Immortal Consequences(51)
“So what exactly are we signing?” Tristan asked, tightening his protective grip on Josie.
“This soul vow will bind you to the Decennial,” Silas explained. “If you sign, you are agreeing to remain silent about any private information you learn throughout the competition and to solidify your cooperation for the remaining trials and festivities.”
Irene let out a disgruntled sigh. “Let’s just get this over with.” She stalked toward the soul vow, ripping the pen out of the air. Her arms and chest surged with magic, golden light trickling up and down her limbs. She signed her name, the words shimmering like speckles of gold. When she was done, the light vanished, her name disappearing with it.
She tossed the pen at Wren. “Go on. Don’t act like you weren’t going to sign it next anyway.”
Wren exchanged an uncertain glance with the others before walking toward the piece of parchment.
She signed her name.
It went on like that for a few minutes. A moment of hesitation. Another name signed.
Emilio was the last to sign his name, and once he did, the soul vow curled into itself and vanished.
“I know this all might take some adjustment,” Silas began, walking across the room. “But you should all be immensely proud of yourselves. You have been chosen for a reason. You each possess a unique quality, something that made you stand out among the rest of your peers. And now you have the chance to cement yourself as a true leader…the one who will save Blackwood from ruin.”
Silence enveloped the group as Silas paused in the doorway, turning to face them. The glow of firelight danced across his features, washing his angular face in amber streams of light.
He smiled—a dazzling and wicked smile.
“Welcome to the Decennial.”
Part IV
Into the Ether
20
Masika
The whispers followed them everywhere. Every corner. Every winding corridor and crammed classroom. There was no escaping the fame that came with being one of the chosen twelve. It was like a virus, a slithering current seeping into the veins of the student body.
It began almost immediately after the conclusion of the first trial. The remaining contestants had returned to their regular routines and been met with curious stares and prodding questions. Masika had assumed it would die down after the first couple of days, that the other students would eventually get bored of prying, but their curiosity seemed to only grow with each passing hour. She couldn’t even sit in class without the unnerving sensation of a dozen pairs of eyes watching her.
She felt it now, as she attempted to concentrate in her late-afternoon Advanced Elemental Techniques class, that unsettling sensation that she was being monitored, every gesture and every facial expression closely examined by her peers.
Beside her sat Georgia and Carter. She didn’t usually gravitate toward them, but recent events had brought the remaining nominees together in a way that defied the usual status quo of Blackwood.
Housemaster Marigold had instructed the class to each separately read a passage from Advanced Fire Shifting and Conflagration Essentials. However, Masika found it impossible to concentrate on anything other than the incessant whispers echoing around her. The voices pounded against her skull, a dull ache blossoming at her temples.
When it became clear that the cloud of gossip showed no signs of dissipating, she let out a disgruntled sigh and shut her textbook. “I give up. I’ve read the same sentence thirty different times.”
Georgia scribbled something in the margin of her copy. “I find that constantly screaming in my head helps tune them out.”
“Healthy.”
“I actually don’t mind it.” Carter propped his dress shoes up on the desk, comfortably lounging back in his chair. “Personally, I find the attention to be rather invigorating.”
“That’s because you’re an attention whore,” Georgia teased.
He shrugged. “I prefer the term attention aficionado.”
“I signed autographs today,” muttered Georgia with a grimace. “Autographs.”
Masika groaned. “You’re kidding.”
“Oh, it’s not all bad.” Carter stretched his arms out and winked at a group of girls seated a few rows down. They giggled behind their hands and quickly turned back to their textbooks.
Masika rolled her eyes. “This is absurd. We’re not celebrities.”
Carter leaned his head back into his hands.
“Sure feels like we are.”
“Ignore him,” Georgia said. “He can’t help himself. I’m afraid he loses all of his brain cells the moment a pretty girl looks in his direction.”
As if on cue, Carter blew a kiss to one particularly pretty blonde who couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. She flushed and hid her smile behind her textbook, turning to her friends, who erupted into a fit of giggles.
“It’s not my fault they love me.”
Georgia frowned. “You are unbearable.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lovingly batted his eyes. “And you adore me for it.”
Masika couldn’t quite pinpoint their dynamic. It appeared to be solely platonic, though it seemed deeper than a simple friendship. And then she noticed something. Despite their differing physical characteristics, they shared the same toothy grin. The same pronounced dimple on their left cheek. The same birthmark on their neck. The same— “Wait.” Masika leaned in closer. “Are you two…are you related?”