Chapter 7

• Zara’s POV
• If there was one thing I learned fast about Blackwood Academy, it was that no class ever felt… normal.
• Sure, we sat at desks and pretended to take notes. Sure, there were textbooks — though half of mine were already battered, their pages filled with diagrams of spells and creatures I barely understood.
• But the energy in the room? It’s like sitting on a live wire.
• This morning was no different.
• I walked into Enchanted Histories, already bracing myself. The classroom was massive, high ceilings with beams so ancient they looked like they might crumble at any second. Tall windows let in slants of weak morning light, casting long shadows across the stone floor.
• And, of course, he was there. Atlas King.
• Slouched in his chair at the back of the room like he owned the place. His friends clustered around him, he was handsome i get it, the kind of looks that made you want to look away and stare at the same time.
• And then there were the girls. The ones who’d tried to warn me that first day. Nova, Seraphine, and Lira.
• They were draped over their desks, their gazes sharp as knives as they watched me cross the room.
• I ignored them. Or tried to.
• Talia waved me over to an empty seat near the window, and I sank down beside her, dropping my bag with a thump.
• “You’re brave,” she muttered.
• “For what?”
• “Choosing to sit here where they can see you.”
• I didn’t answer. Instead, I stared out the window, jaw clenched, trying to shake off this annoying feeling.
• Professor Dren, like Talia sa entered, robes sweeping the floor, his silver hair tied back at the nape of his neck. He flicked his fingers and the board behind him was filled with ancient symbols that shifted and glowed.
• “Today, we study the bloodlines that shaped our world,” he began, his voice deep and commanding. “The dragons of the North. The incubi of the ancient courts. The wolves and lycans of the Blackwood line.”
• I stiffened at the last one.
• Beside me, Talia shot me a look, but I kept my face blank, eyes on the board.
• ….
• Class dragged on.
• Every time I tried to focus, it felt like a hundred invisible threads pulled for my attention.
• A boy two rows ahead, tall, red hair that shimmered like fire when the light hit it, tapped his claws against the desk in a restless rhythm. I caught the faintest shimmer of scales at his jawline when he turned his head.
• Dragon-blooded.
• Next to him, a boy with an easy smirk and dark eyes traced idle patterns in the air, shapes that made the girls around him flush. Incubus, Of course.
• And then there was the real problem. The boy directly behind me. I had asked Talia his name and she said Kai.
• The biggest troublemaker I’d met so far. He spent the entire class kicking at the legs of my chair, whispering things just loud enough for me to hear.
• “Careful, new girl. These walls have eyes.”
• “Hope you’re good at running.”
• “Wouldn’t want to see you go missing like the others.”
• I gritted my teeth and forced myself not to react. But Nova and her crew weren’t done with me either.
• Halfway through class, as I bent to scribble down a note, I felt it. Cold liquid seeping into my book. I froze. Slowly, I straightened and looked down.
• Juice.
• Bright red. Spilled across the pages of my textbook, bleeding into the paper, smearing the ink.
• I turned my head.
• Nova smirked at me, tilting her glass in mock apology.
• “Oops,” she said sweetly. “Clumsy me.”
• Seraphine snickered.
• Lira pretended to look innocent, but the glint in her eye gave her away.
• Talia gasped softly beside me.
• “Don’t,” she whispered, grabbing my arm as I started to rise.
• But I’d had enough.
• “Really?” I said, loud enough that a few heads turned.
• Nova just smiled wider. “What’s the matter, Mira or should I say Zara? Don't you like a little color in your life?”
• I slammed the book shut, juice and all, and stood. My heart pounded, but I forced my voice to stay steady.
• “Why don’t you mind your own business?”
• The room went quiet.
• Nova’s eyes narrowed. “You should learn your place, Blackwood.”
• I stiffened. And then Atlas spoke.
• His voice cut through the tension, lazy but edged with annoyance.
• “Nova. Sit down and shut up.”
• All heads turned.
• Nova’s face flushed. She opened her mouth to argue — but one look at Atlas, and she thought better of it.
• She sank back into her seat, seething.
• I stared at him, caught off guard. He met my gaze, expression unreadable.
• And for a second, the classroom, the whispers, the juice-stained book, it all faded.
• It was just him. And me. And something I couldn’t name that was between us.
• ….
• After class, I gathered my ruined book, ignoring Kai’s parting shot: “See you after dark, new girl.”
• Talia hurried after me as I stormed down the hall.
• “Zara, wait!”
• I stopped at the end of the corridor, pressing my hand to the cold stone wall, trying to slow my breathing.
• Talia caught up, eyes wide.
• “Are you okay?”
• I nodded, though my throat was tight.
• She glanced back toward the classroom. “That was intense. I’ve never seen anyone stand up to Nova like that. And Atlas…he never speaks up for anyone.”
• “Yeah, well. I didn’t need him to.”
• “Maybe not. But he did.”