Amara didn’t halt her sprinting until she was outside of the school building. Her legs moved her through the gates, by the guards, who barely saw her blur by. She didn’t know how she got home, wasn’t even sure she’d been walking, how she had hoisted herself up the marble steps of the villa without collapsing. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, panting. Everything had frozen.

Everyone—everything—except her and Seraphina. And now her wrist still throbbed, pulsing as though it held a secret it would soon explode. She fled to her room, slammed the door shut and folded into herself on the floor.

“This isn’t happening,” she whispered. “This can’t be happening.”

Her room suddenly seemed very large, very quiet. For one awful second, she thought perhaps this world was frozen, too. She needed to know. Trembling, she reached for her phone and opened Bella’s name—a classmate with a talent for writing perfect notes. The phone rang once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then—

“Hello?” Amara’s heart nearly stopped.

“Hey, it’s Amara,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “I, uh … missed some of the rest of class. Do you have today’s notes?”

“God, Nolan’s class was boring. “I literally zoned out,” Bella groaned. “I took notes, but mostly it’s doodles of cats in the margins. You want them anyway?”

Amara let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

“Yeah,” she said, and her voice softened. “Yeah, please.”

“Want me to send pics?”

“Yes—thank you.”

“Cool. You okay? You sound weird.”

“I’m just tired,” Amara lied. “But I’m okay.”

She hung up and placed the phone back down on her bed. The world was normal again. But something inside her wasn’t. The following days melted into a fog of worry and strange stillness. The house was too still. Her mother was too watchful. And the strangeness didn’t stop.

Light bulbs flicked when she passed through them. Even with full bars on her phone, it froze and glitched. At one point the toaster turned on by itself while she was close by. And Lilith… Lilith began to behave strangely. She would show up at Amara’s door, no need even to knock, just a dark presence. She asked some seemingly innocent questions — that weren’t.

“Do you sort of… feel weird lately?” she asked one evening over dinner.

Amara barely touched her food. “Strange how?”

“Any… moments of dizziness? Sudden heat? Loss of time?”

Amara’s fork clinked against her plate. “No.”

Lilith nodded too quickly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Amara said flatly. “Why?”

“I’m your mother. I just want to make sure you’re all right.”

But Amara didn’t believe that. There was no worry in Lilith’s eyes. It was knowing. Her mother had the perfect sense of what was happening to her. And yet Amara said nothing to her about the classroom incident. Nothing about the frozen world. Nothing on the fire ready to ignite from her wrist.

For if she did… then she might be stopped from going to prom. And Amara had dreamed of this night all her life. Prom night became something out of a dream she was afraid to rouse herself from.

Her dress was a floor to length satin, dark emerald green just below her skin that glistened as she moved. It tucked in at her waist, flared out at the base and had a backless cut that made her feel like somebody else — somebody who was powerful, somebody who was beautiful.

Her curls were in loose waves, pinned to one side with gold clips. She lightly accentuated her hazel eyes with subtle makeup. For once, she didn't feel like the invisible girl who sat in the back of the room. She was at the bottom of the stairs, adjusting her little strap over her shoulder, when Lilith came in.

Her mother stopped mid-step. Her vivid eyes rested on Amara’s face, then traveled slowly down to the dress, then back up.

“You look … grown,” said Lilith quietly. Amara gave a small smile. “Is that a threat or a compliment?”

Lilith stepped closer. Her hand lifted, tentative at first, but it caressed Amara’s cheek. “You look so much like me when I was your age.”

Amara tilted her head. “Is there supposed to be some comfort in that?”

Lilith didn’t laugh. Her fingers found Amara’s wrist, where a thin gold bracelet suppressed the soft light she knew simmered there.

“Listen to me,” she said. “If anything suspicious happens tonight — anything — I want you to call me. Immediately.”

Amara hesitated. “Mom…”

“Promise me.”

“I will.”

“No, say it.”

Amara met her gaze. “I promise.”

Lilith's hand hung on for an instant only. Then she stepped back. “Be careful.”

“I’m just going to prom,” Amara said. But they both knew that wasn’t the whole of it.

The ballroom at the Imperial Hotel sparkled with gold chandeliers and soft pink lighting. Hundreds of glittering bodies swayed on the floor, snorting, laughing, dancing and snapping pictures they’d one day be ashamed of. Amara stood in the middle of it, her heart light for the first time in weeks.

Ethan found her easily.

He was strikingly looking in his black tux, a soft green tie to complement her dress. His smile came easily and his eyes were good-natured, the way he offered up his hand sent something rolling over in her belly.

“You’re the most beautiful girl in this room,” he whispered, as they swayed to the easy grooves of a love song.

Amara blushed. “You tell that to every girl you dance with?”

“I haven’t danced with anyone else tonight,” he murmured. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Her smile trembled.

