na

the final chime of

haste, as if escapin

behind me and leaning on my desk a

five different ways to turn you into a lizard, Giana. Can

ly hea

d on the emp

when I offered him the candy

ched sharp

my books into my bag and fastening the brass clas

na,

he heavy hem of my crimson robe with both ha

were packed with student

s with half-spread wings, while Beastkin firs

canning the crowd for

e he

th spiral staircase-the damp, drafty passage leading

e cutting through the crowd

ead j

d hea

ran eve

ble boy," I muttered

steps at a time, my fingers sliding across

" I shouted, rounding the bottom ben

was comple

the darkness, flanked by stone gargoyles who

founding Dragon-lords rippled faintly i

as g

maze, I stood no chance of tracking a Drag

nds braced on my knees, a heavy wa

I told myself, stari

rning that every outstretched h

far out of his reach would

brushing damp golden hair from my forehead. "Y

he castle's heavy oak doors, and stepped out into

I f

rand iron gates was an ornate

pent coiled around a crystal vial-the c

age door

avel, her sharp leather boots cl

th the stern precision of a shrewd merchant, its hig

braid streaked with faint silver strands

Ster

mot

nyielding will, only for her daughter to squander everything

ward the gates

ows furrowed

across the lawn. "Why are you outside the war

her struck me

she sat alone in her study signing documents, draining the family vaults to settle

blurred my visi

," I ch