Page 66 of House of Marionne

Light catches on my dagger as I turn it in my hands, its steel rippling purple. I study the stones. One’s a jagged red rock that gleams silver in its crevices. An Endurance Enhancer, which helps magic last longer, according to the book. Another is a deep blue like a glassy ocean. A Purifier Enhancer, which wards off magical impurity. And the third is spiky and green and apparently unique to House of Marionne, mined from the caves of Aronya in a precise location only our House knows.

“Binding Enhancer,” I read, under my breath. “It aids in binding magic to the blood with far greater longevity and precision. What on earth does that mean?”

“It means Marionne puts out the best stock!” Dexler winks. “A cut above the rest.”

“A cut above the rest,” I repeat. The House motto. “Right,” I say, still confused about what that has to do with this green stone. Dexler moves on and I pick up the enhancer unique to our House, turning it in my hands, picturing how to set it on my dagger. Then the red one. It’s radiant and deep with various hues, depending on tricks of the light. I hold my dagger next to the green and the red one, trying to decide which to do first. But the blue stone, the Purifier, grabs my attention. It’s by far the prettiest.

Felix made it look so simple. I set the others down and hold the blue in one palm and reach for my dagger.

My hand stiffens as my fingers graze its handle. My heart patters faster. I try to stretch my fingers, to close them around the dagger, but they’re rigid. Cold. The blue stone burns my hand and I drop it, pushing up from the table. The cold in my bones retreats.

“Miss Marionne?” It’s Dexler, and at the sound of her voice every head in the place turns in my direction. “Everything all right?”

“I . . .” I flex my fingers, and to my surprise they move, as if nothing ever happened. I glare at the blue enhancer on the ground. Then my dagger. I grab it first, then bend down to pick up the stone, but my toushana shudders through me, threatening to rise up again. It won’t let me touch them at the same time. I skim the page for a description of the blue stone again.

Wards off magical impurities.

“Miss Marionne!”

I realize that in my haste to get up I knocked my chair over.

“Yes. Sorry, I’m fine.” I swallow. “Did you say we could work on this in lab?”

She nods, and I gather my things and toss them into my bag but wait until my magic has settled all the way down before grabbing the Purifier and hurrying out the door.

I dash down the hall toward my room and bump into a tall carved frame.

“Quell?” Jordan’s gaze twists in surprise. “Session’s out already?”

“No, it’s not . . . I—I mean yes. Sorry, yes, session is out.”

Jordan’s brows cinch and I notice he’s not alone. Felix is with him.

“You know this one?” Felix asks, and I swear I see Jordan’s jaw clench. “She wouldn’t tell me her name. Feisty.” Jordan eyes Felix and something shifts between them.

“Anyway, I better be going,” he says. “Good chat, Wexton. Next time answer the damn phone so I don’t have to come all the way to this sweaty armpit. See you in the field in no time.” They do some sort of handshake. “I’ll tell Mother you said hello.”

“Mother?” I ask as he walks off.

“Headmistress Perl, he means.”

I put more distance between us. “Are you and she close?”

His eyes narrow. “Why?”

“As a Ward, I’m sure she likes a good check-in. Is that why Felix was here?”

“He was here . . . on Dragunhead business, if you must know.”

I can’t tell if he’s lying or giving me half-truths. But if Beaulah is anything like my grandmother, she wouldn’t just let her nephew be here without keeping tabs. His stare deepens, his head cocked, but he says nothing for several moments before checking his watch. “How is honing?”

“I was going to skip lunch and work on my dagger in lab . . .” On my own. When no one’s around. I start in the opposite direction.

“I’ll come with.”

“No! Sorry, I have a handle on it so far.” In a perfect world I’d be able to ask him for help. But he can’t be near me with my toushana reacting to the enhancers. Also I’m not sure how much I can trust him.

He tidies his coat and shifts as if his ego is wounded. “The next offered honing exam is in five days. I’ve signed you up.”