The book was cold until warmth pulsed beneath my hand, matching my heartbeat.
A slit appeared down the center of the cover and spread wide, the volume unfolding to reveal thick, off-white paper. Each page was filled with eight house names.
I flipped gently forward until I found what had to be the current section—names that weren’t crumbling or fading, but hadn’t yet sunk into the page completely.
The space I found to write was small. Barely wide enough for a word.
My hand trembled.
I picked up the pen and wrote:House of Twilight.
The letters shimmered, then sank a millimeter into the page, as if the book were accepting them.
Magic flared over me, through me, around me, and a single, faint feeling brushed my consciousness.
The book closed on its own, pages folding back into the stony cover. I placed the pen down and pulled my hand away.
I exhaled slowly before a door appeared, the slit-like portal I’d gone into at the bottom of the pit.
Taking a deep breath, I held it and walked in.
I hit the icy water hands-first this time, slicing through like a spear. The memory the door had taken of Aura rushed back, unfortunately.
Dad never said the memory would be gone for good…
The maw was still open, but it had moved in more than when I originally went in. I swam up. The teeth slid past my skin without touching.
Finally, I broke the surface, gasping into the bright, warm air. My hair was plastered to my face,
Hands reached down as I swam toward the edge.
“Got you.” Jesper’s warm fingers clamped around my forearms and hauled me up onto the grass.
I rolled onto my back, breathing hard, water dripping off me as my heart pounded wildly in my chest.
The morning sun had just cleared the horizon, and I noticed only minutes must’ve passed versus my hours down below.
Time moved differently there.
A mixture of affection slammed into my ribs so hard from my matebonds that I let out a startled wheeze that turned into a laugh.
“You’re first,” Slater said, dropping to his knees beside me. “Venom baby, you’re the first one to pass.”
Zuko knelt on my other side, his fingers brushing my cheek, eyes scanning me head to toe like he expected me to be missing a limb. “Pretty little poison, you did it. I knew you would.”
Dimitri’s gaze was darker, red irises blown wide with something between hunger and fear. He pressed the back of my hand to his lips, fangs resting lightly against my skin. “Lethal darling, I have never been so proud of you.”
Koa hovered above my head, eyes bright with embers glowing faint along his irises. “You’re incredible, my little vixen. You’resoincredible.”
Drecken’s magic shimmered faintly around his fingers. “I knew you would pass, viperling.”
I smiled at them.
My dad stood a short distance away, near the edge of the gathered professors. His expression was still headmaster-serious, but his eyes were dad-level proud.
“Rune Bloodwyne,” he called. “You pass.”
Mom smiled at me. “Congratulations on becoming an official agent, Rune. You’re assigned as a spy to Jesper Wyvernheart’s squad.”
