CHAPTER 5

Seraphina’s POV:

I walked down the hallway, each step I took making my heart pound loudly in my chest. I didn’t know what was the best thing to do right now, either to run away or face it. 

It was only day four in the Noxshade Academy, yet I was already tired of the whole thing. First, a wolf boy who played a prank on me on my first day, saved me, and lost his rank. 

I was still trying my best to understand what was going on, then boom! A crazy vampire claims me as his and marked me? 

I was going insane—or maybe it was just this whole school that drives me nuts.

Class was in five minutes, and I just couldn’t bring myself to walk into the classroom. I couldn’t face it, not Lucian, who I could still feel his eyes watching me like a shadow in the dark. 

Or Kael, who had suddenly disappeared since the day of the trial. Although I had no idea how to face him with this guilt buried in me—I still couldn’t bring myself to stop thinking about him. 

I know how weird it was—I wanted to see him, and at the same time, I didn’t want to.

Coming to a halt a few steps away from the huge oak wood door—the door was ancient and seemed to hold stories and secrets that were way older than I was. The ancient bull carvings by the left and right of the door, which seemed to know my deepest thoughts, just by staring at it, stared back at me with those horrific red eyes. 

My gaze lowered immediately as I took in a deep breath. 

Steady. 

Steady.

Breathe. 

I muttered to myself as I pushed the door open.

Loud noise greeted me, taking away the peace and quiet and welcoming me into a total chaos. Yes, I had almost forgotten, there were hundreds of students in here—no way Lucian could find me, and I definitely would not run into Kael, too. 

The probability of meeting either of those two was one percent out of a hundred. I felt a breeze of relief as I took a deep sigh. 

My eyes roamed the hall, looking for the perfect seat that would make me completely invisible in the midst of the whole crowd, and I found it. An empty desk at the far end of the hall, and even better, it had a great view of the garden, too. I settled down there, and just then, the professor walked in.

Then silence. 

Her heels clicking on the marble were the only thing that could be heard. She was lean and curvy, with short red hair and piercing green eyes that were cold as ice. Her lips, boldly painted bloody red, seemed to make a statement even without her saying anything. 

Her eyes roamed the hall silently, like she was studying everyone, and then, in a few seconds, her lips curved into a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“We begin with your second assessment today.” Her voice was sharp, cutting through the silence. 

“It would be theoretical, and would be dealing with magic.” 

Wait, what? Magic? 

“You got to be kidding me.” I muttered softly. 

“We would be testing our abilities to control the magic deep within us. This is going to test our patience and endurance.”

She kept on speaking, but her whole words were like an echo far away; I could barely hear anything, not because she was not loud enough, but I couldn’t seem to concentrate. 

I could feel it—like a shadow in the dark, constantly watching. The gaze was hovering over me and was pulling me toward it like a magnetic pull. 

The feeling was electrifying, magnetic, strange, but I was welcoming it. 

Someone. Something was watching me closely. 

Curiosity ate its way through me and took over my will. With one sharp turn, I saw those golden eyes for just a second, but it was no longer there. 

Golden eyes? Not silver?

“Seraphina Vale?” I snapped out of my thoughts and jumped up on my feet almost immediately, and I regretted it that same moment. 

I had earned hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at me like I was a freak. I lowered my gaze, my heart pounding like I had just run a marathon. 

Did I fall asleep in the middle of the class? Was it a dream?

“You must have been so bored, right?” Her voice was laced with something in between darkness and anger. 

My throat went dry, and I lost the ability to think or even speak. I must have been so tired that I dozed off in the middle of the long lecture. I had no sleep a bit last night because the vampire words kept ringing in my head. 

“Your blood is mine. You are mine!” 

I shook my head, trying my best to shake the thought out of my head; this was the worst time to think of Lucians' words. 

“Oh, you were listening then?" She muttered with a fox-like smile. 

“I… I was…” I tried to speak, but the words were stuck in my throat.

"How about you try the magic trick first? Make the golden fog, Vale.” 

What? I have no idea what that is. 

And me? Practice magic? I was not even a witch or a magician. 

How can I practice a magic trick I know nothing about? My mind was in chaos, and I could feel my lips trembling nervously. 

“Golden fog?" I muttered, extremely anxious, and she smiled. 

Her red lips seemed to be making a mockery of me. The professor was definitely a witch.

"Come on, to the front, practice the magic first,” she spoke sweetly, but I could tell there was nothing sweet about those words. 

Great! So much for not drawing attention. Now I have everyone staring at me! 

Everyone. Kael. Lucian. Golden eyes. Everyone.