Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 152

Chapter 152

Allison

052

The door to Hill’s classroom slams behind me harder than it should. I barely make it three steps down the hall before the world tilts. Something hooks my ankle, and I go down hard. My palms hit the cold stone floor, my notebook skidding out of reach. The sting climbs all the way to my elbows. Behind me, someone laughs-low, deliberate. I twist around, and Cage leans against the doorframe, all smug, calm and perfect posture. His eyes are bloodshot, his smile

lazy. “Didn’t see you there,” he says.

My jaw clenches. “What the hell happened to you?” I snap. “What happened to the boy who was knocking on my door a few weeks ago, trying to sit down for breakfast with me and my mates? The one pretending to be kind?”

He shrugs one shoulder, careless. “Some of us get tired of pretending.”

For a heartbeat, neither of us moves. Then I laugh, sharp and humourless. “Guess that explains why you’re so good at being an ass.”

Tessa appears beside me, already crouching to gather my scattered notes. “Ignore him,” she mutters, shooting Cage a look that could curdle milk.

I take her hand and let her pull me to my feet. “Thanks.”

Cage steps aside, mock-polite. “Wouldn’t want you to be late.”

I meet his gaze squarely. “You’re pathetic.”

His smirk wavers for half a breath, then it’s back, smoother than ever.

Tessa links her arm through mine and pulls me toward the stairs. “Come on. We’ve got better places to be than near walking garbage.”

Professor Morin’s classroom smells like storms about to break-ozone and candle smoke, sweet herbs burning in the corner. Today, the windows are covered with gauzy black curtains that filter the sunlight into silver streaks. On every desk sits a shallow bowl of black glass, a single white candle flickering beside

“Shadow scrying,” Tessa whispers as we take our seats. “My favourite. Less messy than tea, less creepy than crystal balls.”

“Remind me what it is again?” I ask, though I already know.

“You stare into the bowl until your reflection blinks first,” she says with a grin.

Professor Morin glides between the rows, her bangles chiming softly with every step. “Today,” she says, “we learn to read what hides behind our own faces. Shadows show truth more easily than light ever could.”

A ripple of unease moves through the room. She smiles, the kind that sees too much. “Begin.”

The candlelight wavers as I lean forward. My reflection ripples on the black surface-hair, eyes, the faint shadows beneath them. For a while, there’s nothing but stillness. Then the darkness begins to move. Tessa murmurs something beside/me, but it’s faint, far away.

The shadows shift until they’re no longer mine. Horns curve from my reflection’s head. Blue light blooms beneath her skin, tracing the same patterns that burned across my own. Rhaziel. His realm flashes in the bowl-dark skies, the hum of his magic wrapping around me. His voice flickers through my thoughts, soft and reverent. Hummingbird. The image shudders and then changes. Now there are scales-gleaming gold along my arms. My eyes glow gold and I see the dragon’s breath curling out of my reflection’s mouth, smoke that tastes like lightning. Evander. Steady, unbreakable, the fire in his veins thrumming through mine. Then the reflection fractures again, the edges going molten red. Claws, fangs, a low growl vibrating through my chest. Kael. My

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Thu, Jan

Chapter 152

KEKA

hellhound, wild, dangerous, loyal to the bone. The reflection grins, sharp teeth flashing, and I feel my pulse echo his. It keeps shifting. Shadows twist, the light draining from the bowl until I see Cassian-his eyes catching mine, all restraint and sorrow. Then the scene isn’t him anymore, but through him. I see myself as he does: the girl he’s trying to protect from everything, even from himself. His thoughts echo faintly-Don’t let him get to you, little siphon. My breath catches, and the bowl trembles as though something underneath is alive and impatient. The darkness deepens, swirling faster, until I see something else-something wrong. Cage. But it isn’t just him. It’s me, too. My reflection raises its hand, and red fire blooms along my arm-his magic, not mine. It burns differently, sharp and chaotic. It feels wrong and invasive, like something trying to crawl beneath my skin. The reflection smiles, a cruel, empty thing and the surface of the glass cracks.

I jerk back, nearly knocking over the candle. The flame gutters but doesn’t go out.

Tessa steadies it, wide-eyed. “Whoa, hey, easy. What did you see?”

I shake my head, trying to breathe, trying to pull the magic back in before anyone else notices. “Nothing,” I say. “Just shadows.”

Professor Morin is suddenly beside me, silent as a ghost. Her hand lands lightly on my shoulder. “Nothing,” she repeats, voice quiet but knowing. “Child, you

of all people should know-shadows are never nothing.”

Her blind eyes turn toward my bowl. The cracked surface still shimmers faintly blue. “Be careful what you look for, Miss Rivers. Sometimes, the reflection

looks back.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I manage, forcing a smile.

She pats my shoulder once and glides away.

Tessa leans close. “Alright, that was creepy, even for her. You okay?”

“Yeah,” I lie.

But the magic under my skin is restless, the bonds humming all at once-Rhaziel’s calm, Evander’s fire, Kael’s warmth, Cassian’s quiet steadiness. And beneath it all, that pulse I hate most: Cage’s bond, sharp as barbed wire. I wipe my palms on my skirt, shove my books into my bag, and tell myself to

breathe. Just breathe.

Morin claps her hands, silver bangles catching the candlelight. “That’s enough truth for one morning. Off with you before the mirrors remember too much.”

The students spill into the corridor in a rush of chatter and perfume. Tessa loops her arm through mine again. “Lunch?”

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