Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 247

Thornhill Academy

Uncaged

Allison

The dark magic that is left inside my body is mine now. Mine to control, mine to wield, mine. The noise that used to live under my skin, the pressure that clawed and howled and tore at me from the inside, is gone. In its place, there is something quieter and far more dangerous. Power that waits instead of demands. My power. Varyn D’Altair takes a step back. It’s a small step. A meaningless one. It will do nothing to save him. But I see it anyway, the fear crawling up his spine in the way his weight shifts, the way his magic flickers instead of flaring, the way his eyes keep sliding around the room as if he might still find an exit from the inevitable. There isn’t one. Rhaziel moves, shadows stirring around him on instinct, rising to contain what he still thinks is a threat spiralling out of control. The dark magic inside me answers the movement immediately, coiling tighter, alert, ready to tear at the first attempt to cage

it again.

“No.”

Cassian’s voice cuts through the space between us. I don’t directly look at him; I won’t take my eyes off the threat. I see, from the corner of my eye, his

hand settle on Rhaziel’s shoulder.

“This is her.” He whispers.

The shadows hesitate. Rhaziel stills, ancient gaze fixed on me. Slowly, he draws his power back, letting the room breathe again. Good man. Maybe I’ll reward him later. I take a step forward towards my prey. The stone beneath my feet fractures with the movement, hairline cracks racing outward as the dark magic responds, shaping itself to my intent without resistance or delay. My hands tingle, heat gathering in my palms, and I realise distantly that I’m smiling.

Varyn lifts his hands, magic sparking unevenly around them. “Allison,” he says, and the sound of my name on his tongue makes something sharp twist in my

chest. “You don’t understand what you’re doing.”

I laugh. It’s not pretty. It tears out of me raw and bright and edged with too much rage, and the magic flares in answer, delighted by the emotion fueling it.

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“Oh, I understand,” I say, and the air around us shudders. “I understand exactly what you did.”

I flick my wrist, and the ceiling above him collapses. Stone rips free in a violent cascade, blocks slamming down where he stood a heartbeat earlier. He dives aside, barely fast enough, dust and debris exploding through the chamber as blood streaks down the side of his face where a shard catches him. He scrambles upright, breath already ragged, magic snapping around him in uneven bursts as he tries to shield himself. I don’t let him. The dark magic lashes out at my thought alone, an invisible force slamming into his legs and sweeping them out from under him. He hits the floor hard, the impact knocking the

air from his lungs in a sharp, humiliating gasp.

“Look at you,” I snarl, advancing another step. The cracks in the stone widen beneath my feet. Look at what you’ve done,” I whisper, pointing at Cage. “You did this to him,” I scream, the words tearing free as the memory burns hot and relentless behind my eyes. “You did this to Cage. You took him apart piece by piece and called it discipline. Your own son! Your flesh and blood!”

The rubble scattered across the floor lifts at once, stones rising into the air around him, held suspended by my will alone. They slam into his body in brutal succession, driving cries from his throat as he curls in on himself, blood blooming dark and fast against the stone.

“And you did this to the world,” I continue, my voice shaking with fury. “You built cages and called them order. You bled everything dry and called it

control.”

He tries to rise, but the magic answers before I finish the thought, slamming hing back down, pinning him there as his own power flickers weakly and fails.

“Stop,” he gasps. “You’ll destroy everything-”

“Everything was already destroyed,” I cut in, and the dark magic surges in agreement. “You just didn’t care as long as you were standing on top of it.”

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14:28 Mon, Jan 19

Uncaged

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I lift my hand higher, and the pressure gathers instantly, lethal and precise, coiling into a single, perfect strike. I can feel the difference now, the way the magic waits for direction instead of exploding outward. This isn’t hunger. This is intent. This is me, taking back what he caged. Varyn looks up at me from the floor, bloodied and broken, fear naked in his eyes now that the arrogance has nowhere left to hide. He smiles anyway. It’s small, crooked, and vile on his

face.

“I should have killed you,” he rasps. “When I killed your parents.”

Something inside me goes very still. He coughs out a laugh while he spits blood onto the floor.

“I will admit it took me a while to figure out who you were, but it’s undeniable. You have your mother’s eyes.’ He laughs and sputters on a cough.

The dark magic surges, snapping into motion as my hand comes down, ready to crush him, to ruin him, to take the life he does not deserve… And then he’s

gone. The spell tears through the space he occupied a heartbeat ago, shattering stone and sending a shockwave through the chamber. Varyn has already fled.

The teleport is sloppy and panicked, leaving behind a smear of blood on the floor and the sour stench of burned magic hanging in the air. Silence crashes

down around us. The stones fall, clattering harmlessly to the ground as the dark magic settles back into my core, coiling low and obedient once more. My

chest heaves as I stare at the empty space where he should be dead, hands trembling with the echo of what I almost did. The moment I missed by just a

second.

“He ran,” I say quietly.

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