Sera's POV
Master Aldric's door slammed shut behind me.
The sound made me jump. My heart was already racing from climbing three flights of stairs to his office. Now it felt like it might explode out of my chest.
"Sit." His voice was cold.
I sat in the wooden chair facing his desk. My hands trembled in my lap so I squeezed them together to make them stop. Master Aldric walked around his desk slowly, like a cat circling a mouse.
Through the windows behind him, I could see the whole Tower grounds. Students walked between buildings. Everything looked normal. Peaceful.
But nothing was normal anymore.
Master Aldric sat down and folded his hands on his desk. His blue eyes studied me like I was a stranger. Not the girl he'd taught since I was six years old.
"Do you know why you're here, Sera?"
"No, Master Aldric." My voice came out small and scared.
"Three Veil Keepers are dead."
The words hit me like a punch to the stomach. "Three? But I thought... I only knew about Marcus and Thea."
"Jorin died yesterday. We found him in the storage room."
My vision blurred with tears. Jorin. Sweet, quiet Jorin who loved books more than people. Who helped me study for my exams. Who wanted to travel the world someday.
"No," I whispered. "Not Jorin too."
"Yes. Jorin too." Master Aldric leaned forward. "All three of them died the same way. Their magic was completely drained. Sucked out of their bodies until there was nothing left. Do you know what that means?"
I shook my head, unable to speak.
"It means someone is stealing magic. Killing our students to take their power." His eyes never left my face. "And you, Sera, were near all three deaths."
The room tilted. "What?"
"Marcus died in the library while you were studying two floors below. Thea died in the garden right outside the dining hall where you were eating breakfast. Jorin died in the storage room next to the training hall where you were practicing."
"That's just coincidence! I didn't—"
"There's more." He opened a drawer and pulled out a silver pendant. I recognized it immediately. It belonged to Marcus. His mother gave it to him before she died.
"We found this in your room this morning. Under your bed."
My blood turned to ice. "That's impossible. I never touched Marcus's pendant. I don't know how it got there!"
"So someone planted it? Someone is trying to frame you?" His voice dripped with disbelief.
"Yes! Exactly! Someone is setting me up!"
Master Aldric stood and walked to the window. His back was to me. "Sera, I've known you since you were six years old. I've watched you grow. Trained you. I thought I knew who you were."
"You do know me! Master Aldric, please, you have to believe me. I would never hurt anyone!"
"Then explain your magic."
My throat closed up. "What?"
"Your magic has been failing for months. Other teachers have reported it. Students have seen it. Yesterday, Master Torin saw your magic spark black during training." He turned to face me. "Black magic, Sera. The color of corruption. Of evil."
Tears spilled down my cheeks. "I don't know what's happening to me! My magic feels wrong. Broken. But I'm not stealing from anyone. I'm losing power, not gaining it!"
"Or maybe you're stealing magic to replace what you've lost."
"No!" I stood up, my chair scraping loudly against the floor. "That's not true! I'm telling the truth!"
"Sit down."
"Master Aldric—"
"I said sit down!"
His voice cracked like thunder. I dropped back into the chair, shaking all over.
He walked around the desk until he stood right in front of me. "Show me your magic. Right now. Cast a simple light spell."
My hands shook as I held them out. I whispered the words I'd known since I was five years old. The easiest spell any Veil Keeper could do.
A blue spark flickered in my palm. Then it twisted. Turned black. And exploded in a shower of dark sparks that stung my skin.
I gasped and pulled my hands back. The black marks were visible on my right hand, faint but there. They looked like tiny black veins under my skin.
Master Aldric's face hardened. "How long have you had those marks?"
"A few weeks. Maybe a month. I don't know exactly."
"And you didn't think to tell anyone?"
"I was scared! I didn't know what they meant!"
"They mean you're corrupted." He stepped back. "They mean something dark is inside you."
"Then help me! Please! You're the strongest Veil Keeper I know. If anyone can fix this, it's you!"
