The second pulse nearly killed the lights in the entire Academy.
We felt it from the Tower - a ripple of cold, clear mind-power that wasn't just violet anymore, but silver-blue. Down in the dorms, students screamed. Books flew off shelves in the library. Professor Margot's wards cracked again.
Elder Thorne's voice boomed up the stairs, furious and awed: "WHAT IN THE GODDESS'S NAME ARE YOU DOING UP THERE? I SAID REST, NOT RITUAL!"
Rhys, still holding my face, blinked slowly, his new crown of stars fading to a soft glow behind his ears. "Sorry," he called down, but he didn't sound sorry at all. He sounded... blissed out. His perfect hair was mussed where I'd grabbed it.
"You felt that?" Jaxon whispered, staring at the window where the pulse had gone out. "That was... that was a Tower pul
