Page 9 of House of Ydril

I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the professor nod, however hesitantly. “It would make sense, yes. And maybe itwouldbe the correct answer, if there wasn’t such a thing as the Keeper’s Runes. After all, they’re the only ones that contain all seven,includingGenesis.”

He turns back to the rest of the class as he goes on to explain the mechanics and characteristics of the Keeper’s Runes. I seem to be off the hook so I let myself breathe.

But all I can think about is how much I’m struggling with my own set. My hand darts to it once again. I look down, but nothing’s changed.

A week after my arrival, and in a pretty unceremonious manner if I may say, I’ve been given a set of three stone beads, the kind that the majority of faes have.

The only problem is…

The majority of faes get theirs when they’re five years old and they almost immediately bond with them. And not just that, they very quickly manage to use Sight to unlock the first rune. So by the time they’re at the Academy, they can already do stupidly amazing shit like blocking a Fire attack by conjuring full-body armor using only Earth.

At least that’s whatthatgirl did, the one sitting two rows in front of me, passing notes with the two students I always see her with. Zelda, a grumpy-looking vampire girl that always has headphones on, and Harry, a seemingly chirpy but violent shifter with tattoos on his neck.

And then there’s their ringleader, Sarya, who apparently notices me looking and cranes her neck, her golden eyes slowly narrowing. She always has her dark hair braided and wears what I can only describe as flowy overalls. But that’s where the delicate shit stops, because her entire body is covered in painful-looking piercings and scars.

I manage not to look away too quickly, but Sarya’s stare still makes me squirm in my seat. Once she finally turns back to the front of the classroom, I breathe a sigh of relief. All three of them are sitting sedately at the moment, but when there are no professors around... They’re practically bullies with powers.

If they tried to use them on me? I’d have to literally run for my life. Because although it’s been more than two weeks, I still haven’t even managed to figure out how to use Sight, let alone bond with my runes and actually start using them.

As soon as the class ends, I jump up off my feet and rush out of the classroom, heading straight for the cafeteria. As I walk away, I look over my shoulder a couple of times, making sure Sarya didn’t decide to make me into her plaything for today.

When I finally get to the cafeteria, the huge hall is already crowded. It’s past two o’clock, the time when most students come to have lunch. There are crowds around the fountains, everyone elbowing to get their glasses refilled with one of the many flavored sodas. I go straight for the counters where they normally keep pizza and other fast food.

But instead of pizza, my eyes go straight for the far corner of the room, where I hear a familiar voice rise above the chatter in the room. “And what am I supposed to tell Professor Ceallaigh?”

At first, I don’t see her from all the students gathered in that part of the cafeteria. But then a few of them walk away and there she is. Nuala, getting red in the face, her hands balled into fists as she gets in the face of some scary looking shifter.

“That’s your problem, not mine,” he snarls at her. “I’d rather have a filthy Scion on my team than you.”

I press my lips tight, feeling as if I’m eavesdropping on a private conversation.

“Fine,” Nuala snaps, “I’ll just do it by myself then.”

And she turns on her heel and starts walking away, headed straight for where I’m standing.

I quickly look away, planning to pretend I didn’t notice her.

But not before she catches my eye and gets even more red in the face. She tries to rush past me. And it’s at that moment that I change my mind.

“Hey,” I call out to her.

She stops and shoots me a defensive look. I know her enough to be aware of the fact that she doesn’t want to be seen as a victim.

“Would you help me understand something?” I ask.

She raises her eyebrows slightly, the red in her face growing fainter.

“There’s, like, every type of food here,” I say as I motion at the counters stacked with pot roasts, breakfast burgers and pies. “But what about chocolate? How exactly are we expected to survive?”

For a second, she just blinks at me, before her mouth cracks into a smile and she motions for me to follow her. Without a word, she leads me to one of the glass cases that are always empty. But as soon as we come close, they appear. Rows upon rows of all sorts of chocolate delicacies, from delicate truffles to slices of layered chocolate cake.

“What the fuck?”

“It’s the work of this guy who, well, really likes chocolate,” Nuala explains. “The faculty has given up on trying to make him stop. He just always comes back and uses little tricks to make people blind to what’s in this case.”

I can’t help but laugh. “My kind of person,” I say as I open the case, grab the first plate I see and pile it high.

Nuala just watches me with an amused look on her face. “Have you already had lunch?” she asks when I’m done.

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