For just a second, his expression softened. But then it hardened again. "I can't help someone I don't trust. Not when three students are dead and all evidence points to you."
"I didn't kill them!"
"Maybe you didn't mean to. Maybe the corruption made you do it without realizing."
"No. No, I would remember. I would know if I—"
"Would you?" He tilted his head. "Have you had any blackouts? Any missing time? Moments you can't account for?"
I opened my mouth to say no. But then I remembered. The library. That night three months ago when I went to read a book and woke up the next morning in my bed with no memory of how I got there.
My face must have shown the truth because Master Aldric nodded slowly.
"I see. So you have had blackouts."
"Just once! One time! And that was months before anyone died!"
"That you remember."
The words hung in the air like poison.
He walked to his door and opened it. Two guards stood outside. "Take Sera to her room. Lock the door. Post guards outside. She's not to leave for any reason. No visitors. No food until I say so."
"What?" I jumped up. "You're locking me in my room?"
"Until we figure out what's happening, yes."
"But I didn't do anything wrong!"
The guards entered and grabbed my arms. Their grips were tight, almost painful.
"Let me go! Master Aldric, please! You're making a mistake!"
He wouldn't look at me. "If you're innocent, we'll discover the truth. If you're guilty..." He paused. "Then may the gods have mercy on your soul."
"I'm innocent! I swear I'm innocent!"
The guards dragged me out of the office and down the hallway. Students pressed against the walls, staring. Whispering. Pointing.
"Murderer," someone hissed.
"Monster," another voice said.
"She killed Marcus," a girl sobbed.
Their words cut deeper than any knife.
The guards pulled me down two flights of stairs to my floor. Other students scattered when they saw us coming. Mira stood outside our room, her face pale.
"Mira!" I called. "Tell them! Tell them I wouldn't hurt anyone!"
She looked at me with tears in her eyes. Then she turned and ran.
My best friend. My sister in everything but blood. She ran from me.
The guards threw me into my room. I stumbled and fell to my knees. Before I could stand, they slammed the door shut. The lock clicked.
Heavy footsteps took position outside. I was trapped.
I crawled to my bed and pulled my knees to my chest. My whole body shook with sobs.
This couldn't be happening. This had to be a nightmare. Any second I'd wake up and everything would be normal again.
But I didn't wake up.
Hours passed. The sun moved across the sky. No one came. No one brought food or water. I was alone.
As darkness fell, I heard voices outside my door.
"—can't believe it's Sera," one guard said.
"Evidence doesn't lie," another replied. "She's the killer. Master Aldric will execute her soon."
Execute. The word echoed in my head.
They were going to kill me for crimes I didn't commit.
I looked at my hands. At the black marks creeping across my skin. At the magic that no longer obeyed me.
What was happening to me? What was I becoming?
And whoever was really killing students—they were still out there. Still free. Still hunting.
I had to escape. I had to find proof of my innocence. I had to—
My door rattled.
I sat up straight, heart pounding.
The rattling came again. Not from the lock. From the window.
I walked over slowly. Through the glass, I saw someone climbing up the side of the Tower. A boy from my combat training class. He reached my window and gestured frantically for me to open it.
I unlatched the window and pushed it open. Cold air rushed in.
"Quickly," he whispered. "Master Aldric just left the Tower. The guards will change shifts in five minutes. If you're going to run, it has to be now."
"Why are you helping me?"
"Because I know you're innocent. My sister was friends with Marcus. He told her someone was watching him. Following him. Someone in a black cloak." The boy's eyes were intense. "It wasn't you, Sera. Someone else is doing this. Now go!"
He dropped a rope made of tied-together bedsheets.
I looked at the door. At the window. At the rope.
If I stayed, I'd die.
If I ran, I'd be hunted.
Either way, I was dead.
Unless I could find the real killer first.
I grabbed the rope and climbed out the window into the night.