Cruel Magic (Royals of Villain Academy #1)(72)

“There you are, Miss Bloodstone,” the headmistress said. “Ready?”

My legs felt like jelly and my breakfast was threatening to erupt from my stomach, but there wasn’t much I could say other than, “Yes.”

I walked to the testing circle, trying to shut out the clamor in my head. Fear for Deborah. Embarrassment that the scions had managed to trick me again so thoroughly. And doubt. So much doubt, worming through every other thought in my head.

The professors raised their hands. My body tensed automatically. “Just relax and accept,” Banefield called to me.

Ha ha. Right.

I exhaled shakily and willed my body to loosen up as much as it could. The effort seemed to satisfy the assessors. They murmured together, and those simultaneous waves of energy blazed into me.

Their magic whipped through me like it had the first time, but this time I felt the responding thrum behind my ribs more clearly. It pushed and pulled in the same moment, a straining of power against itself. An axis of opposing pairs.

A giddy rush of possibility shot through my mind with my sort-of victory against the scions fresh in my memory. What if that was what had gone wrong last time? Physicality vs. illusion, insight vs. persuasion—my abilities so closely matched at either end that they’d cancelled out each other’s effects?

I didn’t have time to interrogate that theory. I needed to let the professors’ spells register every bit of my strengths. If my magic still wasn’t enough, well, at least I knew I’d been assessed fairly.

I closed my eyes and trained my attention on the whirlwind inside me. The threads of energy that brought the solid sensation of conjuring a physical thing or the opening up of another person’s mind—I tamped down on those as hard as I could, holding them back.

Two bolts of magical energy sang through me at a higher pitch and flung themselves back toward their casters. I released the impressions I’d suppressed and instead reached toward the quivers that spoke of shifting of a person’s senses or the warping of their will. I yanked those down in turn.

The rest of the assessment energy crackled out of me rather than bursting inside me like it had a month ago.

When I opened my eyes, the woman across from me looked a bit startled. My stomach sank. Had my attempt to show my abilities failed after all, and she couldn’t figure out how I’d given the same result again? I swallowed hard as the four professors moved across the room to consult with Ms. Grimsworth.

The follow-up conversation went on for longer than before, with a protesting “But—” here and an emphatic “Hold on!” there. My earlier nausea curdled in my stomach. Finally, the professors stepped back, and Ms. Grimsworth beckoned me over.

Professor Banefield was beaming. Seeing that lightened my spirits a little as I approached the headmistress.

“Did I do okay this time?” I said.

She laughed, but with an edge to it that set my nerves off all over again.

“Miss Bloodstone, your performance was far more than ‘okay’,” she said. “Even with much debate, no one can deny the results. You show great and equal strength in all four domains. This is the first time any of us has encountered a power that balanced or that potent in our time.”

For a second, I could only stare at her. A smile crept across my face, and then a laugh of my own spilled out of me. “So, I’m staying?”

“I think you’d better,” she said, with just a hint of a smile of her own. “Come along. I think there may be quite a few people interested to hear your results.”

She was right. When we emerged from the Stormhurst Building, a few dozen students had gathered on the field. They all perked up at the sight of me, their expressions avid. The scions, who maybe had encouraged the audience in the hopes it’d be for my downfall, stood at the edge of the crowd, watching just as intently.

It really hit me then. I’d won. They weren’t getting rid of me. And I now had official confirmation that I was not just a powerful mage, but that once I got a grip on my abilities, I’d have more strengths than any of them.

Ms. Grimsworth set her hand on my shoulder and pitched her voice to carry. “I’m pleased to announce that Miss Bloodstone will officially be joining us here at Bloodstone University as the only student currently or recently in residence with a strong talent in all four domains of magic.”

A shocked but excited murmur spread through the gathered students. I caught a flash of fury in Malcolm’s face, and then the headmistress was calling my attention back to her.

“You have your pick of the lot, Miss Bloodstone,” she said. “At this point a student would generally pick a specialty and league to associate themselves with. What is your choice?”

I hadn’t even considered that in depth before, I’d been so focused on just making it through the assessment. My thoughts immediately leapt to Physicality.

I’d always found so much joy in the act of creation. But the feelings around that type of magic were tainted now, too tangled up in everything I’d shared with Connar that he’d thrown in my face.

It was Insight that I’d learned from my parents before I’d known it was a skill I’d ever use through magic. It was Insight that had allowed me to stop Malcolm before I’d smashed the dragon bead on my necklace and saved me from giving in to the scions’ demands this morning. Insight would have protected me from Connar’s betrayal too if I’d pushed harder. I could take it so much farther with the training I’d get here.