The silence strains against my ears, and the air feels solid as Mom puts the car in gear and drives away. Since coming here, she’s been more demanding when it comes to how I answer her questions, and I guess she has the right. I’ve been lying to her for a really long time.

As we leave, I look in the mirror and spot Thane staring up at the empty noose, swinging over the doors of Emerson Hall.

Chapter Four

Shy and the Assignment

“You’re late, Shy,” Jacobi says.

The edge of one of his long knives flies over my head. I duck, swinging my blade toward his legs. The move prompts Jacobi to jump back, giving me the space I need to straighten. We stand opposite each other in our hybrid forms, dressed in black suits as tight as our own skin. Large iridescent-black wings sprout from our backs and sweep behind us.

It feels good to be in this form, like I’ve dropped a heavy cloak from my shoulders, given up the disguise of being a regular teenager, and allowed the other part of me to take over. Valryns have three forms: a hybrid, raven, and human.

I actually like my human form the most, even if it is sometimes exhausting having to pretend to care about things like football and trigonometry. If my friends heard me say that, I’d never hear the end of it. I’m pretty sure there’s some unspoken law that says a Valryn’s favorite form cannot be their human form.

“So what kept you?” Jacobi continues.

He likes to talk when we train. I don’t.

My hands tighten around the hilts of my weapons, and I glance at the black two-way mirror through which our commanders observe and score us during training. I don’t really want to discuss why I wasn’t on time while they’re listening, but I know it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Jacobi takes advantage of my distraction by jumping to attack. What little lift he gains works against him, slowing his assault. I bring my blades up to counter his blow.

“Late and distracted,” Jacobi chides. “Better for me.”

On any given day, I retreat from Nacoma Knight Academy like a sting gone wrong. I hate that place. I’m forced to be there seven hours a day and assigned to patrol when darkling energy is highest, from midnight until four in the morning.

Basically, I never get to leave.

The worst part?

Nothing ever happens.