Page 13 of Bone Year

“Headmaster Valerius Ashmoor,” she says. “He’s a blood mage. Those are extremely rare, practically extinct and extremely powerful. He’s the only one I know of in Valen.”

Sounds powerful and intimidating. “And what’s he like?”

She thinks about it for a second. “Intense.”

Before I can ask anything else, the girl in front of us steps away from the desk. An older woman with pointed ears and thin spectacles looks up at me, offering a polite smile.

“Name, dear?”

I clear my throat. “Maelis Rose.”

Her hand pauses before she opens a large drawer beside her. She flips through several folders before pulling one free. Her brows knit together as she scans the page then looks at me. Then back at the paper. Then at me again.

She hesitates then slides the sheet across the counter.

“Thank you,” Elizabeth says quickly, plucking the schedule before I can even reach for it.

I realize I’m still staring at the woman, caught on the way her smile has faded into something strained.

“Come on,” Elizabeth says, tugging me toward the door. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

I let her pull me back outside as she glances over the parchment. “Architecture of Flesh. Fracture and Form. Mortal Limitations. And Triage of the Damned.”

My stomach tightens. None of those sound like topics I know anything about.

“That’s…a lot,” I mutter.

She snorts. “Welcome to bone year. That’s not even all of them. You’ll have six classes and two labs, not to mention ward hours, but you won’t have them all every day.” Her eyes light up. “Look on the bright side. You’ve got Professor Nestor for Architecture of Flesh and one of your labs.”

She finally hands the schedule over, beaming like she has delivered good news. I glance down at the parchment, catching glimpses of days, times, and unfamiliar professor names before my brain threatens to short-circuit. I fold the paper and shove it into my pocket.

“Who’s Professor Nestor?” I ask. “And are you being sarcastic, or is that actually a good thing? I honestly can’t tell with you.”

She laughs, “I didn’t have him last year, but he’s supposed to be kind of a mad genius. Everyone says he’s brilliant but unpredictable.”

That does absolutely nothing to calm me. At least with other students I’ll be able to hide in the back and never have to interact directly with any of the faculty or staff. They’ll probably never know I’m here.

A deep male voice from behind startles me out of my thoughts.

“Maelis Rose, you’ve been summoned to the headmaster’s office.”

Chapter Five

“Among documented bloodlines, blood mages exhibit the highest recorded capacity for current density and manipulation.”

— Bloodline Physiology, Volume II

I turn to see who spoke and fight the instinct to gasp.

He’s tall and wide with dark-brown hair that sticks up in sharp, uneven spikes, but it’s his eyes that steal my attention. Red. Not a soft or warm red, but a deep crimson, split down the center by vertical slits instead of rounded pupils.

Predatory.

“Why?” Elizabeth asks beside me before I can say or do anything other than stare.

“You really think he told me?” the male replies flatly. “He said to find you since you were assigned as her mentor.” His gaze shifts to me. “You are Maelis Rose, right?”

I nod.