eden nodded. “I get that. But from what I understand, it will grow anyway and you need to learn to control it. You told me that, right?”
I sighed. “Right.”
“So you need to embrace it and even though Knight can be intense, she will help you control your magic,” Eden said.
I was too embarrassed to tell Eden what Master Clarke had told me—that Marissa had killed Knight’s family and so now the teacher probably wanted me dead. Even though I didn’t know my mother, I still felt slightly responsible for the things she’d done.
“Hey, hey,” Ayden’s familiar voice called behind me so Eden and I turned, both wearing smiles. It was hard not to be happy whenever Ayden showed up.
“Hey.” Eden grabbed his arm playfully. “Fallon just met Master Knight for the first time.”
Ayden winced. “She’s a tough cookie. Knows her magic, though.”
I nodded. “So they tell me.”
Ayden jerked his head towards the library. “Come on, Fallon, you’ve got tutoring.”
My brows creased. “Master Clarke is still trying to find some—” I stopped. “You?”
He winked and my stomach fluttered. “At your service.”
The prince of The Gilded City was going to tutor me? I’d bet Ariyon lost his mind when he found out about that one.
“Are you sure?” I asked him. When I’d envisioned tutoring, I thought of a younger, nerdier fae who snort-laughed and picked their nose.
“I’m sure,” he said with confidence and flashed me another one of those smiles, the type that made my stomach do somersaults.
“On a side note, Ariyon and I are having a party this weekend. You are both coming.” He pointed from Eden to me.
It wasn’t a question.
Eden grinned. “A famous Madden brothers party? We wouldn’t miss it.”
“Uh, parties aren’t good for me,” I said, shaking my head. “So many people, I could get bumped into.”
