They stepped into the corridor and a wave of noisy chatter drowned out the headmaster’s voice. Students had flooded the hall, ranging from groups of fresh-faced thirteen-year-olds to lanky eighteen-year-olds with lean muscles yet to fill out. As we followed the headmaster and his son into the crowd, I counted three boys to every one girl. Huh.
The practice arenas were plain concrete boxes, designed to withstand daily magic damage, but spotless white walls, marble floors, and stained wood trim lined the corridors. The classrooms, as I’d seen earlier in our tour, featured high-tech projectors and smart boards, glossy tables and cushioned chairs on tiered floors, plush carpet, honeycomb walls for optimal acoustics, and huge windows that offered breathtaking views of the forest, the coast, or the beautiful Tudor masonry of the Sinclair castle.
Castle. I still couldn’t believe it.
Aaron shook off his father and trotted back to us, weaving through the students.
“Shane Davila?” Kai said as soon as Aaron was within earshot. “A renowned bounty hunter will be a nice change from the usual guest list.”
“Yeah.” Aaron rubbed his hand over his mouth. “I’d be more excited, except my dad knows I’m a fan of Shane’s work.”
Kai nodded knowingly, but I was confused.
“So what if your dad knows you’re a fan of this guy?” I asked.
“My dad’ll have an ulterior motive for inviting Shane,” Aaron said, unduly grim. “Let’s head to the house. I’ll show you your rooms and stuff before dinner.”
He and Kai led us into the flow of students, but they didn’t get far before an older teen called out, “Whoa, Aaron Sinclair! I didn’t know you were here.”
Aaron stopped as a band of boys rushed up to him. A moment later, three sixteenish girls squeezed into the group, their eyes forming heart shapes as they ogled him. Kai was getting almost as much attention, though the students seemed as intimidated as they were awed.
I tugged Ezra over to the wall as another wave of students flowed past us, chatting about dinner. We shared a look of amused resignation. Across the hall, Sin was talking to a girl with vivid pink hair—probably discussing hair dye.
The door beside us opened. Men and women walked out, and I figured these were the advanced-training alumni Ezra had mentioned. Twenty to twenty-five years old, the women lean and strong, the men broad-shouldered and sturdy.
They joined the throng of younger students, some stopping to greet Aaron and Kai. The stragglers halted in the doorway, blocked by the traffic jam. I eyed them curiously. A tall, handsome blond, a shorter guy with an upturned nose, and a woman with long black hair shaved on one side.
The blond guy glanced dismissively at Aaron and Kai. “Look who’s back,” he said to his friends. “How much do you want to bet Sinclair spent the afternoon showing off in lessons while daddy’s staff kissed his ass?”
My hackles rose. Holy crap, talk about venomous jealousy.
“Now he’s soaking up the adoration of teenagers like a complete tool,” the woman sneered. “How can he act like the academy king after years at that trash city guild?”
The first guy laughed nastily. “Wait till he goes back. His mates will be licking his shoes for a taste of a real guild.”
Hands balling into fists, I shoved off the wall—and Ezra caught me around the waist. He hauled me right past the savage trio and into the crowd of teens.
“Let me go!” I hissed. “I’m going to break that guy’s teeth off and jam them into his eye sockets.”
Ezra laughed like I was joking. “That’s actually kind of scary, hearing you say it like that.”
“Because I mean it!” I squirmed determinedly and he loosened his arms enough for me to spin around and glare at him. “What those shitheads said is—”
Some clumsy nitwit thudded into my back on his way by and I bumped hard into Ezra’s chest. His hands tightened on my arms, and when I looked up, our faces were inches apart. Milling students jostled us on all sides and there was nowhere to retreat.
My anger dissolved in a rush of sizzling nerves. What had I been saying?
“Nothing we do will change their attitudes,” Ezra said quietly.
Oh right. The shitheads. “But—”
“Just forget about them, Tori.” With a smile that scattered my thoughts all over again, he took my hand and pulled me down the hall after Aaron, Kai, and Sin; they’d drifted along with the crowd and were waiting at the doors. I walked at his side, my head a complete mess and my attention frozen on our entwined fingers.
Back in Château de Sinclair, I stood in the center of my guest room, afraid to touch anything. Soft light from the low chandelier shimmered across the rose-red carpet. The dark wainscoting was gracefully lightened by colorful oil paintings, lush drapery with a pattern of cream on ivory, and a pale bedspread smoothed across the monstrous four-poster bed. Its weighty headboard was piled with—I counted—nine pillows of various sizes and fabric cases.
