Page 20 of Every Shade of Shadow

Fire floods my cheeks. I know those lips and I now know the scar that mars his angular face, surely a relic of magic gone awry. Has to be.

“Ms. Fairchild.” His voice is once more dark velvet, stroking along my senses. “We've been expecting you.”

Humiliation wars with the thrill coursing through my veins. It doesn’t help the whole class has turned to watch me. Their judgement is a physical thing, pressing me in. It’s like I’m back in high school, and I fucking hated that place with its endless social climbers and constant bullshit.

Luckily, I’m too caught up in the Professor, too busy studying the lines on his face to pay attention to any nosey students staring my way.

I imagine him catching me unawares, pressing me into the shadows and claiming my mouth with savage hunger.

Snap the fuck out of it, I tell myself.

“You're late.” He glides closer and grasps my chin, tilting my face to meet his. The physical contact is unexpected. “Such a pity. I'd planned to properly welcome you.” He lets go and walks to the front of the room. “Approach,” he commands, fingers hooking in the air.

I walk to the front of the class.

A whimper lodges in my throat. Up close, he's even more striking, the scent of leather and spice teasing my nostrils.

“Be on time tomorrow, Ms. Fairchild,” he says. “We wouldn’t want any unnecessary consequences now, would we?”

Consequences. The word bounces off the walls of my brain as he strides away and begins speaking. “There were two factions when the Arcane Convergence erupted. The Luminescent Order, practitioners of benevolent magic, believed in using their powers to bring prosperity, harmony, and enlightenment to all. Led by the wise Archmage Seraphina, they were known for their radiant spells, healing abilities, and the creation of certain enchanted sanctuaries that still stand today, including this very institution.”

He lifts a hand. “On the opposing side, the Umbral Brotherhood, followers of dark and forbidden arts, the Black Arts, sought to twist their powers for more…nefarious purposes. Masters of Shadowcraft, necromancy, illusions that struck fear into the hearts of those who dared to oppose them.”

I take a seat at a spare desk at the back of the class and do my best to follow along, but the Professor moves fast. I pick up bits and pieces, but this Black Arts shit is something Gran stayed well clear of, preferring to fuss over her plants.

I consider going to the Professor after class, but he busies himself at his desk behind a laptop when the bell rings (yes, an actual bell), those dark eyes suddenly made opalescent by the screen’s glow.

So yeah, that will have to wait.

I stand in the hallway outside wondering where the hell my supposed quarters are to be.

It’s a strange place, the Academy. It’s old, no doubt, but there’s also modernity—brushed steel and cameras. It’s like a castle fucked a tech firm and this is the baby.

“You’re new, right?”

I spin to find a five-foot-nothing girl with bubblegum pink hair standing before me. She’s clutching a book to her chest and smiling, which is more than I can say for most of these other ghouls.

“Ah, yeah.”

“I’m Lily. Lily Evergreen.” She extends her hand and I take it. Again, the physical contact is strange. Maybe this is just the effect Lumina has on me.

“Annabelle.”

“This way,” she says, darting off down the hall. “I’ll show you where your quarters are.”

The castle’s sprawling, a maze of corridors and alcoves I have no idea how I’m ever going to work out, but Lily navigates it with ease, whipping left and right until we come to a hallway of doors.

She pauses in front of a door with the number thirteen on it in bold, brass letters. “How interesting,” she says.

Thirteen—the number of witches in a coven, skipped in elevators worldwide, number of lunar (read: menstrual) cycles in a year…but I won’t read too much into it other than the fact it’s a one and a three.

“Go on,” Lily enthuses, “you’ve got the key, don’t you?”

I draw out the key, almost surprised to find it opens the door in front of me.

The door swings wide and voila, home sweet home.

I step in, Lily standing beside me.

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