Learning has never been this deadly.
There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships, save strategic ones.
The rules are deceptively simple: Dont walk the halls alone.
Credit: Beth Gwinn/Penguin Random House
And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere.
El is uniquely prepared for the schools dangers.
It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school.
Penguin Random House
Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students.
I hadnt really cared much about him before then one way or another, but I had limits.
Orion Lake, my personal bodyguard; I could have lived with that.
Well, too bad for the losers who couldnt stay afloat without his help.
Were notmeantto all survive, anyway.
The school has to be fed somehow.
Ah, but what about me, you ask, since Id needed him to save me?
And thats exactly why he had to go.
Our rooms arent very big.
He straightened and wiped an arm across the sweat.
You okayGal, right?
he said to me tiredly, just to put some salt on the wound.
Wed been in the same lab section forthree years.
His head had jerked up and he was blinking at me in a sort of open-mouthed way.
he said, voice rising on the words, as if he didnt understand what was going on.
No, no, I said.
Clearly Im not performing my role up to standard.
I threw a melodramatic hand up against my forehead.
Orion, I was so terrified, I gasped breathily, and flung myself onto him.
He tottered a bit: we were roughly the same height.
I stepped deliberately on his foot and jammed my elbow into his stomach and shoved him off.
He made a choked noise like a whoofing dog and staggered back to gawk at me.
I dont need your help, you insufferable lurker, I said.
Keep away from me, or youll be sorry.
I was so angry that it took me six tries to get a spell for cleaning it up.
I dontwantto conjure walls of mortal flame!
I want my bloody roomclean!
Im sure theywouldhave cleaned my room if I told them to.
That sort of thing is always happening to me.
