The dorm door clicked shut behind me without a sound.

I moved through the academy's shadows like I'd been born in them. Eastern path. Past the training yard. Cut behind the storage sheds where the patrols never looked. Every route memorized, every timing calculated.

The night air was cold against my skin. The woods beyond the wards hummed with old magic, a low thrum that vibrated through the ground and up into my bones.

I kept my pace steady. Quiet.

The last thing I needed was to draw ...