She had pictured this moment so many times — slow dancing with Ethan, the music curving into the background, his voice soft against her ear. And now, here it was. Real.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” he added as he tugged her a little. “There is something I’ve been meaning to ask you…”

Amara raised her head to look into his eyes. This was it. The moment she had only dared to dream of.

“Would you—”

But then a bolt of fire screamed up her wrist. She went stiff in his arms as she gasped, clutching her arm.

“Amara?” Ethan’s brow furrowed. “Are you okay?”

Then came the heat again, fiercer than ever. She bit her tongue, struggling with her sobs. Her wrist was burning.

Amara bent over at the waist, one hand pressed against it through the fabric of her sleeve. Ethan’s voice hummed behind her, her vision turning black around the edges.

But then—

On the opposite end of the ballroom, students screamed as the chandeliers overhead started to shake. The earth suddenly shooked under Amara’s feet. People screamed and staggered as a crack formed in the floor. One of the columns by the buffet table split from top to bottom.

“What the hell ? ” Ethan yelled, taking her by the hand. But she couldn’t focus. Her wrist seared with agony. The warmth spread up her arm, hot and fast. Her eyes widened as her skin shimmered with a faint glow, her body responding, throbbing with something she couldn’t identify. And then someone yanked her hard!

“Amara!”

She turned in time to catch sight of her mother. Lilith’s expression was terrified, and more emotional than Amara'd seen in ages.

“Come with me. Now!” Lilith bent down fiercely as she pulled Amara through the crumbling ballroom.

“Mom—what is happening?! ” Amara gasped, struggling to keep pace. But Lilith didn’t answer. She yanked open a door and shoved Amara inside a side hallway, as ceiling tiles rained down behind them. The screams of the terrified students echoed through the thick walls as Lilith hurried her along.

They didn’t stop running. That was until they got to a shiny black car that was parked at the far end of the block. Lilith flung the door open. “Get in.”

Amara hesitated. “You’re not telling me anything!”

Lilith looked at her, eyes wide. “There’s no time for that!

And the engine howled as they roared down the streets downtown, speeding through red traffic lights, swerving to avoid shrieking pedestrians. Amara stared out the window into the city, which had always seemed too large, now folding in on itself.

A quarter of an hour later the car came to an abrupt in front of a huge, ivy-covered building, which seemed to have a date earlier even than eternity.

A library.

But not like any she had ever encountered. Lilith climbed out first. “Come.”

And Amara followed, her wrist still in his grip. The library, inside, smelt of dust and old parchment. The silence was suffocating. The small number of candles set along the walls flickered oddly.

“What is this place?” Amara whispered. Lilith turned to face her.

“Everything I’ve ever hidden from you … begins here.” Amara’s breath caught.

“I’ve done everything I could to keep you safe, Amara,” Lilith went on. “I tried my best to suppress what’s inside you. I thought — maybe — I could shelter you from it.”

“From what?!” Amara yelled.

“You’re not fully human.”

Amara’s knees nearly gave out.

Lilith stepped closer. “Your father was no one of them. He was supernatural. And whatever power he had… it’s turning up inside you.”

Amara shook her head. “That’s not—no. That doesn’t make sense.”

“You’ve felt it, haven’t you? The burning wrist. The machines breaking. Time freezing.”

Amara flinched. Lilith nodded slowly. “You think I didn’t notice?”

Tears gathered in Amara’s eyes. “You’ve been watching me like I’m an experiment.”

“I've been watching you like a mother out of her mind with fear.”

“And the academy?”

Lilith’s expression darkened. “There’s somewhere that can help. Train you. Prevent you from hurting other people — or yourself. They’ll protect you.”

“You mean hide me,” Amara spat.

“I actually mean to keep you alive,” Lilith snapped. “You saw what happened tonight. That wasn’t coincidence or just a freakish accident. That was you. Your power. And we can’t- We can’t have this. And pretty soon people are going to start asking questions we don’t want them to ask, okay?”

Amara’s jaw dropped, but she couldn’t speak. Her chest felt tight. Her throat burned.

“So you’re just throwing me out?” she whispered.

Lilith’s voice cracked. “I’m giving you a chance.”

Amara stood still. Trembling. Her mind was reeling, a thousand things flashing through at once.

And yet—

A small part of her suspected it was already decided. A bag had already been packed back at the house. The ride to the private airport was already waiting for the car. Papers signed. Passport. Ticket. Papers she’d never seen before handed to strangers with waiting hands. She wasn’t even able to catch her breath. When she got to the jet, it was night time. And six hours later—

Amara faced the Impossible Academy..Above it, the sky was gray and the air motionless and cold. Black, vine-like wrought iron covered the gates. Above, them, the academy loomed like a fortress–tall, beautiful, and menacing.

She felt a chill on her skin. She hugged her arms around herself and looked up at the huge doorway. And all the whirlwind spinning inside her — fear, grief, confusion, betrayal — rose one quiet thought in her head. That maybe.. just perhaps her life would be better here.