Page 3 of Her Guardian Demon

I tilt my head, studying her. "You truly don't know, do you? Fascinating. You, my dear, are a hexeblood – a mortal with the potential for great magical power. Power that has been lying dormant, waiting to be awakened."

She shakes her head vehemently. "No, that's impossible. I'm just a normal college student. There's been some kind of mistake–"

"There is no mistake," I say firmly, allowing a hint of my true power to leak into my voice. She flinches, instinctively recognizing the threat. Good. "You are exactly where you are meant to be. The magic in your blood called out, and Ravencrest answered."

I can see the struggle in her eyes – disbelief warring with the undeniable reality of her situation. It's delightful to watch. "What... What do you want from me?" she asks, her voice small but with a thread of steel beneath it.

“Only everything you are.” My smile widens. Oh yes, this one will be fun to mold. "You'll be enrolled in Ravencrest, where you'll learn to harness the power within you."

"And if I refuse?"

I laugh, the sound echoing ominously in the night air. "My dear, you misunderstand. This isn't an offer. It's your destiny."

With a snap of my fingers, two shadowy figures materialize beside us. "Take our new student to her quarters," I command. "Her education begins at dawn, see to it she has everything she needs."

“What? You can’t do this. They will come looking for me.”

“Of course they won’t, we are professionals. Now go, you have much to attend to.”

3

ARIA

Ijolt awake, heart pounding, momentarily disoriented by the unfamiliar surroundings. The events of earlier come rushing back – the forest, the chase, the imposing figure at the gates. I must have lost consciousness.

No.

It had to have been a nightmare.

But as my eyes adjust to the dim light, I realize with growing dread that this is no dream. I'm in a spacious chamber, the bed beneath me a massive four-posted affair, its frame carved from ebony wood into twisting, organic shapes. Sheets of midnight silk whisper against my skin, cool and unnervingly soft.

Heavy velvet curtains in deep crimson frame a tall, arched window. Beyond the glass, a sky the color of bruised flesh stretches endlessly with no hint of sun or clouds.

An ornate chandelier hangs from the vaulted ceiling, its crystals seeming to absorb light rather than reflect it. A writing desk of polished obsidian sits in one corner, its surface bare save for an elegant quill and inkwell that appears to be filled with something too dark and thick to be ordinary ink.

Across the room, an armoire of the same dark wood as the bed looms ominously, its doors adorned with silver filigree in patterns that hurt my eyes if I look too closely.

The floor is covered in plush carpets so deep my feet sink into them. Their intricate patterns seem to shift and change when I'm not looking directly at them. A full-length mirror in an ornate silver frame stands in one corner, but I can't bring myself to look into it just yet.

"This isn't real," I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut. "I'll wake up any second now."

A sound like nails on glass makes me snap my eyes open. There, hovering at the foot of my bed, is a creature straight out of a nightmare. Vaguely humanoid, with skin like polished obsidian and too many limbs, all impossibly thin. Its face is a blank mask, save for a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth.

"Orientation begins in ten minutes," it hisses, voice like dry leaves scraping stone. "Do not be late."

Before I can scream, it's gone, leaving only a lingering chill in the air. I sit there, trembling, for what feels like hours but must only be moments.

This is real.

This is happening.

With shaking hands, I pull on the clothes laid out for me – a high-collared black dress that feels uncomfortably like a second skin and as I step into the hallway, I'm hit by a wave of vertigo. The corridor stretches impossibly long, twisting and turning at angles that hurt my eyes to look at.

Other... students? ... emerge from rooms along the hall. Some look almost human, others are clearly anything but. A girl with wings like shattered glass gives me a predatory smile as she passes. Something that looks like a living shadow slithers by, leaving a trail of frost in its wake.

I follow the flow of bodies, trying to make myself as small and unnoticeable as possible. We descend a spiral staircase that seems to go on forever, each step sending a jolt of cold through my bare feet.

Finally, we spill into a vast chamber. The ceiling arches so high it's lost in shadow, supported by columns that look unsettlingly like petrified trees. At the far end stands a raised dais, upon which sits a throne that seems to be made of writhing darkness.

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