Page 31 of Shadow Caster
Cadets swept down the main staircase into the huge foyer that was lit up like it was winter solstice. Usually, the Academy conserved energy—after all, we all had excellent night vision and senses here—but not tonight. Tonight, they’d gone all out to make the place shine. We turned left at the bottom of the staircase, away from the study wing and into the main section of the Academy—one opened up only on special occasions. This was the hub portion of the structure where all the main events and ceremonies were held. And tonight was the first huge ceremony of the year.
Identification of the next batch of shadow knights.
And boy, did the guys look happy with the thought of being marked for death.
Idiots.
A glimpse through the huge double doors that had been pulled back showed a vast room with high, vaulted ceilings and huge gothic paned windows decorated in the classic fleur-de-lis design.
Round tables had been set up, each fit to seat eight, but this wasn’t a sit-where-you-please affair, there was a table plan parked outside the room. A crowd had gathered around it, and Minnie craned her neck to check it out.
We pushed into the excited buzz of voices, trying to get closer to the plan. We were almost at the front when the hubbub dulled and the foyer fell into almost silence. Minnie grabbed my arm and tugged me back slightly.
“What?”
The scent of jasmine and roses hit me in the face, and then a group of cadets dressed in eveningwear swept past us and right to the front of the crowd. I caught a glimpse of silk and the tailored back of a dress coat.
“What the heck?”
Minnie sighed. “Weavers. They think they’re better than everyone else just because they can manipulate the arcana in the air.” She shook her head. “Or turn us into toads.”
The weavers were the linchpin of the Nightwatch. The whole system would fall apart without their abilities. I bit my tongue and watched as a chestnut-haired beauty with startling gray-blue eyes studied the chart. She dimpled at her escort and then swept away from us and toward the ceremony hall.
“Fiona Payne is sooo hot,” someone behind me muttered.
Payne, like Master Payne. There were only three weaver families—Latrou, Raj, and Payne—and they were a close-knit community that kept to themselves. The weavers even had their own wing here, and separate lessons entirely. I don’t think I’d ever seen one in the dining hall. I turned to Minnie to ask her where the weavers ate.
“Table three,” Minnie said. “Urgh. Thomas, Harmon, and Oberon are with us.” She pursed her lips. “Harper, Lottie, and someone called Nettie.”
My questions could wait. “Well, let’s get in there.”
The smell of roasting meat was strong on the air. The moonkissed were probably salivating. Bowls overflowing with fruit lined the side of the room, and in the center of each table was a huge golden goblet embedded with rubies. The precious stones winked like drops of blood.
My stomach rumbled.
Minnie wove her way between the tables, cutting a path through the other cadets. Our table was halfway across the room and left of center.
Minnie pulled out a chair and sat down. “You’re next to me.”
I took a seat, relieved to no longer be part of the throng. A door at the back of the room opened, and the tutors began to file in. Garnet, Master Payne, and Master Decker, followed by several faces I didn’t recognize. They took seats at a long table that faced the room. Brunner came next, followed by the bearded dude—Redmond—and finally, Archer Hyde. Tonight, he was dressed in a form-fitting black shirt and gray cargo pants; ink peeked from beneath the collar of his shirt and curled up around his neck. How had I missed that? In profile, his scars weren’t as evident, but the cut of his jaw and the sharp line of his aquiline nose were. The shorn hair just made him look more dangerous.
“Um, Indie, you’re staring,” Minnie said.
Shit. The guy was a veteran shadow knight—probably late twenties—seasoned and too old for me. Plus, he was a tutor for God’s sake. I needed to get my shit together.
But the air of danger that cloaked him was an aphrodisiac that called to me. It was fists and daggers and freedom. It was sexual heat and want. The pulse at my throat fluttered at the thought of being close to him, of inhaling that citrus scent again.
I needed to get laid. Bad.
“Lady and not so lady.” Thomas took a seat opposite us.
Harmon joined us a moment later. He looked on edge. “Fuck, I wish they’d just get it over with. All the pomp and shit. Unnecessary.”
Thomas’s jaw ticked. “We talked about this. It’s tradition.”
Harper appeared to Minnie’s left. “Excited?” She took her seat.
Minnie laughed. “For the cake, yes.”
