I hold both hands up, watching as blood trickles freely from the holes in the center of my palms. Rory’s face grows paler by the second as if he’s the one losing blood.
“Mistress, may I?” Lore flutters onto my wrist, her wide eyes moving between the wound and myself, and I nod, wishing I had something to bite down on. “Brace yourself, Serena,” she says, her words holding a hard edge.
I close my eyes and welcome the darkness behind my lids as I clench my jaw. Lore’s power swirls around me before she directs it into my hand. Blinding pain wracks my body as she grows new flesh over the gaping wound.
“Holy shit,” Rory whispers, and his hand moves to my leg, giving it a gentle squeeze. I’d laugh if I wasn’t trying so hard not to cry. If only he knew what I’d done, he wouldn’t be so sympathetic.
The pain in my hand lessens, and I stretch my fingers, the stiffness in them melting away. I grab the cryptex from under my arm and hold it out to Rory, who takes it from my shaking hand. “Lore, keep going.”
Lore’s wings flutter, and her claws grip on to my left wrist. “Are you ready?”
I close my eyes again. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?” I huff as she allows her magic to flow through me, the pain not as harsh as it was before. “You couldn’t have done it like that the first time?”
“You should have only done one side. You didn’t know how much blood this cryptex needed to open. You could have died.” But beneath the reprimand, her worry shines through, making me smile.
“I know. But it’s not like the Academy of Light would kill their own students. I took a risk based on that judgment.”
I finally peel my eyes open. My vision blurs as light spots flit around my eyes before disappearing. The world around me slowly grows sharper until I can see everything more clearly. Even the mixture of horror and worry on the faces of my teammates as they stare at the cryptex in disgust.
“Why would they give us a blood cryptex as part of our trial? That makes no sense.” Rory holds it up, staring at it as if it were a despicable creature, but Declan glances at his other friends.
“Because this year is different. We are to work as a team. And one team would have to have a member of the Dark.” His eyes meet mine. “They wanted to see whether you knew what it was and whether you would sacrifice one of us, or if you would sacrifice yourself.”
“But that would mean…” Rory trails off.
I shrug as I stretch out my hands, the tightness from the new muscle loosening. “It means they were testing me. And this was a trial, not only for this school, but to see if I possess the qualities that make you a student of the Light.”
“So why put everyone through it?” Dane asks.
Declan shrugs. “It’s only fair; a sort of ‘if she can do it, we should be able to do it’ situation.”
We remain silent as the situation finally sinks in, the whole reason for this stupid bonding exercise was for them to see how well I can do with a team… Or maybe they just get their jollies off by seeing people stab themselves. Assholes.
“This isn’t just about you getting into a prestigious school anymore. Being in a team with me means we’ll be tested in other ways. To see if I’m compassionate, caring, self-sacrificing… and any other qualities they think I need.”
The four share a look, and they nod as one. Declan holds out his hand to me as Rory stands with the cryptex in hand. I take his hand and revel in his strength as he helps me to my feet. “Welcome to the team, Serena.”
My limbs feel weightless, and a grin grows on my face.
“It looks like phase one is completed, Mistress. You now have the acceptance of the highest-ranking students at the academy.”
And all it took was a little blood. Who would have thought gaining their trust would be so easy?
Chapter 3
Rory holds the cryptex at arm’s length, the runes glowing bright red. “So, what do we do with this?”
I hold out my hands, and he drops it into them immediately before backing away, wiping his hands on his jeans. I run my fingers over the sides until I feel another two buttons, then press them. The caps on either end fall open with a pop.
I shake the tube, and a roll of paper falls from inside. I unroll the scroll and snort at the riddle even a child could decipher. “Is this a joke?”
I hold it out to the guys, and Declan takes the scroll, frowns, then passes it to Dane whose lips twitch as he reads. His eyes move toward a marble temple off in the distance; the roof is barely visible above the treetops, but the sunlight bouncing off the gold accents is like a glaring sign.
As Dane passes the scroll on, I crane my neck over their heads to check on my barrier; a few bodies litter the ground beyond it. It appears the entire student body decided to follow us to the clearing, assuming I’d found something. Several teams eye us with curiosity, others’ animosity. The rest continue to do everything in their power to open the cryptex—except one group.
The three blonde stooges stand outside my barrier, watching us and our scroll carefully. “Lore, how much do you think they saw?”
Lore hums in my mind, weighing her thoughts. “I wasn’t paying much attention, but I believe they started watching as you removed the spikes from your hands. You were quite loud,” she remarks.
I poke her in the stomach. “Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t grin and bear it.”
We turn to see the golden blonde
