Jade
“First match,” Kieran’s voice carries across the morning air two days later. “Nina Aldridge and Sam Reeves. Mirror Vault.”
My stomach clenches as Nina rises from her spot. Sam’s face drains of color, and as he follows her toward the winding path that leads up the mountainside, he looks like he’s walking to his execution. Which, knowing Nina’s competitive streak and precision, might not be far off.
The volcanic stone crunches under our feet as we climb the mountain after them, passing the Ember Ring, then the Smoke Spire.
The Mirror Vault is the third circle, a shiny dome with the entire outer wall designed like one-way glass.
From out here, we’ll see everything happening inside the nearly eighty feet wide arena, like we’re watching a twisted reality show.
Inside, all they’ll see are infinite mirrors reflecting back at them, creating an endless maze of themselves and their magic.
Nina and Sam disappear inside, and the rest of us press closer to the glass, jostling for the best view. Garrett’s elbow digs into my ribs, but I’m too focused on what’s about to happen to care.
A single flame inside the arena and outside near us allows us to speak to them, and for us to hear everything they’re saying in there. It’s like the world’s most sadistic intercom system.
“Begin,” Kieran calls through the fire.
Sam moves first, throwing a fireball at Nina with more desperation than strategy.
She sidesteps easily, and the flame hits the mirror behind her.
It splits into two real fireballs, both careening off at different angles, creating orange trails that crisscross the vault.
But in the infinite reflections, it looks like hundreds of fireballs, making it nearly impossible to know which ones are real.
The only way to manage is by tracking heat signatures, while avoiding the actual fireballs, while defending yourself from your opponent.
Which is maybe easy for Evie, with her knack for tracking heat signatures, but not for the rest of us.
Sam throws another fireball, trying to catch Nina while she’s dodging. This one also hits a mirror and doubles. Now four fireballs ricochet through the space, each one lasting its full thirteen seconds before dissipating.
He spins frantically, trying to dodge flames that aren’t there, and a real one clips his shoulder. It doesn’t burn him, since we’re all immune to fire, but it breaks his concentration, sending him stumbling into what looks like a painful face-plant against a mirror.
Nina’s moving through the chaos with eerie calm, and when she finally strikes, it’s precise. One fireball, angled to hit a mirror and split into two that will cross directly through Sam’s position.
He’s so busy tracking the other flames that he doesn’t see Nina’s coming. The impact knocks him off-balance, and he goes down with a yelp that’s definitely going to haunt him for the rest of the semester.
Nina flows forward through the confusion, and suddenly she has Sam pressed against one of the mirrors, her thin stiletto blade at his throat.
“I yield,” Sam gasps, and Nina removes the blade, standing with a satisfied, closed-lipped smile.
“Winner: Nina Aldridge,” Kieran announces.
Sam stumbles out looking shell-shocked.
Nina follows, not even breathing hard.
Two healers approach Sam as he exits the circle. One checks him over for injuries, while the other tends to a cut on his arm.
“Next match,” Kieran calls out. “Vera Jackson and Jade Harrington. Void Pit.”
My entire body goes cold, then hot, then cold again. My fingers tremble around the hilt of my dagger.
Vera Jackson? Why did Logan tell Kieran to put me with Vera Jackson? Is he trying to kill me before the Council gets to me first?
Electricity crackles through my veins, as if it wants to shock Logan even though he’s all the way in the castle classrooms and I’m all the way out here.
Glass sphere, I remind myself. Keep it inside the glass sphere.
In the future, I need to remember to have Logan tell me who he’s putting me up against as well as what circle I’ll be fighting in.
Vera brings out her weapon and examines her curved blade. “I’ll finally get a chance to put the princess in her place,” she says loudly enough for the entire mountainside to hear, the venom in her voice making it clear that she plans on annihilating me.
Which, to be honest, is an incredibly realistic goal for her.
“Good luck,” Evie whispers, squeezing my hand. “Remember what Kieran taught us about—”
“About getting my ass kicked with proper form?” I finish. “Yeah, I got it.”
Lauren appears at my other side. “You’ve got this, Jade. Just remember to breathe.”
“Breathing. Right. I’ll add it to my list of things to remember while Vera’s trying to murder me.”
We continue up the winding path, my legs feeling increasingly like jelly with each step. The Void Pit is right after the Mirror Vault, which means less climbing, but also less time to mentally prepare for my impending doom.
