In the middle of the circle, Dad began chanting. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The magic was beginning. It was like a hum moving through the air that you felt instead of heard. Pressure began to build. The animages in the circle lit up with magic one by one. When the circle of magic connected, the light shot to the middle and then up to the sky.
The light hummed as everyone stood completely still. Goosebumps ran up and down my arms in the presence of so much magic. Not even the wind blew as we waited. Simon had taken my hand again. I hadn’t even noticed. We both squeezed as hard as we could. Would I feel something? I didn’t know. All I could do was stand and wait. How was I supposed to stand still when it felt like I was going to explode?
The light went out in a rush that felt like the air was getting sucked out of the meadow. I didn’t realize I had been leaning in toward the circle until I almost pitched forward toward the ground. The humming stopped, leaving me feeling empty. It was over. The silence was stifling. The weight on my chest had returned. I couldn’t bring myself to look.
Someone behind me clapped once. I jumped so hard my teeth clacked together. With the clap, the floating candles lit up again. The light caused a ripple of noise and excitement to rush through the crowd. The sounds crashed into my sensitive ears. It was like a jolt of electricity ran through me. I yanked my right hand out of Simon’s grip and flipped it over. There it was. The silver orb on the back of my hand shimmered in the weak light of the candles. The sign of an animage.
“Yes!” I yelled. A wash of relief swept over me. I reached out and touched the mark. It didn’t feel any different from the rest of my hand. I turned and grabbed Simon up in a bear hug.
“Stop,” he said. He pushed me away and turned his back on me. A cold dread doused the excitement that had flooded through me. Simon glanced at me over his shoulder and shoved his hands in his pockets. I grabbed his right arm and pulled his hand toward me. There was nothing there.
Simon jerked his hand away and crumpled in the field with his head in his hands. The cold feeling of dread ran down my spine and spread through my body. I just stood next to Simon, too numb to move. This couldn’t be right. Something went wrong with the spell. Simon had to be an animage.
“There has to be a mistake,” I whispered.
“There are no mistakes,” he replied. I sat down next to him and put my head on his shoulder. I knew he was right.
Chapter Two
Mom found us there. She stopped when she saw us and didn’t say anything for a long moment.
“Oh, no. Sophie?” I showed her the faintly glowing mark on the back of my hand. Realization slowly dawned on her face. Simon stood up and pushed by her, making his way back into the night with both hands stuck firmly in his pocket. I started to go after him, but Mom grabbed my arm.
“Sophie, you have to go stand with the others. They have to get your name down. Dad will be along in a minute.” She patted me on the shoulder and brushed a piece of hair out of my eyes. “Congratulations, dear.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I wanted to follow Simon, make sure he was okay. All the students with new marks were gathering at the other side of the field. I glanced over my shoulder, but Simon had disappeared in the dark.
I gathered with the other students lined up in front of the same witch and warlock who checked us into the field. Normally I would have been surprised at the number of people lining up. So far it looked to be close to fifteen. But the one person I wanted wasn’t here, so it didn’t matter. Students were scattered across the meadow in various stages of elation and despair. I glanced down at the back of my hand again, suddenly seized with the irrational fear that my mark was gone. It was still there, shimmering the dim candlelight. I tried to summon up some sort of excitement. Many of the nearby students talked excitedly. I heard snatches of conversation. People were guessing about what the academy was like, what kind of shifter they would be, what kind of new magic they would have. The sound was an assault on my eardrums. Why wasn’t I excited? I wanted to be excited. Being an animage had always been my dream. Now I knew I was one. But every time I imagined this moment, Simon was here too.
“Simon? Sophie? Where are my children?” My dad’s voice broke through the noise of the crowd. The bottom dropped out of my stomach. Dad didn’t know yet. I tried to scoot closer to the group of students next to me, even though I knew it wouldn’t work. Dad’s senses were way too sharp for me to fool him by blending into a crowd. He wasn’t going to enjoy getting this news from me.
“Sophie! There you are. Come give your old man a hug.” The other students’ eyes were on me as Dad pulled me into him and hugged me fiercely. I hugged him back, thankful for the affection and dreading what was about to come next.
“I always knew
