The One She Was Waiting For

Aralyn's POV

A chill ran up my spine as I stood there, staring at High Priestess Amodina with wide, confused eyes.

While trying to make sense of everything, my thoughts kept colliding, making it hard to focus. I had too many questions—too many unknowns were turning inside my head like a storm I couldn't control—but if I could only ask one question first, it had to be this.

"How am I here?" My voice came out quieter than I expected. "Why did I end up in this… this Academy of Shadowvale?"

Amodina smiled, as if she had been waiting for me to ask that exact question. She rested her chin lightly on her fingers, regarding me with those unsettlingly knowing silver eyes.

"Didn't you see a mirror?" she asked. "And weren't you compelled to touch it?"

I swallowed, nodding slowly. "I did."

I could still feel it—the way my fingertips had brushed the surface and the strange pull that had seized my chest before I was dragged into the unknown.

"Why?" My hands clenched into fists at my sides. "Why was it there? And why me? I'm just…" My voice wavered slightly as I shook my head. "I'm just ordinary."

Amodina's expression didn't change. If anything, her smile deepened just slightly, like I had said something amusing.

"Ordinary?" she mused. "We'll see about that."

Before I could react, she lifted a hand and made a slight gesture toward the driver. He straightened, inclining his head in a formal bow.

Then, just as I expected him to turn and walk toward the elevator, Amodina snapped her fingers, and the driver disappeared.

Not walked away, not vanished behind a door. One second he was there, and the next—he simply wasn't.

A loud gasp tore from my lips, and I staggered back in pure, unfiltered shock. My heart slammed against my ribs, my breath suddenly too quick.

"What—" I choked out. "What the hell just—"

I turned, searching the space where he had stood just a second ago. There was nothing. No trace, no shadow, and no sign that he had ever been there.

Panic coiled in my stomach, making my limbs feel ice-cold. I turned back to Amodina, my mind screaming at me that this was wrong, and there she was, watching me with an expression of amusement in her eyes, her head tilted ever so slightly.

"Relax, Aralyn." Her tone was almost teasing. "You act as if you've never seen magic before."

My mouth opened then closed because no, I had not seen magic before.

Not like this.

Not real magic.

My entire life had been spent in the dark streets of Vasthral, where people barely survived the night, where survival meant stealing, fighting, killing if necessary. Magic?

Magic belongs in fairy tales and drunken stories passed around in filthy taverns, where desperate men try to pretend they have something better to believe in.

Magic wasn't real.

Except, I had been sucked into a mirror. I had seen a girl with wings fly past me. I had seen two inhuman boys walk the halls like they belonged there, and now, I had just witnessed a man disappear into thin air.

I swallowed thickly, my pulse erratic as I forced myself to breathe.

Amodina gestured toward the seat in front of her, her voice calm and composed.

"Sit."

I didn't move at first. My body was still trying to process what had just happened, still struggling to make sense of this entire nightmare-turned-reality.

But I was standing in her domain now, in the heart of a place that was so far beyond my understanding that it terrified me, and I had no way out.

I forced my legs to move, stiff and reluctant, until I finally reached the chair and lowered myself into it.

Amodina leaned forward slightly, her fingers still elegantly clasped together as she watched me.

"Good," she murmured. "Now, let's talk."

I exhaled, gripping the armrests of the chair as I tried to steady myself.

"Tell me, Aralyn," Amodina continued, "why are your clothes so bloody?"

An involuntary breath caught in my throat, and my fingers instinctively curled against the arms of the chair while my heart pounded so hard.

Then, as if that question alone wasn't enough to send ice through my veins, she tilted her head slightly and asked, "Did you kill someone?"

My entire body tensed, and every fiber of my being screamed at me to move, to get up, to run—but my muscles locked in place, refusing to obey.

I gritted my teeth, forcing my expression to remain neutral. My breath was uneven, my fingers twitching slightly as I struggled to stay composed, but she knew. She had to know.

So why was she asking?

My lips parted, and before I could stop myself, the words tumbled out shakily.

"Why are you asking?" My voice was hoarse. "You already know, don't you?"

Amodina's lips curved into an almost amused smile. She leaned back, her fingers elegantly clasped together as she regarded me with something I couldn't quite read.

"Yes," she admitted, tilting her head. "But I wanted to hear it from you."

A chill crawled up my spine. She was toying with me, but then, before my panic could spiral further, she said something that nearly made my pulse stop altogether.

"From what I see," she mused, "the person you killed is the reason you only just found the mirror."

I stiffened.

What? Her voice was impossibly calm as she continued, "He caged you, didn't he?"

My breath caught again.

"So I won't judge you for breaking free."

My fingers dug into the armrest. What… what was she talking about? I clenched my jaw, my mind racing. How did she know about Darius? About what he had done to me? How did she know what I had suffered?

My confusion only deepened, and I swallowed hard, my voice barely above a whisper.

"What… what are you talking about?"

Amodina's smile didn't waver. She studied me for a moment, as if weighing what she should say next.

"You should have found the mirror years ago."

I blinked at her, my stomach twisting into knots. "Excuse me?"

Her expression remained composed, unbothered, like she had just stated something obvious.

"You should have been at this Academy years ago, Aralyn," she repeated. "But for some reason, you never made it."

I stared at her.

My thoughts were spiraling, and I felt cold, like something in me had just fractured.

"You're saying I was supposed to be here?" My voice came out weaker than I wanted. "That… that this school—this place—was waiting for me?"

Amodina nodded once, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I let out a sharp, humorless laugh, shaking my head.

"This is a supernatural school," I said, barely managing to keep my voice steady. "This is a place for people with magic—I've seen them. The flying girl, those things that weren't human. This place is for people like them."

I gestured vaguely toward the door. "Not people like me."

Not a girl from Vasthral who had nothing special to offer except the ability to survive in a city that wanted her dead.

Amodina simply smiled, and then, in the calmest voice imaginable, she said—

"You are the one I've been waiting for."

Everything inside me froze.

I forced myself to speak, even though my voice was barely audible. "You've been waiting for me?"

Amodina nodded, her eyes gleaming. "For nearly a hundred years."