Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 11

Learn To Use What You Have.

The chatter in the room cut short when the door swung open. A woman strode in, tall and commanding, her hair a blaze of copper coils that caught the

light like fire. Her golden eyes scanned the class, sharp and unyielding, the kind of gaze that said she’d already catalogued every one of us and found us

lacking.

“Seats down, mouths shut,” she said, her voice like a spark striking tinder. “We don’t waste time in Elemental Studies. If you’re here, you’re here to work.”

The room stilled. Even Cage straightened a little, though his smirk didn’t falter.

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“I am Professor Talwyn,” she went on, planting herself at the front. “Some of you carry the gift of fire, wind, water, or stone. Some of you do not. That does

not excuse you from learning. If you do not command an element, then you will learn to shield, resist, and cooperate with your partner’s power. If you do

command an element, you will learn control. Precision. Discipline.”

Her golden eyes swept the room, lingering on me long enough that my stomach twisted.

“Pairing assignments are posted on the board. Gather with your partner. We begin immediately.‘

The board shimmered, names scrawling themselves in glowing script. I shoved my way to the front, my stomach dropping when I found mine. Rivers, Allison

–

– Caelum, Cage. Of course. When I turned, Cage was already watching me. He slid out of his seat with deliberate ease, golden eyes glinting like he’d just

been handed the best toy in the room.

“Well, well,” he drawled, sauntering closer. “Looks like you’re stuck with me, stray.”

He didn’t sound thrilled, not exactly. No, the twist in his smirk was sharper, darker. He looked… entertained. Sadistically so.

I folded my arms, scowling up at him. “Trust me, I’m not thrilled either.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” He leaned down, his breath brushing my ear. “I’ll make it very memorable for you.”

My stomach tightened, though not entirely from dread. Great. Just great.

The room erupted into chaos the second Talwyn barked her command. Fireballs hissed across the air, wind gusts rattled the windows, streams of water

snaked between desks, only to hiss into steam when they hit flame. Stone cracked and rose from the floor, forming jagged shields. I stood frozen for a

moment, taking it all in. That’s when I spotted Tessa. Except she wasn’t Tessa anymore. She’d shifted into a tiny rabbit, snow–white fur flashing as she

darted under desks, weaving between legs with uncanny precision. Fireballs missed her by inches, gusts of wind toppled chairs, but not her. I groaned,

dragging a hand down my face. Of course. Out of every power I could’ve borrowed, I’d picked Hill’s. Stuck pretending to be a mind reader while my new…

friend? roommate?. was showing off her bunny hops.

…

“This is going to be humiliating,” I muttered.

“Oh, don’t worry, Rivers.” Cage’s golden eyes glittered as he raised a hand. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Before I could brace, a sharp gust of wind slammed into my legs, sweeping my feet right out from under me. I hit the floor with a graceless thud, my bag

spilling open. Laughter rippled from nearby students. I scrambled up, cheeks flaming, only for a stream of cold water to dump over my head. It soaked

through my uniform in an instant, plastering my hair to my face and Cage continued to do this, over and over and over again.

“Why don’t you fight back?” Cage taunted, circling me like a predator. Another gust of wind shoved me sideways, knocking me into a desk. “Shield yourself. Do something. What sort of pathetic magical are you?”

1 clenched my fists. “Because I bloody can’t.”

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Learn To Use What You Have.

The words ripped from me before I could stop them. My voice cracked sharp enough to draw a few stares.

1. 1.

Professor Talwyn’s heels clicked against the floor as she strode over, her fiery gaze pinning me in place. Her frown was deep, disapproving. “Rivers.”

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to nod.

“I was told you are a mind reader.”

Another nod. My heart hammered.

“Then you fight back with your own power.” Her eyes flicked toward Cage, then back to me. “Get inside the boy’s head. Make him wish he hadn’t underestimated you.”

Cage’s grin spread, sharp and cocky, like he was daring me to try.

Heat simmered under my skin, crawling up my throat, searing hotter with every smug flick of Cage’s golden eyes. The water dripping from my hair, the laughter from the students, the smug curve of his mouth, it all dug under my skin until something inside me snapped. Fine. If this was the game, then I’d play it. I opened the door in my mind, let the siphoned power I’d stolen from Hill sharpen into a blade, and shoved. Cage had walls, flimsy and brittle compared to the professor’s, but he tried to hold them. Tried to slam them shut. They shattered under my will like glass and I slipped inside. His thoughts came in flashes, arrogant, sharp, burning bright like wildfire, but underneath was something darker. Something he kept locked tight. There.

A memory surfaced, and I gripped it with both hands. Cage, as a boy, small and wiry, standing in the centre of a training ring. His knuckles bloodied, his chest heaving. An older man loomed over him, eyes cold, voice venomous.

“Pathetic. You’ll never be anything. You’re nothing. A useless failure of a son.

The sting of the words lanced through me as though they’d been hurled at me instead of him. I yanked it forward, shoving it to the surface of his mind, forcing him to see it, hear it, feel it.

Cage’s hand snapped up, magic swirling, another gust of wind ready to hurl me across the room…Then he faltered. His golden eyes widened, his smirk twisted into something sharp and ugly. His whole face contorted with anger, his power, fizzing out before it could hit me.

“You’ll regret that, Rivers.”

His voice was low, dangerous, carrying a promise that settled in my bones like ice.

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Cage’s fingers sparked, raw magic crackling between them like a live wire. His golden eyes blazed, fury twisting his face as he raised his hand again. Before he could strike, I shoved. More memories spilled into me like floodwater, A younger Cage again, shoulders square in defiance. His father’s hand clamped down on his arm hard enough to bruise. The sneer curling that older man’s lips as he spat words like poison. “Weak. Worthless. You’ll never be anything.”

I dragged it all forward, shoved it into Cage’s awareness until the echoes of his father’s voice rang loud enough for me to flinch with him. His entire body jerked. The air around him snapped, fizzed, then sputtered out like a dying flame.

“Get the fuck out of my head!” he roared, his voice cracking in fury.

Spun on his heel and stormed for the door. He wrenched it open so hard it slammed against the wall, then stalked

Gasps rippled across the room as Cage

out. The slam when it shut rattled the windows.

MON