Next is the Cauldron of Flame and Fury, a huge bowl canyon that Kirin says glows like fire at sunrise, situated behind the House of Flame and Fury. Behind the House of Blood and Sorrow, the last stop on our dorm tour, a red river called—wait for it—the River of Blood and Sorrow winds through the landscape, richly colored by the iron in the soil.
It’s so perfect and amazing my head’s about to explode.
“How is it that the landscape is so well-suited to each house name?” I ask when we stop the bikes to catch our breath. “And what about the Academies in other countries? Do they have the same features?”
“The architects always build the academies around the existing natural landscape, taking great care to situate each house in the most suitable place—whatever is most compatible with its element. So the House of Blood and Sorrow will always be near water, though it won’t always be a red river like we have here.”
“It’s just… it’s breathtaking. It all feels so… so… Gah!”
“Magickal?” Kirin smiles, the warmth in it reminding me of all our mornings together at Kettle Black. “That’s the idea. In magick, everything is symbolic, taking power from the words we name it, the physical features, the scents and textures… everything. We’re elemental magicians, Stevie. To wield that magick, we need to connect with the natural world as deeply as possible.”
I take a moment to soak it all in, looking out across the vast landscape. The sun is sinking low, the air cooling slightly, the crickets just starting to sing. My eyes track the bend of the river, roaming out to an area we haven’t explored yet. From here, it looks like there are more sandstone spires, but it’s hard to tell. Everything is covered in a thick, white mist.
“What’s over there?” I ask, jutting my chin in that direction.
“That’s… not a place you want to go. Ever.”
I roll my eyes and laugh. “Well now youhaveto take me.”
“I can’t, Stevie. I’m serious. It’s forbidden to students and staff alike.”
“Forbidden? Sounds like code for the best party spot on campus. Let’s go.” I hop back on my bike, but Kirin doesn’t move.
“Kirin. Come on. What’s over there?”
His face turns contemplative, and it’s a long beat before he speaks again. When he does, an ominous weight hangs over him, a shadow sliding into his normally bright eyes. “Have you ever heard ofL’Appel du Vide?”
Holy shit, he’s speaking in French. This is not a drill, people. Kirin Webber is speaking in French, and my thighs are clenching at the sound.
“Say again?” I ask. Beg.
“L’Appel du Vide,”he repeats, his accent as rich and buttery as a croissant. “It literally means ‘the call of the void.’ It’s said that there are places in this world so deep, so dark, so… compelling… when you peer down into them, they literally beckon you to jump.”
An icy finger traces a path down my spine.
“That place…” He thumbs at it over his shoulder, as if he’s afraid to even turn and look at it. “It’s like that. We call it the Void. A sheer cliff that descends hundreds of feet—maybe thousands—into abject nothingness. Before they finally warded and fenced it off in the 1930s, dozens of students and teachers committed suicide there—people that were otherwise completely content.”
“The Void,” I repeat, the words themselves seeming to echo on the breeze. “It’s not on any map of Arizona I’ve ever seen.”
“Nor is the Academy, or Lala’s place…” Kirin shrugs. “Some places just aren’t meant for the rest of the world to know.”
“Only us?”
“Only us.”
The breeze stirs again, the mist roiling in the distance, and I swear I hear it calling me.Starla Eve… Starla Eve… Starla…
A shiver grips me in a tight fist, shaking me head to toe. Suddenly, I want to be as far away from the Void as possible.
Kirin must sense my sudden need to escape, because his brow creases again, and he hops on his bike without another word, beckoning for me to follow him back to the dorms.
I’ve never pedaled so hard in my life.
Safely back in front of the buildings, we stash the bikes and stop at a stone bench in the center of the dorms so Kirin can check his phone.
“Okay, your suite should be all set up now,” he says. “They’ve got you in…” His brow creases, the muscle on his jaw ticking. When he speaks again, his tone is tinged with disappointment, and maybe a little annoyance. “House of Iron and Bone.”
“Is that a bad thing? I mean, I guess they figured with the tea and rock stuff, I’m pretty earthy, so…”
