Never Keep (Sins of the Zodiac #1)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

T here had been times during the night that the whirring and clunking of the pipes in my so-called sleeping quarters had sounded like screams. It had woken me time and again, leaving my eyes raw with tiredness today. Our first instruction on mental shields had been simple enough, but most of our practise was intended for personal time. It had been followed up by a morning learning about casting silencing shields – a magical barrier that could stop anyone from overhearing you speak to others, or to close yourself off to outside noise entirely. I had a feeling the second use was going to be more important to me in the loud cleansing chamber I had to call home, but the Reapers had warned us the magic was complex and needed ample practise to master.

We weren’t going to be spoon fed our magical instructions here; the knowledge was imparted, then it was up to us to learn how to practice it well. There was a library in each Vault where further research could be done on the magics discussed, but there was no reading list or guidance as to what to look for. It was a test in itself, I suspected. A way to weed out the lazy from the ambitious, and I wasn’t going to be caught on the back foot. The moment I had a chance, I’d visit the library in the Vault of Frost and collect as many books on mental shields as I could carry back to my quarters.

For now, we had a free hour to get some food from the refectory and there was an optional visit to something they called ‘Wandershire’ where we could buy supplies. Despite the fact that I’d dried off my warmest outfit, the freezing air in the Galaseum had left my fingers numb, and I’d resented the Flamebringers who had been coaxing flames to life all around them. I’d studied each of their faces, hunting for the one whose death belonged to me, but the chamber had been so vast, there had been no possible way to search them all. I’d decided my focus should belong to the Reapers anyway. I didn’t want to miss a crucial piece of information and cost myself some knowledge; it would only make me less capable of taking down the man I planned to kill. Every skill I gained now could be an advantage to me in that fight, especially if I learned it faster and better than he did.