Sliding into the desk beside the princess, my shoulder brushes hers, and despite the fabric of our jumpsuits, it feels like an electric shock.
Focus, you asshole.I shift away, putting as much space between us as these cramped desks allow.
At the front of the room, Hennessey sways toward the whiteboard. He picks up a marker with a hand that’s shaking like a leaf in a gale and writes one word in oversized, jagged letters: REBELLION.
“Today’s lesson,” he slurs, leaning heavily against the wall, “is current events. Because even though you’re locked away, you should know what’s happening in the world outside.”
“Boring,” someone calls out.
Hennessey’s bloodshot eyes scan the room, lingering on the Guild. “Maybe not as boring as you think. A coup hit Havengard City last night. The Conclave has fallen. Your daddies are likely being fitted for nooses as we speak.”
What?
The atmosphere in the room shifts.
In the row behind me, a low, rhythmic thumping starts up. I look around to see Keisha and Alanna hitting their palms against the desk top. Then, they start to sing.
“Happy hanging day you cunts, hope your dad’s neck is fucked…”
Their voices are weirdly hypnotic, and for a second the room is just silent.
“Happy hanging day, you’ll finally pay…”
The twins are grinning, showing their too-sharp canines as they bellow out the last line.
“Your throats are gonna get cut!”
Sterling launches himself over the furniture, screaming about lies. A guard ratchets his gun, howling at Sterling to stand down, but the boy is past hearing. A suppression dart takes him in the neck, and his body snaps rigid before hitting the concrete with a limp thud.
As Sterling is dragged out, the twins lean back, high-fiving each other for the chaos they caused without even leaving their seats.
Hennessey shakes his head and gives a drunken laugh. I can hardly hear him over the ruckus. “Dear, dear,” he says. “I imagined things could get interesting, but not so immediately.”
Interesting?Fucking catastrophic more like. If the Guild thinks their families are dead or imprisoned, they have nothing left to lose. A prisoner with nothing to lose is the most dangerous person in the room.
I see it in the way Dimitry’s knuckles have gone white as he grips the edge of his desk. The usual smugness replaced by a dangerous desperation. “Shut the fuck up, I want to hear what the drunk has to say.” Dimitry’s voice cuts through the noise.
His Guild fall back in line. I glare at my lot until everyone is silent.
Hennessey takes a long, shaky pull from his travel mug. The scent of cheap gin reaches us even this far back. “Here’s the reality, kids. The dark energy our overlords were channeling has been destroyed. The revolt started at Validus Vale Academy.”
Validus Vale? That’s where my cousin Willow goes. Shit, she’s right in the middle of a war zone.
“The students evolved innate magic,” Hennessey continues. “They shifted into their primal forms. Wolves, gryphons…” He pauses, looking at the Guild section. “Even a dragon.”
A dragon.I know exactly who that was.
Beside me, Aurora stifles a gasp. She’s leaning forward, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles are white.
I scan the room and catch Dimitry’s eyes fixed on her.
Tyrus Drakeward was head of the Conclave. If he’s dead, her family name is no longer a protection.
What the fuck is going through Dimitry’s warped mind?
“You might think it’s fake news, but I have first-hand knowledge. Innate magic is loose all over Havengard,” Hennessey continues. “Last night, it hit me, too.”
For a moment, the teacher looks less like a drunk and more like a man with hope. “As of today, even the humans have magic. Every spark in the world has ignited.”
