Page 9 of We Hunt the Night

“You benefit with the reward of life and the honour of fighting in the war for your people.” His voice is dull. Bored.

“Life?” I blink in confusion.

“Well, this academy, as you well know, gets rid of the weak. Weak are not needed in battle or wars. You need to be in the top seventy percent of this, and if you’re not.” He goes quiet and draws an invisible line across his throat. My stomach hurts. “You will be donated to the afterlife as a gift to the goddess. May she rebirth you as a stronger witch. Your bonded also will join your classes, and they have their own leaderboard, which they do get rewards for.”

Holy shit. “Why? I thought once we bonded, we were safe and?—”

“Don’t for a second believe you’re safe at Bloodstone, Miss Juniper Daygan. You’re not.” I think he is warning me, but it comes across as a threat. Like he is certain of the fact I am not safe here. “Now, everyone’s waiting to hear who you bonded to.” He waves at the curtain wall. “The celebrations are just behind there, but I need to know who you bonded with before you can join them. The castle wouldn’t have let you back in if you’d not bonded. You need to say the name out loud. What’s their name and race?”

My heart’s racing. My voice seems to echo around the castle as I say the four names. “Mazikeen Lycidas, Kane Ardian, Black Ashveil and Valeron Drexan. They are dragons and they are my bonded.” Whether they want to be or not.

Gasps burst out from behind the curtain, whispers, some shouts of disbelief, and it goes on and on as the headmaster just stares. I don’t blame them. He frowns, his eyebrows tightening. “Four. You bonded with four dragons? Lies come with hefty punishments, miss Daygan. Are you quite sure?” He steps closer and roughly grabs my wrists. “Show me your hands.”

I do, showing my palms and hating how he is gripping my wrists tight enough to bruise. The marks on my palms are clear as daylight. “I’m not a liar, and I don’t know anyone who would be foolish enough to lie about that.”

For a long moment, he just stares at my hands, stares like it might change the markings there. If there was a chance that worked, I’d stare myself. I’m already wishing this didn’t happen, that anything else happened, but it’s real and I have to accept it.

“It’s true. By the goddess, in her holy name, it is true,” Mentor Parker says. “You have bonded to four dragons and survived.”

I look up at the board as four runes appear next to my name, all the same as the runes on my hands. I’m the only one in the whole row of fourteen that has more than one rune next to theirname. I see Winifred’s name and a wolf marking next to hers near the top of the board. She survived then, and I’m glad she did.

The headmaster clears his throat, dropping my wrists. “Congratulations. I believe this is history in the making.” He doesn’t sound happy; he sounds like he just witnessed a murder. “As this is a unique circumstance, I will need time to talk with the other tutors and call the Umbral Authority about this situation, as they will no doubt wish to meet with you. But for now, please join the celebrations and enjoy yourself. You’ve clearly earned it.” A gap in the curtains appears, a few steps down into a thick crowd waiting for me. I want to get away from the headmaster as quickly as I can, and I go to move, but he grabs my shoulder. “How did you do it?” he whispers low.

“It was an accident,” I tell him honestly.

He searches my eyes, seeing that I’m not lying. “You probably don’t want to tell that to anyone else here. You just made yourself the biggest target in this academy and in the war. When our enemies hear about you, they are going to do everything in their power to make sure you end up dead, along with your dragons, before you reach your full potential.” He lets me go. “It’s well known the dragons didn’t want to be bonded at all, and they are very, very dangerous shifters, who have lost everything, and that has darkened their souls.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I offer, because what else can I say to that? I’m well aware of the shit show I’ve accidentally gotten myself into and the target on my back.

He lets me go and I’m tempted to rub my wrist to wipe off the feel of him touching me. I’ve never liked anyone touching me, hugging me, or just being close in general except for a rare few people in my life who earned my trust. I know it’s because of Melody and the trauma she caused. I know I could accept thatnot everyone will hurt me, but it’s easier said than done to make my mind and body accept that truth.

“Nothing done by the goddess is accidental…” His eyes are scanning me like he’s trying to solve a puzzle. “She must have a path for you. Aren’t you special?”

“I never asked to be anything from her except to help in the war. I don’t want any more children to lose their parents like I did,” I reply, crossing my arms. I take another step back towards the curtains.

“Some people are born to fates they don’t choose.” He walks away first, to the leaderboard, giving me his back. I leave through the curtains as quickly as I can, wanting to get away from him. The crowd is as huge as I thought it would be, filled with a mixture of second- and third-year students in their uniforms, some older people, and dotted around are first-years, which are easy to spot. We all look like we have danced with a fire and dragged ourselves through at least ten bushes for the perfectly chaotic, messy look.

People are trying not to stare as they continue drinking while I go down the steps. I spot a first-year guy shoving little cakes into his mouth off a server’s tray and, by the thin look of him, I’d bet he is from one of the poorer towns to the south. I’m half tempted to join him and eat too, but I know if I tried to eat anything now, I’d throw it all up.

I’m relieved when Wini comes rushing through the crowd, and the second I sit down, she hands me a glass of wine. “I’ve never been allowed to drink…is it nice?”

“No, but it has healing potion in it, and you look…well, how I do.” She waves at her gray gown, which has blood, black burnt bits, and massive rips in the skirt. She is also covered in mud. “I used the mud puddles to hide while the dragon went past, and I tore my dress so I could run. I’m so glad you’re alive…that was terrifying. I’m going to have nightmares for months.”

“So will I.” Today will go well with all the nightmares I usually have and can’t ever get rid of. I down the drink, which makes my head swim.

There’s a bitter taste in the back of my throat for a long moment, and an icy feeling spreads in my stomach, but any pain in my ribs fades away. The burns on my legs stop hurting, and when I look down, they are gone. Nice.

A man steps up next to Wini and bows his head at me. “Pleasure to meet you, and congratulations.” He’s got dark brown hair that’s tied at the back of his neck in braids, and he is very pale, like he never really sees the sun, almost the color of moonlight. His eyes match his hair, the same brown color. “Aster Rogue,” he introduces, offering me a hand to shake. I shake his hand back. “I was looking for you in the forest, but…it was chaos. The dragons like to make a mess of the situation.”

“Aster? As in the brother of Rue’s bonded?” I question, and he nods.

“I think maybe he was looking for you, and I don’t know how, but we ran into each other, and I asked him to bond with me. I hope that’s okay.” Wini rubs her arm. “I didn’t know he was looking for you until?—”

“It’s fine.” I cut her off. How could she have known?

She smiles at me. “I knew we’d be good friends. Good friends don’t get angry at each other for things they can’t control. I can’t stay long. My mother’s on the council, and she’s over there waiting for me.” Wini points through the crowd, and I turn to see a gray-haired woman laughing, sipping a drink. For a moment, I freeze, feeling like I know her. I do…but how? I stare at her so long I don’t notice Aster and Wini are still talking. “I’m just going to say hello because she won’t be here for long. You should come with me, Juniper.”

“Perhaps I should keep my old friend company, sister.”

---