Page 7

The first thing I hear is a dragon. Not see. Hear. The roar is so deep it vibrates through the stone walls before it reaches my ears. My eyes fly open.

For one wonderfully confusing second, I have absolutely no idea where I am. The ceiling isn't mine. The curtains aren't mine. The room smells faintly of cedarwood instead of the old library back home.

Then a massive shadow sweeps across the window. Something enormous passes so close to the glass that sunlight disappears entirely before returning a heartbeat later. Another roar echoes through the mountains. Right. The Academy.

A grin spreads across my face before I can stop it. "You're smiling."

The voice comes from somewhere to my left. I turn. One of my roommates is already awake, sitting cross-legged on her bed while braiding impossibly dark curls threaded with tiny silver beads. Medusa. I remember her from last night. Maelis Serrane. Or... wait. No. Not Maelis. Someone else. Wonderful. I've known these people for approximately nine hours and I'm already confusing them.

"You smile when dragons wake you up?" she asks.

"I haven't decided."

"You already smiled."

"That could have been fear." I lie.

"It wasn't." She answers.

"No." I stretch lazily. "It definitely wasn't." Across the room, someone groans dramatically into a pillow.

"If either of you starts discussing feelings before breakfast..." A blonde head emerges from beneath a blanket. "...I'll throw myself out the window."

Werewolf. Loud. I don't know her name yet either. She points toward the open window. "Assuming a dragon doesn't beat me to it."

Another shadow passes overhead. She watches it.

"Actually, that might be faster."

I laugh. "I like you already."

"Good." She sits upright. "I'm Rowan."

Finally. A name. "Eirea." I answer.

"I know." She says.

"Apparently everyone does."

Rowan shrugs. "Occupational hazard of having a terrifying father."

The third bed is already empty. Its blankets perfectly folded. Books stacked neatly beside the pillow. "Who's our missing roommate?" I ask.

"The vampire." Rowan answers while searching unsuccessfully for one boot. "Selena." She adds. "She's been awake for an hour. Voluntarily."

I make a face. "Concerning."

"Deeply."

By the time I've managed to wrestle my hair into something resembling respectability, the corridors outside are already alive. Doors slam. Someone runs past shouting,

"I'm going to miss breakfast!"

Laughter erupts somewhere farther down the hallway. I step into the corridor. Then stop. The Academy is awake. Really awake. Students lean over balconies talking to people three floors below.

A fae boy somehow waters hanging plants while walking.

Two second-years race each other toward the stairs, nearly knocking over a professor carrying an impossible stack of books.