Page 10 of After Darkness Falls

Chloe's letter had told her to find the entry hall. Careful to stay away from the students with the sharp pointy things, and those with the big, bright, frightening stuff, she made her way to the castle steps.

Straightening her back and attempting not to look as freaked out as she felt, she climbed the five sets of stairs separating her from the main entrance. The hulking oak doors, no less impressive than the gates, twisted on their hinges with a rattling noise. And a good thing, too—she didn't think she had the strength to make those heavy wooden beams pivot.

Still, Chloe’s eyes widened as she looked around, hoping to spot a camera or some sort of sensor. But there were none. Was someone watching her?

She forced herself to breathe out. She wasnotgoing to freak out because of the magical equivalent of an automated door, dammit. If this spooked her, she was going to have a damn heart attack before the end of the semester.

Finally, she stepped into the Institute.

5

Wings and Smiles

"Hey,newbie, are you Miller?"

Chloe's apprehension when hearing her name wasn't going to end anytime soon.

"Yeah, that's…I'm Chloe."

"Awesome. Blair," said the woman approaching the entryway, hand extended. "Glad you made it in one piece."

Blair was both exactly what she'd expected and exactly the opposite—a conundrum.

Considering her round handwriting and cheerful, florid prose, Chloe had envisioned a bubbly beauty type with perfect nails, hair, and makeup. A grown-up cheerleader.

She did get a bubbly beauty, with perfect nails—painted dark green—hair—red curls with black tips—but no makeup at all. Wearing combat gear, the woman was more badass than anything else, but her friendliness and enthusiasm were on point.

"Excuse the stench, I’ve just finished training. I asked everyone to let me know if they’d seen you, though. I didn't know when you'd make it."

Damn, Blair was taking the mentor thing seriously.

"Thanks?"

"Of course, it would be so much easier if mobile phones were allowed on school grounds, but the board vetoed it. Again. What a bunch of antiquated douches. Of course, most of them are hundreds of years old, so I get why they're stuck in the past. Right, so, it's my duty to show you around, show you your classes, the dorm, and basically be there whenever you have a question. That way, you leave the teachers alone."

Chloe's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously? You’re doing all that on top of your own studies?"

Blair beamed and nodded. "I'm trying to earn brownie points to become a teacher here after I present my thesis. First, they give us mentees, then some minor class to teach, and if we survive, we can hang around. So, I'm not gonna mess up." She said that very forcefully, as if trying to convince herself. Then, to Chloe, she added, "Please don't die on my watch, all right?"

Chloe chose to laugh. That beat the alternative. "I'll do my best. How about the dorm first?"

She was really freezing. Nothing in her backpack was much warmer than the long cardigan she wore now, but presumably, the dorm would have blankets. Her letters had said that bedding was provided.

Blair didn’t seem to share her priority.

"In a bit. The dorm is outside of the walls, and we’re already here. I’ll show you the important stuff first. Do you have a lot of luggage?"

Chloe pointed to her backpack.

"That's it?" Blair blinked her long lashes fast. "That wouldn't fit my boots."

Chloe laughed. "I'm…well, I haven't really kept much stuff these last few years."

Some clothes, two pairs of shoes, her laptop, an e-reader, and that was that. Chloe had stayed in NOLA the longest, but five years of belongings didn't amount to much. Before leaving the city, she'd donated the garments that had aged, and traveled with the rest.

"Fair. All right, no sense in chartering it around; leave it down here. No one steals here. Well, except for Tristan the klepto, but he can't help himself, and he always gives back whatever he takes."

Chloe didn't like the idea of Tristan the klepto getting his hands on her stuff—what if he sniffed panties or something equally gross?—but she decided not to question Blair yet. She slid her backpack off her shoulders and left it against the wall before following Blair. Her mentor was walking at a fast pace, crossing the hall and taking a long corridor.

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