The academy had gone quiet in the way places only fell silent after a tragedy—too careful, too watchful, the walls themselves seeming to listen.
Aria felt it the moment she stepped into the Hall of Wards.
The air wasn’t just tense.
It was hot.
Not physically—nothing anyone else would notice.
But beneath her skin, behind her ribs, in the tips of her fingers… there was a heat pulsing like something alive.
She curled her hands into fists and kept walking beside Lena, who was whispering furiously.
“Someone drained him, Aria. Drained. Him.”
Lena’s voice trembled despite her bravado. Her dark curls bounced as she marched ahead, threading between clusters of students who were pretending not to panic.
“They said he was found with no magic left. Not a spark. That’s— that’s impossible, righ
