Page 16 of Phoenix Academy: Madness

"Correction: Xavier wears glasses because he hates putting his fingers near his eyes. I am cursed with poor vision like my brother, but I use contacts, in order to keep nothing between the world and my handsomeness." Leaning down towards me, he adds in a stage whisper, "You see, what really marks a difference between the two of us is the fact that I'm slightly more attractive than my brother."

Xavier grumbles, "I heard that." He jogs up with us and glares over at his brother. "Not cool,Reginald."

I snort at the usage of Reggie's full name, which suits him about as much as a cat loves water. "We should probably pay attention to the tour. Apparently I'm going to live here now." My heart aches. "Also, you're not more attractive than your identical twin, Reggie. That's kind of the whole point of being identical."

"Yeah, Reggie," Xavier echoes, "pay attention to the tour."

Headmaster Towers is eyeing us; she's noticed our chatting amongst ourselves and is clearly getting irritated with the split attention. "Am I interrupting something?"

My cheeks flame. Already I feel like a recalcitrant student, and I haven't even enrolled in any classes. "No, sorry. You were mentioning something about the new lab?"

"Yes, Lyons Hall. Where you'll take your classes until we figure out your powers." She's studying me quietly. "The boys said when they called that something about your magic changed their emotions. You drew them to you, and they felt different. Do you know anything about Blue Phoenix?"

I shake my head. "I know that there's some kind of blue fire that shows up when I'm in trouble. And this magic that... does things." Like kill men I hate, and give them intense hallucinations of eating severed dicks. "It's been a long day."

It has, and I can feel it. I've barely even begun to process my own grief—now that the rage has burned away, I'm starting to feel it. And while I can't see any way out of enrolling here at the academy, it's not what I really want with my life.

It isn't a cabin in the woods with Lizzy and Mom.

Or, failing that, the Heretic's head on a stick.

I'd prefer the former, but I'll settle for the latter, now that it's my only option. Maybe I can even master this new magic of mine and use it to make him stab himself to death. What can I say, I'm the perfect picture of a doting daughter.

My exhaustion and grief must show on my face, because the headmaster takes pity on me. "Why don't we show you to your dorm, then. There's room in our newly renovated East Dorm—you can have a window facing the back woods. I'll take you there now."

"Thank you." There are so many questions I have, and so many emotions to express, but for now I feel like a limp noodle. So I just settle for asking, "Where's the bathroom?"

Chapter 8

The morningafter my first night at the academy, which I spent on a twin sized bed in an empty room meant for two, a thick piece of card stock is slid underneath my door. It's a quiet, rustling noise, but after a life on the run it's enough to wake me from sleep and send my pulse skyrocketing.

My first thought is: where's Lizzy?

Then: is Mom awake? Did she go out hunting?

My final thought follows: they're dead, and they're never coming back. All at once I'm pitched into the depths of grief and despair all over again. A tremor runs through me, like a fault line through the earth, and suddenly I'm shivering all over like a drunk club girl wearing a miniskirt in winter. I can feel the ground yawning wide beneath me, darkness threatening to swallow me whole.

To distract myself, I get out of bed to inspect the piece of paper on the floor. My borrowed, Phoenix Academy branded pajamas brush against my skin, reminding me of the strange situation I'm in. My clothes from the cabin were deposited in some kind of dormitory laundry and are supposed to make their way back to me, leaving nothing but the branded school uniform for me to wear.

The paper is a similarly branded piece of stationary with a class schedule on it. My full name is printed at the top, complete with calligraphy flourishes.

Ariana Wolfe

9:00 AM: Magic Casting and Control with Gregory Auerbach

10:00 AM: Siren Resistance with Shimmer, Teacher's Assistant Danielle Carpenter

11:00 AM: Phoenix History with Ocean Johnson

12:00 PM Lunch

1:00 PM: Phoenix Fire Casting 101 with Yohan Cheng

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

2:00 PM: Group Combat with Jared Fisk

3:00 PM: Weapons Combat with Kade

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