The girl was blonde and immaculate, dressed in a crisp white blouse and skirt. When she smiled at me, the air itself seemed to warm — a coaxing kind of comfort that tugged faintly at my chest.
For a heartbeat, I almost smiled back. Then I realised what she was.
An empath.
I saw it in the aura clinging to her skin — a soft, sickly pink meant to instil calm, but it only made me tense.
She noticed the flicker of hesitation in my face, and I forced the smile back on. Pretending was second nature now.
Pretending anyone’s powers affected me at all.
It was exhausting.
“Persephone Harrin?”
The girl stepped forward and lifted a delicate hand to shake mine. Beth took it for me and I sent her a grateful look.
“Beth Lyon. I’m Seph’s guardian.”
“I’m Lyra Vale,” she said, her voice light, melodic. “I’ll be showing you to your room assignment and around the school.”
“This here is Ivan. He is a guard at the school and will talk to you about the rules regarding your stay here at Darkmoor.” She gestured to the dark, foreboding guard beside her with hisgiant muscles and ugly scowl. He grunted at me but kept his hands firmly down.
My Stay.
Like this was a fucking resort.
“Great.” I smiled.
“Warden Wild has asked to see you when you arrive, Persephone.”
“Seph,” I corrected automatically.
Lyra pursed her lips, the pink glow of her aura tightening like a noose. “I don’t like shortening names, Persephone. It’s gauche.”
“Okay then,” I murmured, glancing at Beth. She just shook her head sadly.
Don’t make a scene.
Beth lifted my bags from the back seat and set them on the pavement beside me.
“I’m afraid you can’t come in with her, Beth,” Lyra said, her face arranged into a perfect mask of sympathy.
Beth’s sigh trembled, and tears filled her eyes. “That’s fine. We can say goodbye here.”
I caught her hand, desperate to hold her in place, but she gently pulled free. “It’s for the best, Seph,” she said softly. “And it’s only for a year.”
Beth was the only person I ever wanted to hug now. The only one who’d ever truly cared, outside Sable.
But she stepped back. And my arms remained empty.
So I wrapped them around myself.
It’s for the best.
“Be a good girl, alright?”
“Will I hear from you?” I asked.
