on it, streaks of color began to move through it.
“Give it a try,” she encouraged, holding the dropper over Tristan’s hand. Squeezing a tiny bit out, she then instructed him to blow on the solution, and it spiked with color just like before.
“Your turn, sweetheart,” Ms. Audrina said pleasantly, motioning for me to extend my arm toward her. Realizing there wasn’t much I could mess up with the simple trick, I didn’t even think twice.
My hand was warm in hers when she held it, placing the dropper over my open palm. She squeezed the rubber end gently, and a tiny drop of the liquid fell to my skin. Only, there were no bright, vibrant colors swirling around. There was only smoke.
“Ow!” I cried out when the pain shocked my system. It stung so badly I recoiled right away, accidentally knocking my box to the ground with a loud crash.
Every eye in the room was suddenly on me.
My entire body ached for several seconds, and then only the ugly burn I now had on my hand. It was the size of a quarter, and as the edges of it sizzled, I panted. It was all I could do to keep from crying.
What was that? Why had what seemed like a simple trick just about blinded me with pain?
Ms. Audrina had initially been frozen in place by the reaction, but when her eyes locked with mine, and she saw how tears had begun to well in the corners, she rushed to my side.
“Whoops!” she said with a casual smile that lightened the tense moment. The next second, I was taken by my shoulders. “We’ll just go to the sink and rinse that. Tristan, would you be a dear and pick up the items that fell?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, springing into action right away.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered as we walked toward the front of the room.
“Oh, stop it,” Ms. Audrina smiled. “Things happen.”
Cool water ran over my hand and I winced. I appreciated her for not making a big deal out of this, but I think we both knew something wasn’t quite right. When dropped onto my skin, the otherwise harmless solution was suddenly weaponized.
The faucet turned off and she towel-dried my hand. The pain had begun to fade, but it would have been gone altogether if I’d been allowed to heal myself. However, as a young witch with burgeoning powers, I wasn’t supposed to be able to do that yet. So, I downplayed my abilities, and continued to play the helpless roll for fear of drawing more unwanted attention to myself.
Ms. Audrina placed her hand over mine and did the healing spell I could have done on my own.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
Luckily, the class had mostly refocused on their boxes, but we certainly had Tristan’s attention.
“Can I ask you something?” I finally forced the words from my mouth.
“Of course. Anything.”
I glanced right, noting again how Tristan stared, although he couldn’t have heard the conversation.
“What was in the vial?” There was a small part of me that didn’t really want to know.
Without meaning to, Ms. Audrina gawked at me like a science experiment. I knew the look well, because I’d gotten it a lot in high school once Blythe started spreading the word about me. She treated humiliating me like a full-time job with benefits, making it her business to tell our peers how different I was. How unstable I was. But that’s the downside of a friend becoming your worst enemy; they know all your secrets.
“Well, it’s a combination serum,” Ms. Audrina explained, “but because I mixed it myself, I know it’s base is pretty simple.”
My heart raced, but I needed to know so I could research why I’d had such an adverse reaction to it. “Okay, well if it’s not a secret, do you mind sharing?”
She gave a nod, and after breathing deeply, her gaze met mine. “There’s a little wildroot sap, and various natural extracts, but the main ingredient is pretty straightforward,” she informed me. “It’s wolfsbane.”
Well, I suppose there was no need for an investigation after all.
Even without peering into a mirror, I could imagine my face was red with embarrassment. This was not how I hoped my first ever class at the academy would go—and in front of Blythe, no less.
This was, unfortunately, a snippet of what my entire life had been like.
A witch susceptible to wolfsbane, and all-around walking contradiction of magic.
Welcome to the freakshow.
Chapter Six
Noelle
A month on the island was long enough to settle into