“After you, Princess,” Vera gestures mockingly at the steps.
I try to channel Logan’s controlled grace down the steep descent, mostly just managing not to trip.
The entire time, I remain aware of Vera behind me, ready to block an attack if she tries anything.
She won’t, since starting the fight before Kieran says go would be an automatic fail—and thus, an automatic expulsion—but it doesn’t hurt to be ready.
The buzzing of my magic disappears almost entirely when I reach the bottom of the pit, which luckily feels far less imposing during the day than at night.
“Ready positions,” Kieran calls from above.
I pull out my dagger, adjusting my grip the way Logan taught me. Wider stance. Bent knees. Picture the glass sphere. Don’t let the electricity out. Don’t think about how Vera looks like she wants to use my face as a punching bag until pieces of my brain are scattered across the dusty ground.
And most importantly, Logan’s voice echoes in my mind, don’t overthink.
Asking me not to overthink is like asking me not to breathe, but I try anyway, focusing on the mental image of my electricity contained inside the glass sphere.
Vera holds her curved dagger at the ready, the thing looking a thousand times deadlier than my simple blade.
“Begin,” Kieran announces, and Vera comes at me in a blink, her blade catching my arm.
The sting of it makes everything suddenly sharp and clear.
“There we go,” she says, already moving for another strike. “Now you’re paying attention.”
I manage to get my dagger up this time, but the force of her attack sends me stumbling.
Her blade kisses my ribs next in a burning line of pain that makes me gasp, and when I try to counter, she flows around my clumsy attempt like water.
“This is what training looks like when your parents care enough to prepare you for the real world instead of just throwing money at your problems,” she says, pressing forward.
Anger flares hot in my chest, and I lunge at her, but she makes me pay for it with a cut across my thigh.
Then she goes for an elaborate spinning attack that’s all show, and suddenly, something clicks.
All those years of reading tennis serves, of knowing where the ball will be instead of where it is, suddenly make sense in a completely different context as my body moves on pure instinct, pivoting hard on my back foot.
Vera’s blade whistles through empty air.
Mine finds her ribs, parting fabric and skin in one clean line.
“You little bitch,” she snarls, and then she crashes into me, driving us both to the ground. The impact knocks the air from my lungs, and then her hand is around my throat, squeezing hard. “Lucky shot,” she sneers, leaning her weight into it. “Let’s see how lucky you are when you can’t breathe.”
Black spots dance at the edges of my vision.
I can’t breathe, can’t think, and something electric surges through my veins.
Power that wants to save me, to arc from my fingers into her face.
It would be so easy. Just let it go. Show her what real power looks like.
Power strong enough to push past the Void Pit’s magical defenses.
Power that should terrify everyone in this entire damn school.
Thunder rumbles overhead, but instead of releasing my magic, I picture Logan’s glass sphere, perfect and unbreakable. The silver electricity rages against it, screaming for freedom, but I hold the image firm, even as my lungs plead for air.
Then I let my body go limp, hoping to surprise Vera by playing dead.
“Seriously?” Her grip loosens slightly. “That’s all you’ve got?”
Refusing to give up, I explode upward, driving my knee into her stomach. The sound she makes—something between a grunt and a squeak—is deeply satisfying.
She rolls sideways, clutching her middle, and I scramble away, dizzy but moving. The taste of copper fills my mouth—I must have bitten my tongue—but at least I’m on my feet.
Not for long. Vera recovers faster than I can blink, her boot catching my ribs and sending me sprawling. The world goes white for a second, and when it comes back, there’s cold steel pressed against my throat.
“Nice try.” She’s breathing hard, but at least there’s blood on her shirt where I cut her. “But this is over.”
She counts slowly as I make futile attempts to free myself, savoring each number. “One. Two. Three. Four. Five.”
“Winner: Vera Jackson,” Kieran announces.
Her blade disappears from my throat. “Thanks for the workout, Princess,” she says, standing up and brushing dust off her clothes. “Maybe next time you’ll last a whole minute.”
I stay down for a moment longer, partly because everything hurts, and partly because I need to check that the electricity is still contained behind its glass walls.
It is.
Thank every god that Logan’s training worked. And sure, I lost, but I also landed a hit on Vera Jackson. That’s like... a quarter victory? A moral victory? I’ll take whatever fraction I can get.