So there I was—charred lab coat, still half-dazed, with a magical talking cat on my chest and a literal sorcerer-cop aiming a lightning sword at my face.
I considered my options.
Surrender peacefully and probably get turned into a frog.
Run and definitely get electrocuted.
Pretend I was just a really confused chemistry student with explosive IBS.
Unfortunately, Nyra had other plans.
"You need to run," she whispered. "Now."
"I just got exploded. I can't even feel my eyebrows."
"Great, because I can feel mine twitching. MOVE."
She leapt into my backpack like she'd done it a hundred times and bit my shoulder—hard.
I screamed and bolted through the back hallway, knocking over a mop bucket, a "CAUTION: Wet Floor" sign, and a confused janitor who muttered something about "the third one this week."
Behind me, trench coat guy shouted a bunch of fancy legal-sounding incantations, and the walls started glowing. I was pretty sure one of them tried to eat me.
I sprinted out the emergency exit and burst into the bright afternoon sun, heart pounding like a dubstep beat.
Fifteen minutes later, I was hiding behind a dumpster near the student parking lot, trying to catch my breath while Nyra lectured me like a furry college advisor from hell.
"Do you know how many people survive a raw spellback without liquefying their organs? Three. You're not dead. Congrats. You're a freak."
"Thanks," I wheezed. "That's really uplifting."
"You're cursed, Vale. Properly cursed. Not the 'oops I angered a witch' kind. This is deep magic. Legacy stuff."
I stared. "But… I'm not even magical. My family's magically dry. Like, 'our best heirloom is a flashlight' dry."
"Exactly. Which means something's been sleeping in you. And now? It's awake."
I blinked. "So what, I'm a magical ticking time bomb?"
"More like a magical USB drive with corrupted files. You're unstable, unregistered, and very illegal."
"Again, thanks."
Nyra hopped onto a crate and narrowed her eyes. "Look, you just triggered a Class-B Beacon. Every hunter in the city felt that blast. And trust me, the Council doesn't like unsanctioned magic in college towns. Too messy."
I rubbed my temples. "This is insane. I was just trying to pass Chem."
"Well congrats, now you're flunking Magical Law 101."
Just then, a boom echoed across the street.
A black van screeched to a halt at the edge of the alley. Three figures in tactical cloaks jumped out, all glowing faintly blue. One of them sniffed the air like a bloodhound.
"Ezra Vale!" a woman shouted. "You're surrounded!"
I turned to Nyra. "Any brilliant ideas?"
"Yes. You run, and I'll cling to your back and insult your cardio the whole time."
"...I hate you."
"Mutual."