Kian scowled but said nothing more.

Ha! Take that, a-hole.

“Fire is her stronger affinity,” the old high mage declared, ignoring me except to hold up my hand as all traces of my affinity test vanished but for a small glowing of my palms. “Water affinity is also present. She’ll need to be trained by both the fire and water elemental mages. See to it that she has all things needed for training.” He nodded at me and pointed to a mage master teacher dressed in black with purple and gold trimming on his cloak. “Start with Mage Carn, Fire Master.”

Whoa. None of the other students got assigned a mage teacher by the High Mage Council.

I nodded, careful not to seem too excited. Especially with Kian still glaring at me.

After closing my palms, I expected the colors to go away, but they didn’t. I could still see threads of energy looping and twisting around my finger.

Knock it off. I shook my palms to try and clear them as I stepped down from the stage and walked toward the mage teachers.

A few minutes later, the high mage told a mage teacher to take the crystal back to the safe, and then all of the high mages and their shields left. Gone. No long-winded speeches about how we should live up to our affinity or how those with power should use it for good—none of that. Kudos to the high mage for doing it right. I was getting sick of the stares—two affinity freak over here. Just my luck. I couldn’t even take this test right.

A beautiful older woman, with long dark hair and piercing green eyes, strode over to the podium and rapped on it with a gavel. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her. “Hello, new students, I’m Elaine, the headmistress of Alpha Academy. I’m sorry the alpha king could not be here tonight to welcome you. He had a pressing matter.”

Did her gaze just flick to me?

Oops.

“I’m not one for speeches, but as alpha heirs, you’ve been entrusted with great power, and all of us here at Alpha Academy expect you to honor the gifts you’ve been endowed with—and use them wisely.”

Well, at least she admitted she wasn’t one for speeches. Was there a handbook for bad speeches passed around by people in authority?

“And now, we’ll leave you to your festivities. Enjoy tonight…” She scanned over the crowd, her features hardening as she looked at the new heirs. “For tomorrow, the hard work begins.”

The bright lights dimmed, and a cacophony erupted.

Chapter 6

“Ohmymage! Did you see the look on Prince Courage’s face?” Kaja said, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me toward the door. “I mean, I’m sure you didn’t, but he completely freaked out when your affinities showed up. Two!”

I shook my head. “I highly doubt he ‘freaked out.’” I used air quotes for good measure.

She stopped and faced me. “Girl, he was two seconds from storming that stage.”

Heat crept up my cheeks. There were a couple of ways that could be interpreted. One: he was going to protect me from the creepy high mage in the blue robes who complained. Or two: he was going to kill me. Based on our past, I was 85.3% sure it was the latter.

I tugged at my borrowed dress. “I can’t wait to change out of this thing. No offense.”

The small group of about fifteen heirs dispersed along the paths outside the gazebo, heading back to the dorms.

“Oh, don’t think you’re changing into sweats, Nai. The night’s not over.” Kaja smirked, and something about her expression screamed trouble. “My older sisters are going to the after-party, and I got us invites!”

Her voice went up to a legit squeal at the end, and I chuckled. “You’re way too peppy for this time of night.”

Kaja put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. “Don’t tell me you’d rather go back to your dorm.”

Dust and rat-infested dorm with psycho Nolan? Or a party? “I’m in.”

There’d better be food. I hadn’t eaten all day, and someone was going to get killed if I went too much longer without a meal.

Like one hundred percent. I just wanted to eat and forget this day.

An hour later, after Kaja graciously fed me snacks, I clutched a delicate blue mask in my hands.

“Tell me again why we have to wear these?” I asked Kaja’s older sister, Nell. She’d loaned me a legit ball gown, complete with rhinestone heels, all of which I had yet to try on.

“It’s tradition,” she said as she touched up my make-up.

The Harvest Clan dorm was opulent and spotlessly clean, and I kinda wished they’d adopt me.

“Some third years started it like a century ago. It’s our one night to hang out together without worrying about alpha status, challenge fights, or whatever might befall warring clans. We magically hide our clan marks, change our hair color, wear masks, and live with abandon until the sun comes up.”

Warring clans seemed like a bit of an exaggeration, but I understood the concept and shrugged. “Well, I’ve always wanted baby blue hair.”

Nell grinned. “You’ve got it. I’ve worked on the hair changing spell all year with my mage teacher.”

She held her hands over my head, and I peered down and grinned as my white locks deepened into a soft powdery blue before my eyes. My gaze bounced to the dress, and my grin grew. Nice. She’d matched the same blue as the gown, only several shades lighter.

“Holy mage, that’s sick! How can a water elemental change my hair color?”

Her lips curled into a smirk. “Your hair has water in it. I’m simply manipulating the properties so light refracts off the strands differently.”

My eyes widened while she spoke, and when she finished, I shook my head. “Dude, you do not look like you should be talking about light refraction, but I need you to teach me that. STAT.”

Nell snickered, but I was serious. Blue was a good look for me, and I had both water and fire elements, so it was plausible, right?

“Once you get through your basic water studies, I could probably teach you,” she said. “Maybe over the summer?”

“That would be awesome.” Suddenly, the next four years didn’t seem too bad.

“Is it true people hook up at this thing?” Kaja asked as she fastened her mask. With her new, jet-black hair and half of her face covered, I wouldn’t know it was her unless she spoke.

Nell nodded. “It gets a little crazy. When you go in, you’ll prick your finger and place a drop of blood into a magical chalice. It keeps you from kissing anyone you’re related to.”

“Eww,” I groaned. Kissing Nolan would legit make me vomit. Just thinking about it was enough to make me declare, “I’m not hooking up with anyone. I’m only going for the food.”

Nell grinned. “I said that my first year too. You’ll see.”

Her words sparked a rush of nervous churning in my gut, but I gritted my teeth and fastened my mask. Naima of Crescent Clan was no wuss. I’d go to this party like a normal socially awkward girl and have fun. If no one but Nell and Kaja knew who I was, then I might even dance.

Kaja bounced on her heels. “Girl, get your dress on so we can go!”

I’d been dreading the dress, or maybe that churning in my stomach was too many pretzels. Was that even possible?