The Great Hall buzzed with the usual dinner conversation, hundreds of voices blending into a symphony of clinking silverware and laughter. I sat at the far end of the Omega table, picking at my modest portion of roasted chicken while trying to ignore the pointed stares from nearby tables. The princes occupied their usual spots at the head table, elevated above the rest of us like kings surveying their domain.
Luna slid into the seat across from me, her tray laden with what looked like enough food for three people. "Sorry I'm late," she whispered, adjusting her glasses nervously. "Had to help Professor Whitmore reorganize some ancient texts."
I nodded absently, my attention drawn to movement at the head table. Kai had risen from his seat, his golden hair catching the chandelier light as he whispered something to Damien. Whatever he said made the prince's jaw tighten, though his expression remained coldly neutral.
"Aria," Luna said, her voice oddly strained. "I brought you something special tonight."
She lifted a crystal pitcher filled with what looked like ice water, tiny silver flecks swirling through the liquid like captured starlight. "It's infused with lunar herbs," she explained, though her hands trembled slightly as she held it. "Supposed to help with... recovery. After difficult training sessions."
The pitcher wavered in her grip, and I reached out instinctively to steady it. "Luna, are you—"
The crystal slipped from her fingers.
Time seemed to slow as the pitcher tumbled through the air, its contents arcing toward my plate in a glittering cascade. The liquid hit my food with a splash that sent droplets across my dress, my hands, my face.
The cold was shocking, but it was nothing compared to the fire that erupted across my skin moments later.
Pain blazed along my arms where the water had touched, angry welts rising like I'd been burned by acid. My face felt like it was on fire, and when I touched my cheek, my fingers came away wet with something that might have been tears or blood.
"Silver dust," someone at a nearby table said with barely contained glee. "She mixed silver dust in the water."
The Great Hall erupted in laughter. Students turned in their seats to get a better view, phones appearing to capture my agony for posterity. The sound echoed off the vaulted ceiling, a cacophony of cruel amusement that made my ears ring.
Luna's face had gone pale, her eyes wide with what looked like genuine horror. "Oh no, oh no, I'm so sorry, Aria! It was an accident, I swear, I didn't know—"
But her protests were drowned out by the roar of entertainment around us. At the head table, Kai was practically glowing with satisfaction, his amber eyes bright with malicious joy. Damien's expression remained impassive, but I caught the slight upturn at the corner of his mouth—the barest hint of approval.
"Clumsy little Omega," called out Seraphina from the Alpha table, her voice carrying clearly through the din. "Can't even handle a simple dinner without making a mess."
I pushed back from the table, my chair scraping loudly against the stone floor. The welts on my arms throbbed with each heartbeat, and I could feel more forming where the silver-laced water had soaked through my dress to my skin underneath.
Through the haze of pain and humiliation, I caught sight of Theo at the head table. While his companions reveled in my suffering, he sat perfectly still, his green eyes fixed on his own hands. As I watched, he pressed his palm against what looked like a small cut on his knuckle, and golden light flickered between his fingers for just a moment. When he pulled his hand away, the wound was gone.
Healing magic. Theo had healing magic, and he was sitting there doing nothing while I burned.
The laughter followed me as I stumbled from the Great Hall, Luna's voice calling after me with apologies that sounded increasingly hollow. My reflection in the tall windows showed angry red welts across my face and neck, marks that would take days to fade completely.
In the corridor outside, I finally allowed myself to lean against the cold stone wall and catch my breath. The silver had done its work—my skin felt raw and hypersensitive, every nerve ending screaming in protest.
"Pathetic," I whispered to myself, echoing Damien's words from the ceremony. Maybe he was right. Maybe this was exactly what I deserved.
***
Sleep proved impossible. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Luna's face—the shock and horror that had seemed so genuine, followed by those stammered apologies. Had it really been an accident? Or was my only friend at this academy just another player in their elaborate game of torment?
The welts on my arms had faded to angry pink marks, but they still throbbed with each heartbeat. I gave up on rest around midnight and slipped from my dormitory room, padding barefoot through the empty corridors.
The academy felt different at night—less imposing, somehow more honest in its shadows. Moonlight streamed through tall windows, casting everything in silver and black. My feet carried me toward the gardens almost without conscious thought, drawn by some instinct I couldn't name.
The garden gates stood open, wreathed in climbing ivy that rustled softly in the night breeze. Ancient trees created pockets of deeper shadow, their branches reaching toward the full moon like supplicant arms. The air smelled of night-blooming jasmine and something wilder—pine and earth and the distant promise of rain.
I found the bench almost by accident, tucked away in a secluded corner where the formal garden paths gave way to something more natural. It was carved from a single piece of white stone, its surface worn smooth by centuries of weather. But it was the symbols etched along its edges that made me stop and stare.
Crescents and stars, intertwined with flowing script that looked exactly like the drawings I'd made unconsciously in Professor Whitmore's class. My fingers traced the carved lines, and something deep in my chest resonated like a struck bell.
I sank onto the bench, tilting my face toward the moon. Its light felt warm against my skin, soothing the lingering ache from the silver burns. For the first time since arriving at Bloodmoon Academy, I felt something approaching peace.
The full moon hung directly overhead, so bright it cast sharp shadows across the garden. I stared up at it, feeling an inexplicable sense of... recognition? Belonging? As if I were looking at something that had been waiting for me my entire life.
A twig snapped somewhere in the darkness beyond the garden path.
I turned, scanning the shadows between the trees, but saw nothing. Still, the feeling of being watched prickled along my spine like a physical touch. Someone was out there, hidden in the darkness, observing my midnight wandering.
"Hello?" I called softly, not wanting to wake the entire academy.
Silence answered me, but the sensation persisted. Somewhere in those shadows, eyes were fixed on me with an intensity that made my breath catch. Not predatory—not like Marcus or the other bullies—but something deeper. Something that felt almost like... longing?
I remained on the bench for several more minutes, acutely aware of my unseen observer. The moon continued its slow journey across the sky, and gradually, the feeling of being watched faded. When I finally rose to return to my dormitory, the gardens felt empty again.
But as I walked back toward the academy's towering spires, I couldn't shake the certainty that someone had been there. Someone who knew exactly who I was and why I'd been drawn to that ancient stone bench beneath the full moon's light.
