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“Ugh, get out of the way.” She drops her tray on the table, places her hands on her hips, and simply stares at Melody and her friends.
The sudden silence is heady with anticipation, like the air just before the skies open up and rain batters the ground.
{Something isn’t right.}
My hand inches toward the dagger strapped to my thigh, only, as I watch as the trio of mean girls grow pale, I realize I’m not the one in danger. Their pupils dilate, and Melody’s arms start to tremble, even as lightning snaps at her fingertips. The other mage whimpers, and the vampire hisses, cringing away from our table, like they’re afraid of something I can’t see.
I glance at the redhead. “Is this you?”
Her answering smile is vicious confirmation. “I was hoping we could sit together,” she says to me and Ever. A strangled gasp wrenches her attention, and she glances at the trio of assholes. “Oh, right.” She snaps her fingers, and the mean girls suck in ragged breaths, recovering from whatever Bree did to their minds. “Right, then, shoo, shoo.” Bree even makes a motion with her hands.
Melody sucks in a ragged breath, quickly looking around to see who might’ve seen what Bree did, and immediately flushes as she realizes everyone saw.
Bree must be one of those ultra powerful Feral Bloods that can give a Foundation a run for their money. I hide my delight behind my coffee. Ever and I exchange mirth-filled looks. Having a partner—I mean, partners—in crime is more fun than I expected.
“This isn’t over,” Melody growls in annoyance before storming away. Her friends race after her, shooting annoyed glances back at us. I guess risking more humiliation isn’t worth it.
“Okay, badass,” Ever says to Bree. “I’m Ever, and I need to know what you did. I swear they almost crapped themselves.”
“I may have trapped them in their biggest nightmares.” Bree lifts a shoulder when Ever and I gape at her. “What? It’s like basic mindcraft.”
I scoff and shake my head. “That is not basic.” Far from it, in fact. Mindcraft can turn a paranorm’s mind against itself, but it takes a lot of practice and control. “Ever’s right. You’re a badass.”
Bree grins and takes a drink of her water. “I didn’t expect to find you two picking fights with second years already. What’s your name, by the way?” she asks me.
“Raina, and they came to us.” I eat some of my toast. “What’s their deal, anyway?”
“Well, Melody is basically paranormal royalty,” Ever explains between bites. “Tweedledee and Tweedledum are her shadows. They’re also from strong Foundation bloodlines. Most people don’t want to be on their bad side.”
“Most?”
She gives me a knowing look. “Well, everyone but us, because fuck that. We aren’t going to bow to them because of whoever their parents are. The great thing about Diremount is that it’s the great equalizer. They might have Foundation blood and rich families, but they still have to prove they’re worthy enough to pass the Goddess Trial.”
I hum and finish up my meal, keeping a wary eye on the trio who are far too concerned about us and not enough about themselves. Their attention is like a knife dragging down my spine as I dump my trash into the bin and set my tray on the return cart. I can feel it on me as we make our way outside, and as soon as my feet hit the sidewalk, a brilliant flash of white strikes the ground in front of me.
My heart skips a beat, and I leap back as a boom loud enough to rattle the windows of the cafetorium batters my eardrums.
“What the fuck?” Ever growls.
That wasn’t a natural occurrence, and I already know who did it and why. I glance through the windows and find Melody laughing with her friends. So the bitch has stormcraft as an affinity. No wonder she thinks she’s hot shit.
“What a cunt,” Bree mutters.
Yeah, they’re not going to let any of what just happened go, but as students start to rush off toward their first classes, I push any thought of what they might do to me or my new friends to the back of my mind. That’s a problem for a different day. Right now, I need to focus on getting to class on time and figuring out how I’m going to survive the combat training this afternoon.
The first class I have is thankfully with Ever and Bree, who is in Bastion rather than Vanguard, but every first year is required to take a handful of standard classes.
Composition of Orders.
History of the Veil.
Practical Casting.
Fundamentals of Affinities.
The first half of my day has the basic classes, and then I’ll move on to Vanguard-specific classes . . . and my first tutoring session with Carver. A frown pulls at my face. He definitely wasn’t excited about helping me. I ignore the annoyance in my chest as we enter a large classroom. Stairs bisect the rows of seats with dark blue fabric-covered cushions. The room is already half full and more students are piling in.
“Any preference?” Bree asks, scanning the crowd.
