Chapter 9 THE HEADMISTRESS SUMMONS
CHAPTER 009: THE HEADMISTRESS SUMMONS
The next day as I stepped out of bed, I knew something was wrong. The air felt cold and different like someone had pulled a string around the room and waited for it to snap. Zev was gone but only the faint scent of night jasmine lingered on my pillow.
I didn’t even get the chance to breathe before someone banged on my door.
“Thalira.” Sofia’s voice broke through the wood. “You need to get up. Now.”
I pulled the door open and saw her face pale with worry.
“What happened?”
“They’re calling you.” She said. “Not they I mean she.”
My stomach churned. “The headmistress.”
Sofia nodded, biting her lip. “And you know what that means. So whatever happened last night, whatever you did or saw… hide it.”
I didn’t answer. I just followed her down the hall. Students watched us like they knew something I didn’t. Their whispers brushed against my ear.
“That’s her.”
“Finally summoned.”
“She won’t last.”
“Neither did the last one.”
Sofia glared at them and grabbed my wrist, pulling me faster. “Don’t listen. They don’t know anything.”
But she didn’t look at me when she said it.
We reached the tall black door at the end of the corridor. A silver plaque glowed above it.
“Headmistress Ravencroft.”
Before I could knock, the door drifted open by itself. Sofia swallowed hard.
“I’ll wait outside.” She whispered. “Just shout if you hear your bones crack.”
“That’s comforting.”
“I try.”
She nudged me inside.
The room felt colder the moment I stepped in. A long stretch of mirrors lined on the walls. Some were cracked and some showed reflections of the room.
Ancient artifacts filled the space blades, runes and feathers from creatures I didn’t recognize. A heart-shaped stone pulsed with slow weak light.
And in the center of the room stood Headmistress Ravencroft.
Her dress trailed across the polished floor like smoke. Her silver hair was pulled back so tightly it made her cheekbones look sharp enough to cut glass. Her eyes were the kind that didn’t blink unless they wanted to.
She smiled when she saw me. It wasn’t warm.
“Miss Thalira.” She said. “Finally.”
I bowed my head a little. “You asked for me.”
“Sit.”
I obeyed. The chair was cold against my back.
Ravencroft circled around me like she was studying a puzzle.
“You’ve caused quite a stir since your arrival.” She said. “Class disruptions, unusual magical reactions and of course… the boys.”
My hands tightened on my lap. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Oh, I know.” Her voice softened in a way that made my skin prickle. “That’s the problem. You do nothing and they lose themselves.”
She leaned forward slightly. Her perfume smelled like winter flowers and dust.
“Tell me.” She said. “Have you noticed anything strange about yourself.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Memories that are not yours.” She said. “Thoughts that feel older and feelings that strike without cause. We call these memory bleeds. They are common in your… kind.”
I forced my face still. “I haven’t experienced that.”
Ravencroft smiled like she was watching me lie and taking notes on how poorly I did it.
“Your eyes flicked left.” She said. “A very rookie habit. We will fix it.”
I opened my mouth to speak but she raised a hand and walked past me toward one of the mirrors. She tapped it once. My reflection showed. For a split second, the person staring back wasn’t me. Her hair was lighter. Her eyes fiercer and fire surrounded her.
I blinked and the reflection was gone.
Ravencroft watched me closely. “Nothing to say.”
I swallowed the panic. “Just tired.”
“Of course.” She stepped closer. “That is why we will proceed with your Classification.”
“Classification?”
“Yes.” She glided back to her desk. “It measures your threat level. Some students are harmless. Some are unstable and a few… well…”
Her eyes rested on me. “A few have destroyed this place before.”
“When will this happen?”
“Soon.” She said. “When the moon is right.”
“That’s vague.”
“So is your existence.”
I stared at her, unsure if I should breathe or stay completely still.
“Miss Thalira.” She said, lowering herself into her chair, “I have run this institute for sixty-four years and in that time, I have learned two things. One is history that repeats when fools ignore it and two… the four boys you’ve entangled yourself with are not fools.”
“I didn’t entangle myself with anyone.”
“Oh, but they did.” Ravencroft’s smile sharpened. “They wrapped themselves around you the moment you stepped through our gates, like hunger.”
“That’s not my fault.”
“Of course it isn’t.” She looked almost amused. “They remember you. Even if you don’t remember them.”
My chest tightened.
“Cassian, Alaric, Zev, Kieran.” She said slowly, touching each name like she was testing it. “They are all bonded to you and drawn to you in ways that break rules and all of them too dangerous to be moved by an ordinary girl.”
“I’m not…”
“Ordinary.” She finished for me. “No. You are not.”
I didn’t know how to react. I didn’t know if she expected fear or pride.
“Let me give you one piece of advice.” She said. “You are walking on thin ice here. The four boys, whatever they once meant to you, will be your downfall if you let them.”
“They’re not my anything.”
She gave a small humming sound, like she didn’t believe that at all.
“They will protect you.” She said. “They will fight for you, they will tear this place apart for you.” She leaned forward, her voice a whisper. “And that, Miss Thalira, is exactly what happened last time.”
My breath hitched. “Last time…?”
“Mm.” Ravencroft’s eyes shone. “You really don’t remember. How… interesting.”
I wanted to stand but my legs couldn't. “What do you mean by last time?”
“You burned.” She said casually. “Quite spectacularly and they nearly died trying to stop it.”
I felt the fire from my dream flash behind my eyes. The girl screaming. The heat crushing my chest.
“That wasn’t a dream.” I whispered.
“No.” She said. “It was a memory. A bleed and many more will follow.”
I pressed a hand against the armrest to steady myself. “Headmistress, I don’t understand any of this. Why did I…”
“Die.” She finished softly. “You will remember soon. Whether you want to or not.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I don’t intend to watch you repeat the same catastrophe.” She said. “This academy barely survived your last life.”
“But I didn’t do anything.”
“That is what worries me. Your power is waking up without your permission and once the boys sense it fully, they will lose all restraint.”
I shook my head. “They’re not like that.”
Ravencroft’s laugh was soft but carried something sharp. “My dear, those boys have killed for less.”
I froze.
“They haven’t been human for a very long time.” She said.
I clenched my hands. “If you’re trying to scare me…”
“I don’t need to try.” She stood again. “I’m warning you.”
Her eyes locked onto mine.
“Be careful.” She said. “You don’t become their destruction.”
She walked past me, opened the door, and stepped aside.
My feet felt numb as I stood and walked toward the hallway.
“And Miss Thalira.” She added.
I turned.
“Be even more careful.” She said. “You don’t become their destruction… again.”
The word again hit harder this time. I walked out slowly.
Sofia rushed to me immediately. “You’re pale. Did she drain you? What happened?”
“I saw myself."