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“Who can tell me what magic is wielded in The Golden City?”

“The strongest magic in existence,” Ashlani answered without missing a beat.

“That’s right. And why is it so powerful?” The study chambers fell silent. “Anyone? What about you, Wolf Jasper? Any reason why the magic in The Golden City is unlike anything we have access to here in Vaehatis?”

All eyes turned to Wolf, mine included. His jaw tightened for one second before he answered, “The archangels allow it. They bless the lands with ungodly amounts of power.”

“That’s right.” Headmistress grinned. “The archangels hold the power. So long as they live within the walls of The Golden City, that is where the magic remains.”

“How are we supposed to learn magic if we aren’t in The Golden City? I mean, what’s the point?” Ryder asked from the front row.

“You’ll learn the basics here,” she replied. “Moira, as I’m sure you’ve all realized by now, is not an average seminary. This place was created on lands blessed by the archangels themselves. A magic lingers here that is not present in the rest of Vaehatis; it’s what makes this entire academy what it is.”

Chills rushed down my arms. I knew I felt something different as soon as we arrived here, something chilling and dark andprimal.

Headmistress paused for a moment before a gust of wind appeared out of nowhere. I watched with my jaw falling open as wings—dark, beautiful, leathery wings—appeared on either side of her slim shoulders.

“If you are lucky,” she continued over the gasp of the classroom, “you’ll even become strong enough to summon your own fae wings. That’s right. Angels are not the only ones who can fly in The Golden City.”

One male in front stood up. “Teach us how!”

Headmistress held up a hand, quieting the class.Wings?I knew that fae long, long ago used to have the ability to fly, but to summon the fae wings on command?Goddess above.

“The first step in learning how to wield magic is to understand your own limits. We’ll be refreshing our history on vampyres, fae, and angels before we delve into magic training. It may not seem important, but it is. This may in fact be the mostimportant portion of this seminary, so pay attention. Lack of knowledge is just as deadly as the inability to fight.”

Headmistress moved on to discuss the two types of magic: natural magic and blood magic. Both had their benefits, and both had their downfalls. The way she spoke of the raw, earth-shattering power contained within both magics made my heart speed up, forced each one of my senses to drink up every single word.

“Only fae and angels have been confirmed to wield magic, but without the vampyres here to elaborate for themselves, we cannot rule out their magic entirely. It’s possible that they, too, used to wield magic before the fall of Scarlata Empire.”

The two large fae—Ryder and his friend, who I now knew was named Espek—snickered.

“Why don’t we just ask them?” Ryder asked.

I froze. The look in Headmistress’s eyes would have made any normal apprentice still. “Tell me,” she said, walking over to the males in the front row, “why can we not ask them?”

“They’ve all run rabid,” Espek said. “The coherent, normal vampyres that used to live in Vaehatis are long gone. They’ve all given into their bloodlust, turned into those monsters.”

“You’re correct,” she replied. “And unless you’d like to be thrown into the forest full of them, you’ll show some respect.”

“What happened to them?” Lanson asked. “If vampyres used to be coherent creatures, what changed?”

An eerie silence filled the room before she continued.

“Vampyres survive on the blood of humans and fae, yes, but they were not always monsters. The last two decades have changed everything, including the trajectory of their species.”

We waited eagerly for her to go on, everyone glued to each word she spoke.

“Vampyres are not born with bloodlust, contrary to what you all might believe. Vampyres do not drink blood at all, actually,until they have lived a quarter of a century. Once a vampyre is twenty-five, their instincts kick in. That is when they need to feed.

“Vampyres can feed without losing control. They can feed without killing. But when a vampyre gives in to the bloodlust, typically following the first time they drink from the vein, they begin to change. They lose control of their senses, of their ability to restrain themselves. They turn into the creatures who kill and attack and cannot be stopped.”

“What happens before they lose control of their bloodlust? You’re saying vampyres can be normal?” Ashlani asked, her brow furrowed in thought.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Headmistress answered. “Some vampyres are still living out there somewhere, controlling their bloodlust, even after they drink from the vein. Not all of them have given into that monstrous side.”

Ashlani leaned forward. “Where are they?”

She shrugged. “After the death of the vampyre queen and king, they scattered. War forced them out of their kingdom, sent them into hiding. All the more reason The Golden City must be protected. We don’t know how many of them are out there. They could rebuild their kingdom from the ashes for all we know.”