ell and a pil

ht and relentless. "First bell is in twenty minutes, and if you want b

whether I had slept for six hours or sixteen. The locket lay quiet against my chest, and for a moment I almost convinced

man in the tower, an

eat pastries?" I asked, t

with a silver crescent stitched over the heart. "It's about the experience. Honestly,

corridors were already crowded. Wolves in black jackets with silver pins shoved each other playfully at the doors. Pale, elegant students dri

rns of silver light, and the air smelled of butter and cinnamon and strong dark coff

which means nobody sits there because everyone's too nervous." She nodded toward the far end

at it im

, except for

black and a little too long, falling over a forehead as pale as marble. His uniform was impeccably neat, the jacket buttone

poke to him. Students walked a wide arc around

e, eight hundred years of bad temper in one handsome package. He doesn't talk to

everyone

e shrugged and grabbed a tray. "Becaus

nce like a hand on the back of

ant to ge

silver counter at the side of the hall where steaming urns waited in a row. I filled a mug until it w

until I walked s

d across the front of a crisp white shirt, soaking through the black jacket, drip

e hall we

e mug rolled away and clattered

of me with coffee running down

dn't see you, I wasn't looking,

s lifte

of crimson that glowed faintly in the lantern light. His face was beautiful in the way a kn

," he repe

't mean

lken, and every word fell into the silence like a stone into a well

meone else sniggere

d I was

fingers, his lip curling. "This was handmade. It's older than your entire

esterday, I would have lowered my eyes and said nothing, the w

ng into fists, and something hot

louder than I meant to. "You d

hock went thr

mpletely, ut

it, so fast I almost missed it. His nostrils flared. His pupils shrank to pinpri

ed at m

k, at the small round shape beneath my collar, as though a thread had

witched at

loud as a drum. I heard his, too, a slow, heavy thud I shouldn't have been able to hear from across the room. The cold

hispered, so quietly

answer. I

as suddenly, hi

locked. The crimson dimmed, and the cold, aristocrat

d enough for the whole hall to hear

of the Great Hall. The doors boomed shut behind him,

st the counter and gripped the e

an instant, her braid flying. "

eathed. "H

ed and half awed. "Nobody talks back to him. I've seen gr

ow. I

re scattered, my pulse still racing. I pressed

under my sh

hing quieter, something that glowed gently against my skin like a lit ember, pul

y the way it had been

se was watching me too. A girl with sleek dark hair and a sharp, pretty fac

smiled. It was a thin, cold smi