Page 57 of Eternal Ruin

“Explain yourself before I dismiss you,” he ordered.

All eyes latched on to her. She was thrust back to high school, the cruel jokes about how she was a zombie or a drug addict, seeking attention. Her mouth clamped up.

Professor Andreyas gave a curt nod. “Very well, you’re dismissed. Gather your things and—”

“Excuse me, Professor,” a nervous voice interrupted. The professor snapped his head to Qara Umil, June’s partner.

Qara was a pretty girl with brown skin and golden glasses. She withered under the full force of that stare and June didn’t blame her.

“June and I were… studying late into the night. We’re both very tired.”

June lifted her head in surprise, and her eyes creased in gratitude.

“Studying,” the professor intoned. “Very well. Then you should prove if you’ve been successful in your endeavor or wasted everyone’s time.”

June’s voice was uncertain. “I—I don’t understand.”

“I will ask you a question. If you fail to answer, you and your friend will be dismissed. Perhaps an extra semester will help you study further.”

Qara’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to protest but, at the challenge in the professor’s eyes, shut it quickly.

The professor faced June, and she could have sworn the room darkened around them, a light shining on each of them, even as they remained on opposite ends of the room. She could not afford to fail.

She had to inherit the house.

Get the mask before time ran out and decide what to do with it.

“Are you ready?”

June snuck a glance at Qara chewing her lip and nodded. “Y-yes.”

“Who were the Six Manes of Blood?”

The students near her looked at one another in panic, afraid this question would be turned on them too.

But June kept her eyes trained on the wooden desk. The silence stretched into a full minute. Qara started to gather her things, misery etched on her face. June knew why the professor looked smug. Knowledge about the Six Manes was found only inYe Abyssi Tarik, a book made of hundreds of languages. It was impossible for a first-year Dranacti student to know.

Careful, Warde spoke down their bond.

Qara stood up to leave.

“Demasus the Fanged Lion.” June’s voice hovered close to the ground. “Varos the Night Lion, Ralonar the Venomous Lion, Lidia the Split-Tongued Lioness, Helenik the Horned Lioness, and Nira the Silent Lioness. The Six Manes of Blood.”

She could scarcely breathe. Or focus on the students gawking at her.

Professor Andreyas straightened. Surprise and intrigue gleamed in his eyes and June had the sensation he could stare right into her very soul.

“Sit down, Qara,” Professor Andreyas finally said. “You’re stalling our lesson.”

Qara sank into the chair so fast it creaked. She mouthedthank youto June, who offered her a small smile in return.

It hurt June’s heart to know, soon, she’d stand before the professor and betray her new friend.

Qara Umil would have to fail. The Scales of Sovane demanded it.

June was only making things harder by befriending her, but she couldn’t help it.

Because June was out of time. Her heart would stop beating on her twenty-first birthday. Most people didn’t know the day of their death so clearly, but June did. She had made a strange sort of peace with it. Nothing to be done about it. Her face tilted to the tinted window, the sun trying its best to reach her even in this dark room. She smiled. Even as a powerful voice inside her roared and thundered:You will not die.