Chapter 27 #3
“Ros?” I whispered.
Her gaze shifted.
“Anna,” she said, getting up and coming to the bedside where I was neatly pressed under the covers.
She touched my forehead with her hand, the other gently tightening at my wrist.
“What are you doing?” I asked, staring up at her hand.
When she let go of me, she let out a sigh. “Good, the fever is gone, and your pulse is stable.”
I raised a brow. “Was it that bad?”
“They were both fairly high, but don’t worry—I think you are through the worst of it,” Roslyn said.
“Your body is learning to accept the new energy flowing through every cell as they rapidly adapt.
It was through those intense emotions that you were able to unlock your everi.
Most mages feel traces of it their entire life before truly awakening it.
Once it awakens, it's extremely taxing on the body. Despite that, you had one of the most intense fevers I have ever seen someone get.”
“I feel like I’ve been locked up in solitary confinement,” I said, massaging my shoulder. “And like I have another limb all of a sudden but I don’t know what to do with it or how to control it.”
Roslyn chortled, followed by a curious look. “What was it exactly that finally awakened your everi? I’ve been feeling your energy on the verge of breaking through for days now.”
The memory of Blake’s hands and lips being near flashed through my mind.
I flushed and diverted my gaze. “I’m not sure. I was just frustrated, I suppose. Where’s Blake?”
Roslyn stopped fretting over my covers and looked at me. A soft smile came over her. She always knew.
“He’s preparing for your introduction,” she said. “He was here not long ago. He’s been treating you by stabilizing you with his everi. You seem to respond best to his energy signature.”
“Stabilizing me? You mean like an IV or something?” I asked.
She laughed. “Something like that.”
“Will he be back soon?” I asked, watching the shadows dance in the gleaming marble columns.
Roslyn nodded, her deep crimson curls on fire in the candlelight. “I’ll stay until he is back. You should get some rest. Tomorrow morning, we will take you to the Aurkai’s meeting chamber.”
I swallowed before nodding and relaxed my mind.
As I drifted into a deep state of meditation, my mom’s face was vivid in my mind.
I could’ve reached out and touched her. Her fear had been real and paralyzing.
I’d felt it as if it were my own. This was why.
She feared a being with power far beyond the threats of the world I knew.
I couldn’t comprehend the level of threat from someone that wielded energy like this.
Her smile faded as the image changed to Derrick standing on the stone tiles of the training grounds. There was no doubt in my mind anymore.
It was painfully clear now.
All of this was very, very, real.
And they’d all lied to me.
I twisted in the sheets.
Blake was the only one who trusted me with information. Everyone else wore masks of lies disguised as secrets meant to protect me. But none of it had kept me safe.
No one, but Blake.
The second semester was quickly approaching as I stood in the Aurkai’s chamber. It was exactly as it was the day I broke into it.
Except this time, all the Aurkai were here.
The energy in the chamber was absolutely truculent.
Blake shut the door behind us; the firm click was a resoundingly alarming sign that I was now trapped in this suffocating tension.
Ezreal Kalmont sat in an armchair by the fire. He watched me with an unblinking stare that unnerved me immeasurably. Of all the Aurkai, he seemed to be the one most disconnected from the rest, aside from Roslyn.
Roslyn stood by the window, her arms folded across her chest and her body rigid with discomfort. She was focused intently on something beyond my vantage point, pointedly not angled or looking in Ezreal’s direction.
Saryna sat in one of the chairs beside Caelan at the long wooden table in the center of the room.
Her long blonde silky hair was in perfect place, her blue eyes shining like gemstones as she watched me curiously, as if she hadn’t nearly died the night of the ball.
Caelan, however, eyed Blake with such deep disdain I thought he might launch himself across the table at any moment toward him.
Melanie leaned against the wall behind him, her arms locked over her chest just like Roslyn’s.
When the door clicked shut, Ezreal looked up, first at Blake, then at me.
“Anna,” he said. For a moment, I was relieved, if only a little, and his lips curved into the faintest smile—it wasn’t effortless, nor bright, but an acknowledgment of my presence there within the chamber. “Welcome. Please, have a seat.”
I did as he said and sat near Saryna and Caelan.
Blake did not sit. The room was churning with potent energy. It was strange because I’d been feeling it my whole life and now that I understood it, I wasn’t sure if I feared it more or less. Blake’s everi wrapped protectively around me in layers of warmth. It was all that kept me from fleeing.
Blake did not once look in Melanie’s direction.
Something had happened.
Roslyn shifted her body toward the table but did not enter the main space to join us.
Ezreal stood up, his presence commanding the attention of everyone in the room.
“Congratulations,” he said, his voice low and quiet, but heard with ease. “Adepts are highly valued at Nightfall and rarely acquired. Your lineage is strong, given how quickly you have awakened the everi that flows in your veins.”
I stared at him, recalling Melanie’s taunting words.
“And what lineage is that?” I asked. “It seems you once knew my mom.”
Ezreal’s eyes gave nothing away. “Potential Initiates are recruited through various means. Adelyna Kamoria was recruited by an Aurkai and quickly reached Adept status. She was an exceptional student, but unfortunately, she left the school before finishing her training.”
“Then tell me who recruited her,” I said.
“Her records show that Valenthor Ryth’enir was the Aurkai that completed her enrollment,” he said.
Blake stiffened, as did Roslyn.
“What?” I asked, looking between them.
Blake didn’t move, and Roslyn was watching him curiously.
“Valenthor is now King of Raven Falls,” Ezreal said.
“My father?” Blake asked, quietly.
Blake’s father knew my mom? I found him, but he refused to look at me.
“I want to know what happened to Isabella and Saryna.”
“A mistake,” Ezreal said. “Nothing more, and the perpetrator has been banned from Nightfall.”
I wanted to press further, but there was a finality in Ezreal’s tone.
Roslyn turned her attention to me. “As an Adept, your course schedule will change. You will begin to learn about your lineage and how to wield everi. You will continue to have private lessons from each of the Aurkai.”
Blake watched Melanie with an unreadable expression.
“As you already know, Anna, our true nature is kept hidden from Initiates out of great concern for their safety. It allows them to awaken their everi naturally and with as little risk as possible,” Saryna said.
“It is with this in mind that we ask all new Adepts to adopt the same mental fortitude, for the safety of all at Nightfall. Do you agree to this stipulation? Let it be known that your word is binding.”
Binding? I didn’t care at this point. Everything about Nightfall and what was expected of me had been binding. I had no choice but to agree to their terms.
I glanced at Blake, as if he had some answer to make all this okay—a nod, a small smile, anything, but he gave no such indication. He did, however, appear solemn, and I felt what he was feeling.
Trapped.
I had no way out of this. This life came with invisible chains—the exchange required to be in their world. The room was heavy with a charge that felt like it might spark at any moment.
I returned my attention to Saryna.
“Yes,” I said. “I agree.”