Page 9 of Alchemy of Souls

I close my eyes and take a breath. Three actually. Only the accusatory whispers haven’t stopped. In fact, they’re discussing how the Chancellor might punish me. I place my hands in front of me to start again. But the magic comes too fast and wild. And as I pull the box from the floorboards, I accidently break them in the process.

I swear under my breath.

I can’t shrug it off. I also can’t stop the spell and fix the floor. Even if I reset everything and start over, I doubt it’d go any better. So, I plow on and push harder.

The box is still small, but it’s no longer pretty. Instead of roses, it’s thorns and thickets. Instead of polished wood, it’s raw and rough. The hinges creak. The legs are claws. And the center is dug out roughly, lined with a torn piece of stage curtain.

“Maybe she didn’t cheat,” someone says, and for a hair of a second I’m grateful. Until I recognize the voice as Naomi’s. “Think about it. Grayson’s our best chance at defeating the Lawless, right?”I suddenly know what she’s going to say next—the most damning sentence imaginable. “What if she was trying to sabotage Grayson to help them? Can you ever really trust a Laborer?”

I try to reel myself in, but I’m too revved up and I lose control of the spell completely, the sides of my box expanding and contracting like a balloon.

Oh no.

The wood screeches. The thorns become razors. And the lid opens and shuts like a maniacal windup toy.

I bring my hands together, calling my monster box to me and tying the last bit of magic into a finishing knot that should make it still. But everything is topsy-turvy. Me. The spell. The room. And the thing doesn’t obey. It explodes into a thousand shards that spray across the stage like menacing daggers.

I scream, turning and throwing up my arms to shield my face. Which is the exact moment everything falls silent.

I open my eyes, only to realize the shards have stopped a mere inch from my body, halted by a shielding spell that I didn’t manage to cast.

Grayson drops his hand and the shards fall to the floor, my stomach dropping with them. He protected me? Why? Or was he just shielding the entire stage?

But the exploding box isn’t what people are reacting to.

In the air, where the box once floated, is a skeleton key. It’s made of dark iridescent wood with an air of antiquity. The key has three swirls—representing the University ethos of progress, magic, and balance. And the handle is covered in tiny leaves fluttering in an unseen breeze, like the key itself is breathing.

The longing I feel is nearly indescribable. I eagerly step forward, but just as I’m about to touch the living wood, it disappears.

I shake my head, confused, like I just woke up to find myself on this stage.

Which is when the horror of reality crashes back in.

The accusations.

The key.

No, not the key. THEARCHIVEKEY.

The only key in existence that opens a veiled room in the University, filled with magical tomes so powerful and dangerous that they’re the entire reason the institution was built in the first place—to protect them from the Lawless at all costs.

The room snaps back into focus like a rubber band on bare skin. People whispering the Key’s name. The Council in disarray. And a female Guardian stares at me so intently from across the room that I take a step backward.

Akari?The legendary head of the University Guardians is witnessing me screw everything up?

All of a sudden, the twinkling lights circle my legs and Chancellor Stone roughly pushes back his chair. His hand traces the motion to disable the discernment spell. But it’s too late. It’s already forming an image above my head, and my heart shatters when I realize it’s not the Alchemy dragon anymore. It’s a perfect portrait of Grayson Stone’s face.

“Motherf—” Grayson starts to swear, before he can stop himself.

CHAPTER 6Grayson

The goddamnArchive Key? Are you kidding me? And to top it off, it appears right before the discernment spell goes rogue and displays my face above Eloise’s head. Disaster doesn’t cover it. I don’t have to look at my uncle to know he’s now wondering if I played a role in this, a question that could cost me and Eloise a hell of a lot more than University admittance.

As if everything hadn’t already hit rock bottom, not one, but five Guardians burst into the auditorium. They spread out, moving to each of the three doors, while the senior-most Guardian heads for my uncle. I instantly recognize him—Damien. His face and knuckles are so scarred from battles with the Lawless that even the healers couldn’t fully patch him up. And the man’s got so much muscle that he looks like living rock.

The mixture of emotional scents coming from the room are varied and potent. But Eloise’s emotions overpower them all—which is the main reason I’ve always avoided her. She’s a waterfall, whereas everyone else is a dripping faucet.

Most students and faculty are now standing, demanding to know what’s going on. But the moment Damien’s boots click onto the stage they all quiet, both out of respect for the Chancellor and a desire to hear what Damien has to say.