The sun had already disappeared behind the jagged peaks by the time Angelica reached the tower steps.
She stood alone at the base, her shadow long across the gravel. The bell above loomed in silence, black against the darkening sky. It hadn't rung — not yet. But the very air around it thrummed with expectation.
She held the black card in her palm like a passport.
There was no door.
Only a narrow stone stairwell spiraling upward along the tower's outer wall — exposed, old, and cold.
She climbed.
Each step felt heavier than the last. The wind grew sharper, biting through her uniform, tugging at her ribbon. The campus fell away behind her, its lights distant and cold.
By the time she reached the top, her hands were trembling — from cold or nerves, she couldn't tell.
A single wooden door waited.
She knocked once.
It creaked open on its own.
The chamber inside was circular and dim, lit only by candlelight and a brazier that cast flickering shadows across the stone floor.
At the center stood a ring — the same crimson bell sigil carved deep into the ground.
And standing within that ring, waiting, was a girl.
She was tall. Pale. Silver eyes like cut steel. Her posture was perfect. Her uniform jacket undone. Her hands tucked into her pockets as if she didn't care about the ritual, or Angelica, or the rules.
Angelica knew immediately.
Juniper Nox.
The girl whose name had been slipped beneath her breakfast tray.
Juniper studied her without speaking.
Angelica swallowed. "I'm Angelica Redgrave."
"I know who you are," Juniper said, voice cool and unreadable.
Angelica hesitated. "Why am I here?"
Juniper stepped closer, stopping just outside the ring.
"This is where they decide what you're worth."
"I didn't volunteer."
"No one does."
Silence stretched between them. Then Juniper added, almost too quietly, "You shouldn't have come here."
Angelica frowned. "Why?"
Juniper's eyes met hers. "Because they like to break the bright ones."
Before Angelica could respond, a voice rang out from the shadows.
"Begin."
From the far wall, Kage Blackthorne emerged — alone, hands clasped behind his back.
"You have sixty seconds," he said. "Impress us. Or don't."
Angelica looked around. "With what?"
Juniper answered by tossing something to the floor between them.
A knife.
Small. Silver. Clean.
Angelica stared at it. "You want me to fight?"
Kage didn't answer. He simply watched.
Juniper tilted her head. "No. I want to see if you run."
Angelica's pulse thundered in her ears. She looked at the knife.
Then back at Juniper.
Then she stepped forward, slowly, and kicked the blade across the floor — out of reach of them both.
"I'm not your puppet."
Juniper's expression didn't change.
Kage gave a low chuckle.
"Interesting," he murmured. "Stupid. But interesting."
He clapped once.
The flames in the brazier flared blue.
Then the floor beneath Angelica lit up — glowing red lines snaking outward from the bell symbol, climbing the walls, casting long shadows of thorns and teeth.
The air turned electric.
Angelica stumbled back, heart racing.
Kage stepped toward her, voice quiet.
"This school does not forgive the unwilling, Miss Redgrave. It does not reward refusal."
Angelica met his gaze. "Then why summon me?"
He smiled. "Because sometimes we like to see who bends."
Juniper said nothing.
Kage turned away. "You'll be notified of your placement tomorrow. That is all."
The lights died. The glow vanished. The tension evaporated like mist.
Angelica was alone.
She stumbled back down the stairs in silence.
Halfway to the dorms, she heard soft footsteps behind her.
Juniper.
"Most people beg to be accepted," Juniper said. "You're the first I've seen try to push it away."
"I didn't come to be seen," Angelica replied. "I came to succeed."
Juniper gave a dry, humorless smile. "That's exactly why they'll want to use you."
"Why are you warning me?"
"I'm not."
Juniper turned to leave.
Then paused.
"But I was you once. And it doesn't end well."
She disappeared into the dark.