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He laughed and walked out of the room with Merrick, leaving me standing there fuming. Trace walked up beside me and shook his head, draping his arm around my shoulder and giving me a look of mock sympathy.
“Ouch. That must’ve hurt. Sorry, sweetheart, but he has a point. If you can’t take the heat… well, you know the saying.”
Yeah, that really helps. I had to give it to him, he was hot, but that didn’t keep me from being extremely annoyed with him.
I’d never understood why these guys needed to be such cocky dicks. Did it make them feel better? Because it sure as hell made me want to punch them right in the throat. I had more power with my non-magical abilities than I did with my magical. I was starting to feel like it was a waste of time being there.
“Just ignore them,” Eden said, walking up next to me as Trace sauntered out after his two friends. “Once we finish our training, you’ll never have to see them again. All that matters is doing well, pleasing the gods, and mastering your magic. If you do that, you’ll have an opportunity for some really great jobs when you graduate.”
Maybe she was right. Maybe I had my emotions way too mixed up. If I had to be here, and I wasn’t ever going to be able to fight again in human circles, then I had to look for a better future.
I was determined not to turn into one of the creepy dark magic users I’d worked for before—the ones lurking in the shadows and doing shady shit for money. I wanted more than that life, and if doing well at the academy was what it took, then I needed to focus all my energy on that.
I bumped Eden’s shoulder with mine as we walked out of the room. “You’re right. Screw those guys. I’m not going to let them get under my skin anymore. I’ve faced much bigger assholes in my time, assholes who would take them down in two swings of their fists. No magic needed. I don’t need to prove myself to anyone.”
Eden pumped her fist, enthusiastic as always. “Heck yeah!”
Her beaming smile drew an answering grin out of me, and I shook my head as we walked down the hall surrounded by the slightly glowing bodies of other students.
What the fuck is my life coming to?
Chapter Seven
“All right,” Professor Howes said. “Last week, you managed to master the carafe challenge. Now I want you to work on something a little bit bigger. In front of you is a large boulder. Don’t worry, it’s not actually real, it’s magic, but it has the same weight density of an actual stone, it just can’t hurt anybody. I want you to concentrate hard, lift the stone up off the floor, and then carefully set it back down.”
I shook my hands and rolled my shoulders, drawing in a deep breath. I cracked open the floodgate of magic inside me just a bit and let it surge down through my hands and out my fingertips. I held it in place, waving my fingers back and forth as the color swirled vibrantly around me.
Focusing on the stone, I sent the power spiraling out to wrap around the base of the boulder. Using the motion of my arms to direct the magic, I lifted them up in the air and watched as the boulder moved with me.
It hovered about ten feet off the floor for a moment and then—very carefully—I lowered my hands down, setting the boulder so gently on the floor that I couldn’t even hear it touch down. I unraveled my magic from around the base and let it slowly sink back into my fingertips and up into my core. I mentally shut the floodgates, stopping the magic from spilling out.
Eden clapped, my three rivals scowled, and Professor Howes smiled, nodding. “Very good, Aria. That’s a lot better.”
I had to admit, about a month into the classes, I was actually starting to feel like I could do this. Professor Howes had been infinitely patient with me as I had struggled through sparring match after sparring match and broken at least a hundred carafes.
But what I’d finally realized was that I needed to visualize my magic. Some people were capable of just turning it on and off, but for me, I had to “see” it somehow. With the help of my professors, I’d come up with little things like floodgates and imagining the heaviness of an object in order to better control my powers.
Combat was the last class of the day, and I was buzzing from my feeling of accomplishment as Howes released us. Not only had I done the best job levitating the boulder, but in sparring, I had taken a third-year down and then caught them with my magic so they hadn’t hit the floor hard. Professor Howes had actually applauded at that.
As we left the large classroom on the second floor, the sound of Dean Frost’s voice began to float through the halls of the school.
“Attention, students. Before heading back to your dormitories after class, please make your way to the Great Hall. There will be a short assembly, so gather quietly and quickly and sit with your assigned year.”
Excited murmurs broke out in the corridor as the dean’s voice faded away, and I glanced over at Eden, whose face flushed as her eyes shone. I didn’t really understand what was going on, and when my new friend grabbed my elbow to move me along faster, I lifted an eyebrow at her.
“Why the hell are you so excited?”
She shook her head, speaking breathlessly. “I don’t want to ruin it for you. But if this is what I think it is, it’s a big freaking deal.”
I sighed, wondering whether I’d agree with her assessment once I found out what this announcement was all about.
We headed to the Great Hall, and I kept my gaze forward as we passed Merrick, Lachlan, and Trace. They were surrounded by a gaggle of first-year girls, something I was positive Merrick encouraged as a way to make me jealous. And I’d rather stick red-hot needles under my fingernails than admit it was wo
rking in any way.
I could hear the three men muttering and snickering, but I was determined not to let it bother me.
Inside the Great Hall, we found all the normal tables and chairs gone. In their place were risers that surrounded the perimeter of the massive room, almost like bleachers in a stadium.
