But that wasn’t all I’d heard about Cypress Mountain. Last summer, Bethany and her cousin had been to a party with some kids who went to school somewhere up there. Bethany had said that all the kids were loaded, driving expensive cars and wearing designer clothes. She’d also told me that those kids had drunk, smoked, and hooked up more than everyone else at the party—combined.

“And it’s a boarding school, so you’ll be living there on campus, come the fall,” Metis finished.

Panic rippled through me at her words, and my head snapped around to Grandma Frost, who was already shaking her head in anticipation of what I was going to say.

“Now, don’t you worry, pumpkin,” Grandma said. “I’ll be just fine, and you will, too.”

“But I don’t want to leave you. I can’t.” My words came out in a hoarse, strangled rasp. Tears started burning in the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them away. “I can’t lose you, too.”

Grandma Frost reached over and clasped my hand. Her soft, warm fingers and the matching feel of her love for me did little to drive away the cold that had suddenly seeped into my body. “You’re not going to lose me, pumpkin. I’ll be right here in this old house, telling my fortunes like normal. There’s a bus that runs from Cypress Mountain down here to Asheville every day, and you’ll be able to visit me anytime you want to. Right, Professor?”

Metis shifted in her chair. “Well, actually, students aren’t allowed to leave campus during the week, but I’m sure we can arrange some visits on the weekends.”

A spark of anger began to burn in my heart. I was being shipped off to some stupid boarding school, and the Powers That Were thought they were going to keep me away from my grandma? I didn’t think so. I’d come visit Grandma Frost any damn time I wanted to. No walls, gates, iron bars, or whatever else they might have at this Mythos Academy would keep me from doing that.

Still, I struggled to be calm. Maybe there was a chance I could get out of going to this stupid academy.

“But why do I have to go to this school?” I said. “Why can’t I just go back to my regular school? Maybe in the fall?”

“Because Mythos isn’t just any school, Gwen,” Metis said. “It’s for kids like you. Kids with magic.”

Magic. The word hung in the air between us, and for a moment I wasn’t sure if I’d heard her right. But Metis kept staring at me, and so did Grandma Frost. It hadn’t been a mistake or a slip of the tongue. Somehow, Metis knew that I had magic.

“So you know? About my Gypsy gift?” I asked in a small voice.

Metis nodded. “I do. Your grandmother told me about it and the . . . accident that you had with it a few weeks ago. The teachers at Mythos can help you keep that from happening again. We can teach you how to fully harness your psychometry magic, Gwen. Among . . . other things.”