Page 23 of Of Bone and Ash

“I thought the Ractori line was extinct?” he says before the professor calls on him, earning himself a scowl as Professor Ambrose shakes his head.

“They were thought to be, but recent events have proven otherwise. Can anyone tell me why the Ractori were hunted until they were practically extinct?” he asks, looking around the room. His eyes skim over me like I don't exist as Adam raises his hand.

“It started when a Ractori Elementalist attempted to gain control of the Fae world, sparking a war among the different races of Fae. The Ractori were hunted down after that simply because of the fear the Fae world held of them. Innocent and guilty Ractori were killed in mass numbers until they were gone. After that, Reapers…” Adam hesitates and looks over at me before he continues. “Took control; their magic unmatched since the Ractori had been wiped out. They implemented the Fae council to keep the peace, which is still in use today.”

“With a Reaper still at the head of the council,” Ambrose clips with a nod of approval. “And the Ractori?” he asks, still looking at Adam.

“There have been three noted cases in which the Fae Council has released information about a Ractori being alive today. There is a current project to help integrate them back into society,” Adam says softly, wincing nervously as the professor stares at him.

“That is correct. Mr. Young, right?” Ambrose asks, and Adam nods, earning a pleased grunt from the grumpy man standing in front of us. “It's nice to have students who know what they are talking about,” he mutters, shooting a pointed look at the boy who thought the Ractori were extinct, making him sink low in his chair. “Moving on. Who can tell me the elements a Ractori can control?”

The class moves at a glacial pace; the students sit on the edge of their seats in fear that the professor might call on them. This is not a healthy learning environment, but I have discovered a few things I don’t think even my family knows about Ractori, which makes me wonder who the fuck Professor Ambrose is. I’ve tried to pick up on his magic signature, but he has everything locked up tight. All I can tell is that whatever he is, he’s powerful. I can practically taste his magic wafting in the air. After what feels like a lifetime, Professor Ambrose dismisses the class, and I heave a relieved sigh.

“Thank God,” I rasp, cringing when my voice cracks. Fuck, I need a drink; my throat is dry, and my voice will only get worse from here on out.

“I thought you were about to get kicked out of the class! Professor Ambrose is a hardass, but he must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed or something,” Adam comments, standing and packing his books into his simple backpack with military precision before applying some hand sanitizer.

“Yeah. Must have,” I whisper, shooting the professor a look over my shoulder and tensing when I find him glaring at me, brown eyes narrowed, beautiful face pinched in anger as I leave the classroom.

TEN

Serafina

“You up for lunch? I have someone I want you to meet,” Adam says, grabbing his phone from his pocket and tapping at it as I nod, wincing at my sore feet as we head back down the main staircase.

Damn, I wish I had felt confident enough to put boots on this morning. Why the hell did I wear heels? And why does this damn school have so many stairs?

“Yeah. Lunch sounds good,” I answer, keeping a wary eye out for Teos. I don't want another run-in with him just yet. I know I’ll have to talk to him eventually, but I want to meet on my terms when I’m ready to talk.

Last night, thanks to the help of someone back home, I broke into the school's database and pulled up Teos' schedule. He only has five classes this semester, and three of them are in the castle at the same time as mine. I’m lucky I haven't run into him yet. I knew my plan to avoid him wouldn’t work, so I decided I should at least try to be mature about things and talk to him. The thought both terrifies and excites me.

“Courtyard or dining hall?”

“Huh?” I ask, looking at Adam while trying to shake off the weird feeling I’ve had since stepping into that damn professor’s classroom. My magic seems antsy, and it’s setting me on edge. Adam looks at me from over his phone and grins.

“Do you want to eat in the courtyard or dining hall?” he repeats, leading us outside.

“Dining hall,” I decide. It's a rather odd time of day, slightly after lunch but not late enough for dinner, so hopefully, it won't be too crowded. I have one more class at four thirty, so there is plenty of time to get something to eat.

Adam doesn't answer. Instead, he turns and heads toward the dining hall, his fingers tapping at the tablet clutched in his hands. There is a chill on the back of my neck, which makes me pause on the steps. The feeling of someone watching me reminds me of my dream the other night and how I never talked to Atlas about it.

“Shit,” I growl under my breath as I shake my head and follow Adam as he leads me straight to the dining hall. I’ll have to tell him later. Luckily, it's easy to find the dining hall as we move through another set of double doors. I would have found it if I had gone straight inside instead of running down random halls the other day.

My eyes widen as we step into the large cafeteria. The walls are the same gray stone as everything else in the university, but the ceiling pitches upward in a diamond shape. Its glass panels make the enormous room brighter than I would have expected. Thank God it's overcast outside, or I would need some sunglasses.

Large, white round tables with attached seats are scattered throughout the space. A handful of students linger in the room, but the dining hall is mostly empty.

“Vegetarian?” Adam asks offhandedly as we move to the far wall, where a kitchen is visible behind large windows.

“What? Oh, no,” I answer, looking through the windows and watching as multiple people bustle around the kitchen, all dressed in black aprons and hair nets. It's so different from Black Veil, but kind of cool.

“Great. The cook makes a mean lamb stew,” he says, and I wrinkle my nose. Lamb stew? I mean… I’m not against eating lamb. Uncle Zane is a cook and makes all sorts of dishes, but lamb has never been my favorite, and I’m not a fan of stew. “You go grab a table, and I’ll get us some food,” he says, not looking at me as he walks away.

I stare after him, lost for words. I’m not used to people telling me what to do. They typically leave me alone, and I eat my food in silence.

“All right,” I agree as I readjust my bag on my shoulder and turn. I look around the cafeteria and select a table in the corner of the room. No one is sitting at the tables nearby, and I won't have to worry about keeping a tight hold on my magic.

Tossing my bag on the table, I grab my phone and swipe it open, going through a few posts until Adam sits at the table next to me. I open my mouth, ready to ask him if he needs me to grab some drinks, then pause, eyes still locked on my phone, as foreign magic swirls in the air around me.

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