I walked past a fainting couch, which matched the drapes, to stand in front of the window. The ground sloped away from the castle for half a mile before sinking into a wide lagoon. A narrow strip of land separated it from the churning ocean waves that stretched to the darkening horizon. On a clear day, could I see the mainland?
Tugging on a lock of hair, I tried to imagine growing up in a place like this. A four-story, twenty-thousand-square-foot castle with butlers, footmen, maids, and chefs. The only son of the headmaster, gifted and impeccably educated, doted on by family and staff. Center of attention. Star of the academy. Amazing opportunities offered to him everywhere he turned.
But Aaron had left all that to join the Crow and Hammer. No wonder his parents didn’t approve.
I straightened my spine. Time to stop cowering just because these people had enough money to sink several cargo ships. The guys didn’t care how much money I had, and that’s all that mattered. Grinning, I pivoted on my heel and exited the room.
Sin was fretting in the hallway outside Aaron’s suite, which sat dead center between the east and west wings. I hadn’t been inside, but I knew it was ridiculously massive. I could tell by the length of the wall that separated my guest room from Sin’s.
“Let’s go downstairs,” I said confidently.
She fidgeted with her teal hair, styled into loose waves. “I hope dinner isn’t too extravagant. What if there’s more than one fork?”
“Just wait for someone else to choose a utensil first,” I advised, leading the way to the spiraling staircase that carried us past the second level. We came out on the gallery halfway between the main floor and second floor. The balcony overlooked the grand entrance hall, while the opposite side was dominated by a truly monstrous window that offered a breathtaking view of the winter-clad front garden, the circular driveway, and a long set of shallow steps that ran uphill toward the academy campus.
I trotted the rest of the way down the stairs and past the fireplace, now lit with crackling logs. To my relief, Aaron, Kai, and Ezra were already lounging on the living room sofas—along with a fourth, much smaller person with long, mousy brown hair. As we walked in, she sprang up from her spot beside Aaron, her eyes lighting up just like Sin’s did when she was excited.
“You’re here!” she squealed, then checked her enthusiasm. In an obvious attempt to act cool, she tucked her hair behind one ear. “Mrs. Sinclair invited me to dinner. Pretty sweet.”
Sin fought back a smile as her sister surreptitiously checked Aaron’s and Kai’s reactions to her coolness. “Hi Lily. Good to see you too.”
“I was just talking to Aaron,” Lily added, all casual like she chatted with academy legends all the time. “He’s subbing for one of my lessons tomorrow afternoon.”
“News to me,” Aaron admitted. “It isn’t on my itinerary”—he shot a nasty look at the paper we’d abandoned on the coffee table earlier—“but I don’t doubt Dad crammed in another lesson or two.”
“Will we see you at all this week?” I muttered.
“Hey, I know.” Grinning, Aaron leaned forward. “Sin, you should sub for me. Teach the mage kids why taking a sleeping potion to the face is bad.”
Lily snorted dismissively. “We want to learn about real magic, not alchemy.”
Rocking back on her heels, Sin stared at her little sister as though she’d never heard Lily disparage her magic class before.
“You’ve gotta learn about the other stuff too, Lily,” Aaron said easily. “We’re not immune to all magic.”
I blinked slowly. That … hadn’t been the swift verbal correction I’d expected Aaron to deliver. He didn’t seem to have noticed that Lily had all but said, “Elementaria rules, alchemy drools.”
“Alchemy is useful and all,” Lily went on, missing every possible cue from Sin that she should change the subject, “but it’s got nothing on combat magery. I’m so glad I’m a mage.”
“Lily Belle!” Eyes flashing angrily, Sin planted her hands on her hips. “You used to cry that you weren’t an alchemist like Mom.”
Lily’s face flushed. “You’re one to talk, Cindy Lou.”
Sin went rigid, her cheeks skipping pink and turning beet red. She took a stumbling step back as Aaron’s expression morphed from surprise to what I could only describe as pure evil. Kai had surpassed evil and was radiating undiluted essence of doom.
Ezra twisted on the sofa, his eyes sparkling with suppressed mirth. “Two sisters,” he said musingly. “Lily Belle and …”
“Cindy Lou,” Aaron and Kai finished in perfect, terrifying unison.
Sin cringed so hard her head almost inverted with her shoulders. “Sin. My name is Sin.”
I sighed. Though I was torn between two basic instincts—tease my friends and protect my friends—I knew what I had to do. Sin needed someone in her corner, especially against three mages who never passed up an opportunity to tease someone.