“Hi!” I say, forcing my face into my best cheerful-Princess grin. “There’s coffee! Come sit down!” Luca just narrows his eyes at me a little more, suspicious, and goes to the other side of the table, sitting with Jesse. My stomach twists at this – Luca almost always sits by me. And while Ben too
“And you, Ari?” Luca asks, and Jesse turns to him a bit with a frown, because in public Luca never calls me by what he thinks is my name – he always calls me Shrimp. “What is going on here?” Rafe asks, quietly looking between us. I sigh. “I like chocolate cake too, Luca,” I say casually, taking
Ben sweeps me up a few staircases, away from the rest of the boys, and he really does take a minute to show me the incredible library that takes up a large portion of the top floor – presumably on the other side of our rooms. I gape around at it in complete awe. I mean – we have a pretty impressiv
Further cuts – god, I’d forgotten all about those - Neumann’s eyes focus on me now, perceiving that I am completely lost. “In case some of you are unaware,” he says, his voice dry, “which is…frankly abundantly clear from some of your expressions, Alpha Academy cuts a further 40% of its entering Ca
“Oh, god, Rafe,” I sigh, shaking my head up at him and glancing down the hall. “Do we have to do this now? My schedule says we have ten minutes for lunch before our next mystery class –“ “Here,” Rafe says, dropping a wrapped power bar and a bottle of water on top of my books. “Academy isn’t big on
“Each of you,” Alves says softly, moving to the book satchel perched on the edge of the desk and pulling from it the black orb, “demonstrated an affinity for magic. I will be here, over the course of the next several months and years, to see whether or not your particular skills can be honed for the
Professor Alvez smiles like a cat who has just caught a canary. “Oh, excellent, Cadet Davis. Please, do share.” The dark-haired boy sighs again, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks around at us, clearly uncomfortable. “Are we sworn to secrecy in here?” he asks, anxious. “I’m not eager to
Rafe smiles at me, nodding, letting me know I’ve done well. I smile back. “My situation is the same,” Jackson chimes in, tense. “Surprised to be here. No magical family line to speak of. Are you sure I’m in the right place?” “Oh, I’m sure, McClintock,” Alvez says, leaning forward to smile at him