A sharp citrus-and-spice cologne drifted down the hallway, tipping off Athena that her brother was on his way before he even rounded the corner. Adrian swept in, pulling her into a bear hug that hoisted her right off the ground.

  "Can't... breathe," she muttered into his bespoke navy suit.

  He eased her back down, his grin still as dazzling as ever. “There you are, kiddo—all grown up and basically owning this school already.”

  “We just saw each other last month, Adrian."

  “Yeah, well, that feels like ages ago.” He waved the semantic away. “Now, tell me about your grand life as Student Council President. That SOS text sounded pretty dramatic.”

  “No it wasn’t.” She led him to the meeting room.

  Inside, Theo sat straight-backed at the oval table, staring at Astrac, no, at the window she leaned against.

  The sky had turned orange, making the eldritch monster, the Eye, look all the more ominous. Adrian couldn't believe they could see it so clearly when it hovered nearer Alchymia City Central.

  Theo and Astra were imperturbable, statues carved from ice. Pair them together, and the silence would outlast ten seasons of reality shows. They looked as if they’d gladly trade this awkward quiet for a showdown with some ancient horror any day.

  Adrian couldn't hold back a grin. “Should I be asking for autographs?”

  Theo offered a polite smile as he rose, towered above the group and shook his hand warmly. “Nice to see you again, Adrian."

  Astra nodded toward a folder lying on the table. “Take a look.”

  Adrian reached for the file, flipping it open. He scanned the briefing notes, pausing at a photo of a girl wrapped in violet vapor. His grin evaporated. “The purple smoke.”

  “You recognise it?” Astra pressed.

  “She’s a Blackwood,” Theo chimed in. “Challenged Natalia to a duel, and midway through, it was like the power had controlled her."

  “I tried a quick mind probe,” Athena added, leaning against the table, “but she was out cold. I think she's just woke up yesterday. A Gift that possesses its owner is unheard of.”

  With a frown, Adrian tapped the photo. “This could tie back to the Eye.”

  Astra’s gaze flicked to the ominous pink sphere outside. “Then bring her in."

  “Blackwood influence complicates things.” Adrian said. “I will pitch it to the Council, but I can’t promise they will agree.”

  “Probe a Blackwood's without a reasonable cause isn’t wise,” Athena conceded. “We’ll have to settle for a civil invitation, for now.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “They’re not invincible,” Astra snapped, finally turning to face them. “Someone outsmarted them before. Alone. Without connections. Unlike us.”

  Theo’s eyes gleamed. “Eydis.”

  “Eydis?” asked Adrian.

  Athena shot her brother a playful glance. “Weren’t you dying to hear about my glamorous presidency life?”

  They all settled around the table while Athena recounted the recent incident involving Tiffany and Eydis. The Talented student had once been invisible, unremarkable but was now the talk of the school. She managed to convince Dean Saito to expel Tiffany using only her words.

  Adrian paid close attention because he could tell his sister admired the girl. Athena was rarely this animated when discussing anyone, her fiancé included.

  Even Astra seemed softened by the mention of the name. In Astra’s language, that was a shift of tectonic proportions.

  He had to meet Eydis.

  But first, a word with Tiffany.

  Tiffany’s nails raked her scalp. She felt no pain, only one word spinning in her mind: Useless.

  Useless.

  Useless.

  Her father had planted it there and it grew like poison ivy.

  ‘Waste of space,’ his voice hissed. Talentless. Ungifted.

  Then, an inhuman voice slithered through her mind, ‘Always the disappointment, Tiffany. Are you nothing more than a reflection of your father's wealth?’

  She screamed, desperate to blast the murmurs away. In the brief silence that followed, the duel replayed like a nightmare on autoplay—blinding white flash, scorching blaze, Astra’s cold-as-steel glare.

  One strike, then blackness. One strike, and she had lost a week of her life.

  Power slept inside her now, but it still felt like a blanket full of holes. It wasn't enough.

  Seeing the crumpled letter on the floor, an invitation from the student council, she lifted it with a shaky hand and reread it. The council was now onto her. Had the duel exposed the forbidden magic? The borro—No! It was hers. Rightfully hers.

  Hatred engulfed her. Hatred for Astra and her effortless gift. Hatred for every student born with magic Tiffany had to steal.

  She wanted to be them.

  The world was rigged and unfair. How could the heiress to a billion-dollar empire be so easily crushed by some nobody? It wasn't fair! It wasn't FAIR!

  But self-pity wouldn’t win her revenge. Eydis—yes, Eydis was the weaker target. That freak, that nobody had dared to humiliate Tiffany.

  But she didn’t have much time. If the student council found out her secret, she would be left with nothing in the end.

  She had to do something. If she were to go down, then that freak would go down with her. Except…

  Eydis' roommate was Astra.

  “How?” Tiffany dug her fingers deeper. “How do I wipe that smirk off her face?”

  Purple smoke coiled in the air before her, laughing without a mouth. “Your body is weak,” it whispered, “but your mind is delicious.”

  "Delicious? What does that even mean?" Tiffany spat, backing away.

  “It’s fascinating to meet a soul so perfectly… receptive. You desire power. But to reach your true potential…” The smoke drifted closer. “You must become one with me.”

  Tiffany’s breath hitched. Power. She wanted it more than she wanted air. But… “Will that kill me?”

  “Kill you? Hardly. Your mind is precious. Yet showed mercy. Remember the firebird, Natalia?"

  She scoffed, trying to sound tougher than she felt. “I didn't want to commit murder in front of the entire school.”

  "Oh?"

  Tiffany glared. “I have a reputation to maintain. But I don’t mind doing it… in private.” She didn’t know where this boldness came from, but words of malice spilled out uncontrollably, as if the smoke had scrambled her mind.

  No. Snap out of it.

  “Then let go. Shed the last scraps of your humanity. Surrender, and together, we’ll be unstoppable.”

  “And Astra? You able to kill that bitch?”

  “One enemy at a time,” the smoke purred, the sound wet and sibilant. “Feed them to me. Make me stronger.”

  She nodded slowly. A tendril of smoke sank into her ear with a sickening pop. Her eyes glowed, the light no longer fully her own.

  They would pay, Eydis, Astra, all of them. The Blackwood name would shield her while she struck.

  She was Tiffany Blackwood. And this time, she would win.

  No hesitation. No witnesses. No loose ends.

  The fall would start with the weakest link: Eydis.