The iron bell of the Academy didn't ring; it tolled like a funeral knell.
I hadn't slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt the phantom pressure of Valerius's hand around my throat, or worse, the terrifying heat of his body shielding mine. I looked at the cracked glass of my wrist-gauge in the gray morning light. The golden glow was still there, swirling like trapped lightning.
If they see this, I'm dead. If I don't use it, I'm dead.
A servant had left a silver-trimmed uniform on my bed, heavy fabric that felt like a straightjacket. I pulled it on, hiding my broken gauge under the long sleeve, and stepped out into the hallway.
The other students were already gathering in the Great Court. They looked like a pack of wolves in silk. They didn't talk; they sized each other up, eyes darting to one another's wrists to count the centuries. To them, this was a game. To me, it was the only life I had left.
Valerius was waiting at the edge of the forest, his face a mask of cold indifference. He didn't look at me as I approached, but I felt a sharp, sudden tingle in my left arm, the tether. He was nervous.
"Listen closely," he said, his voice low enough only for me to hear. "The Hunt is simple. You have two hours to reach the Sun Dial at the center of the woods. The other students will try to 'tag' your gauge. If they touch it, they drain a year. If you hit zero, the guards will drag you to the Soul-Clock."
"And if I fight back?" I whispered.
"Don't," he snapped. "If you use that golden magic, the elders will notice. Run. Hide. Survive."
A horn blasted, shaking the very ground beneath my boots.
"Go!" Valerius commanded.
I didn't wait. I bolted into the treeline, my boots thudding against the damp earth. The forest was beautiful and terrifying trees with silver leaves and thorns that looked like needles. Behind me, I heard the laughter of the other students. They weren't running. They were hunting.
I am a rat from the slums, I told myself, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I've spent my whole life hiding from recruiters and enforcers. A few rich kids in capes shouldn't scare me.
I dived into a thicket of ferns, pressing my back against a mossy trunk. I held my breath, listening.
Snap.
A twig broke to my left. Then a soft, mocking giggle.
"I told you I smelled smog," Seraphina's voice drifted through the trees. She stepped into the clearing, flanked by two boys who looked like they enjoyed pulling wings off flies. Her sapphire eyes were fixed directly on my hiding spot. "Come out, little stray. Valerius isn't here to hide behind anymore."
I stayed still, my heart hammering so hard I was sure it would trigger the tether and make Valerius gasp for air a mile away.
"We know you're there," one of the boys said, raising a slender silver rod. "We can see your time-signature. It's... messy. Like a flickering candle."
I realized then that I couldn't hide. Not from Seekers. I stood up slowly, my hands balled into fists.
"Leave me alone," I said, my voice steadier than I felt.
Seraphina laughed, a sound like breaking glass. "Give us ten years each, and maybe we'll let you reach the Dial. Consider it a welcome gift to the Academy."
She lunged. Her hand, glowing with a pale blue light, reached for my left wrist.
Fear, pure and white-hot, surged through me. My instinct took over, the same instinct that had kept me alive in the gutters for nineteen years. I didn't pull away. I grabbed her wrist first.
The moment our skin touched, the golden fire in my blood screamed.
A shockwave of blinding light exploded from my cracked gauge. Seraphina screamed as she was thrown backward, hitting a tree with a sickening thud. The two boys were knocked off their feet, clutching their eyes.
I stared at my hand. The golden mist was leaking out from under my sleeve, dancing around my fingers like living fire.
And then, I felt it. Through the tether.
A mile away, at the edge of the woods, Valerius had fallen to his knees. I could feel his heart racing, his skin burning, his soul reeling from the power I had just unleashed.
He told me to hide it, I thought, watching the gold light fade back into my skin. But the Devil should have known better. You can't tell a fire not to burn.
I didn't wait to see if Seraphina got up. I turned and ran deeper into the dark woods, the taste of stolen sunlight still sweet on my tongue.