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I’m going to find out what.

Days blur together. Practical Casting is filled with one-on-one fights, and slowly but surely, we’re making our way up the ranking list. Soon enough, it’ll be my turn. Bart goes out of his way to knock his shoulder into mine as we leave class. His friends are always hanging around the lounge area by my door, as if to remind me of my imminent demise.

It’s gotten to the point where I can barely rest easy in my own room.

Not to mention, the more I think about Addy and that void in my mind, the more helpless I feel. Like I’ll never recover the lost memories, and if I don’t and I can’t find her, what’s the point?

Dread carries me to the cafetorium, pushing against me like the wind whipping through the trees. The dark bruises on the sky hint at an evening full of rain. The first drops splat against my skin right as I open the door to the noisy building. Lightning cracks as I take my first step inside, the flash lighting up the cafetorium, and dozens of heads whip to the windows. I turn too, catching sight of a black char mark on the cement close—too close—to where I was standing before I entered the building.

Neck pricking, I force myself to stride to the trays and pick one up, studiously ignoring the murmurs and looks.

{Be wary of the mage with stormcraft,} the whispering voice in my mind warns.

I almost startle at the sound. It’s been a few weeks since the last time I heard it. I half wondered if it was gone.

Either way, I’m not letting it or Melody rattle me. I grab an apple, a sandwich, and some water, bracing myself for wading through the crowds. If only Diremount had room service. It’s not that I hate people, it’s just that I hate most people. Especially the ones fighting their way up the social ladder or trying to use their status as a way of validating themselves.

The demons don’t give a shit if they have Bentleys. All paranorms die the same way.

Scanning the tables, I search for the only faces I want to see, but our table is empty. I take a step toward it, anyway, intending to wait for them to arrive, then hesitate. More than a few Foundations scowl at me. They’re not fans of whatever is going on with me and Bellamy, and even some Feral Bloods are whispering about me and the vampire.

It’s only gotten worse after our little quad date.

You know what? I don’t have to endure this, today. I actually don’t know why I would suffer through this when I could eat in peace.

I pivot on my heel and stride to the back courtyard, which is empty. The rain pummeling the ground ran everyone off, though, lucky for me, the gazebo’s roof is perfectly intact, and it’ll keep me from getting drenched.

Outside of catching glimpses of Melody glaring at me on the way to class, I have yet to run into her. She’s clearly pissed if the rumors are anything to go by. The prospective tether of the strongest vinculum in decades doesn’t like the idea of her throne being stolen.

Scoffing, I unwrap my sandwich. Melody can have those four. I don’t have strong enough power to be a tether, and even if I did, I don’t want to be one.

I take a bite. Through the drumming of the rain, the faintest whirring sound brushes against my ears. I throw my tray and myself onto the ground, but the dagger knicks my shoulder. Fire erupts from that tiny spot, and I stifle a whimper between sealed lips as I tug my shirt aside and look at it. Veins of silver spread across my skin. The wound itself is small, inconsequential had the weapon been normal. I’m lucky the silver dagger didn’t get stuck in me.

Mud squishes against my palms as I rise into a crouch, eyeing the distance between the gazebo and the cafetorium. It’s far enough that whoever is out there could hit me again if they have more weapons, and with my luck, they definitely do.

“Fuck,” I mutter.

“Ohhhh, Raiiiinaaaa!” Melody’s sing-song voice is distorted between rumbles of thunder and the raindrops slamming into the earth and concrete. Why do I have a feeling the storm is more a result of her casting rather than the weather?

Flicking my sheath open, I slide out my own knife, eyeing the silver dagger lying out in the open. It’s too far away, but if I can find a way to get to it, I can at least have a better weapon.

“Are you scared?” one of her asshole friends—Brittany, I think—calls out.

“Are you? Had to wait until I was alone to attack?” I swallow, throat dry as sandpaper, and clutch my dagger, turning toward the soft sound of their steps as they get closer.

“Can we kill her and get it over with?” Chelsea, Melody’s other friend, asks.

“Melody gets first dibs,” a fourth voice says quickly, a voice I don’t recognize.

Great. I’m outnumbered four to one, even more so given that they all have affinities they can use. This is what I get for coming out here. I should have known better, but I couldn’t take sitting inside while people stared and gossiped. I thought by now people would have forgotten about me, but my deal with Bellamy has only renewed their interest.

I’ll have to thank the vampire the next time I see him. If I make it out of here alive. There’s a very real possibility that I won’t. The silver in my shoulder isn’t enough poison to kill me, but Melody and her friends will have more.

My gaze skips to the silver dagger once again. The leather handle is probably soaked, but it’ll still stab. I run for it, using my enhanced speed, snatching it up and catapulting myself into a forward roll, narrowly avoiding another knife. I find my feet and slip behind the trunk of a large tree.

There’s no time for rest.

The four of them come at me from all sides. There’s only one way to go. I sheathe one weapon, keeping the silver one out and ready, and squat down, gathering all my strength before pushing off the ground as hard as I can. The lowest branch rushes to greet me, and I catch hold of it. My fingers straining, I bite down on the handle of the knife, grabbing hold with both hands and wrapping my ankles to pull myself to the top of the branch.