“A little smack-talking is part of the game, isn’t it?” Natasha’s smile holds so firmly that it’s obviously fake. I’m pretty sure she’s not even trying to pass it off as real.

“It’s for the weak,” Xander says, folding his arms across his chest.

“Then maybe your apprentice should try it.”

I bristle. I wish I could do another display to put them in their place, but they just watched me fail miserably, and I’m not exactly sure I believe in myself right now.

Aristelle sighs behind us. “Walk away, Xander.”

Natasha’s smile finally seems real. “Seems like someone’s being summoned.”

Xander doesn’t budge. I decide to walk away though. Aristelle’s the one in charge of the troupe. She’s the one I need to impress more than Xander.

“Don’t tell me not to listen to them,” I say. I don’t need a pep talk. I need power.

“You should listen to them,” she says. “If you can’t use your power consistently, you are weak.”

I hate that she’s right. I hate how vulnerable I feel. I’ve spent years training to hunt vampires so I wouldn’t feel like this, and now that I’m with real hunters, I’m that little girl wandering the dark streets with nothing but a sharpened pencil. Out of my league.

At least then I was alone. I can’t help but glance around again at the people watching me. One in particular catches my eye, but she’s not in one of the training courtyards; she’s standing on one of the paths that surround them. Her hair is long and straggly, and she wears a flowing skirt and patchwork vest that make her look like a witch who’s stumbled out of a different story.

Julia.

“Who’s that?” I ask, nodding in her direction.

Aristelle follows my stare. “Julia? She lost her apprentice last night. She’s nobody to worry about.”

“Why is she older? And why are all the apprentices so young?” I don’t know how I didn’t see it before, but most of the magicians seem around my age. Midtwenties at the oldest.

“Lucius realized that the younger you are, the more likely you are to be able to believe in yourself enough to learn the magic, so now we focus on the young, but not too young. If you give immortality to someone who hasn’t discovered who they are yet, then how can you expect them to hang on to their humanity?” Her eyes drift up to where the twins have come out to sit on the steps of the mansion. They sit with perfect stillness, one on each side like stone lions. “The older magicians have been here the longest.”