Ben sweeps me up a few staircases, away from the rest of the boys, and he really does take a minute


    to show me the incredible library that takes up arge portion of the top floor – presumably on the other


    side of our rooms. I gape around at it inplete awe.


    I mean – we have a pretty impressive library in the pce – but this? The arching ceilings are almost


    entirely made of ss, like the entire space was once one giant. greenhouse or something. The stacks


    are all tall and white, reaching so high I can’t believe they don’t topple over, with these gorgeous brass


    ladders steepled all over them.


    Obviously, all I want to do for the rest of the day is wander around picking out a stack of books and


    sinking onto one of the plush velvet chairs with them, but Benughs, leading me away to my chemistry


    ssroom with plenty of time to spare.


    As we walk, I smile at him even as he nces at his map, trying to find the right halls. Because as


    much as I know he’s dying to ask me what’s going on with Luca, he’s also sensing that it’s somehow


    private, and that I’m not ready to go there yet.


    Unlike Jesse, who I know will tease me mercilessly and press me for details the moment he gets a


    chance, Ben lets me have my space.


    And so as we arrive at the door to my ss, I take a minute to bump my shoulder into his what I’m


    coming to learn is the manly version of a big hug. “Thanks,


    Ben.”


    “Anytime, Ari,” he says, grinning at me. And by the crinkle around his eyes, I can tell that he


    understands that I’m thanking for him for more than the escort. “Good luck in there,” he says, nodding


    towards the ssroom.


    I bump him again, and he grins at me before heading down the hall.


    When I step inside, I’m surprised both by the smallness of the ssroom and by the fact that I’m….


    Alone.


    I stay perfectly still for a second, the two boys who are already in the ss turning to look at me.


    68%


    I mean, it’s not that I’ve never been alone before…


    But, I mean, have I?


    I have spent my entire life in thepany of my family, watched and guarded. Even when I’d go to


    sleepovers they’d send a guard or two along to stand outside of the house.


    But now…


    “Are you staying or going,” a deep, bored voice asks, brushing past me into the


    room.


    I stumble a little – he didn’t hit me or anything. I was just…surprised.


    I watch with interest as the tall man sweeps to the front of the room, putting his book down on the ck


    desk at the front, raising an eyebrow at me. He has dark hair, just going grey at the temples, and a long


    crooked nose.


    I smile, liking him instantly – I don’t know why. Nothing about him screams nice, but…I don’t know.


    I like him too, my wolf says tilting her head with interest, and I stand up straight, trusting my instincts.


    “Staying,” I say. “Sorry,” I apologize,ing into the room more fully now and taking a seat at an empty


    table.


    The professor nods and looks down at his book, flipping through the pages.


    —


    I sit a little awkwardly, not knowing what to do. I mean I recognize the two other cadets already in the


    room, and the five more who filter in after. They were all candidates with me. But what Ben saidst


    night holds true


    Rafe and Jesse, they


    really did do a good job of isting me away from everyone else.


    I have no idea who any of these people are.


    “All right,” the Professor says, marching to the door and mming it shut, twisting the lock and striding


    back for the front of the room, all business. “Wee to the Espionage Track. I’m Dr. Neumann, I will


    be your advisor and your professor of Chemistry.”


    We all sit up a little straighter then, I think anxious and eager to impress. He smirks a little at us, not


    unkindly, and thenunches into a speech about what we’ll be expected to do here. My eyes go wider


    and wider as he speaks, detailing the


    incredible amount of information that we’ll be expected to learn in a very short amount of time. I jump


    when he takes a textbook from below the desk and drops it on the table in front of him, the text making


    a huge thwapping sound.


    “This is the first of your four textbooks for this course. I will expect you to be proficient in all of the


    information contained within this text by the time the holiday break rolls around.”


    Holiday break? We….we have those?


    “Those who do not seed…” he says, his voice slowing now as he looks around at all of us, “will not


    be epted back next term.”


    I breathe in sharply. What?


    “This is in addition to the school’s standard cuts at the end of the first semester,” Neumann says,


    looking around slowly at all of us, and the other students all flinch and begin to murmur. I look around,


    confused and a little upset –


    Further cuts – god, I’d forgotten all about those –


    Neumann’s eyes focus on me now, perceiving that I ampletely lost. “In case some of you are


    unaware,” he says, his voice dry, “which is…frankly abundantly clear from some of your expressions,


    Alpha Academy cuts a further 40% of its entering Cadets at the end of the Examination.”


    I go pale. What? What?


    40%!?


    What the hell is this Examination!? Why didn’t Jesse and Rafe say anything!? “What I am attempting to


    exin to you,” Neumann continues, “is that Espionage cuts on top of that. If you pass the Examination


    but fail your Chemistry exam? You’re out. The rates for continuing in Espionage are the most


    He pauses to consider, perhaps doing the math.


    “Somewhere between two and three of you.”


    My breath freezes in my chest. What. What?!


    “Of course,” he says with a bored sigh, “there is no reason why all eight of you could not make it if you


    were the most spectacr iing group of young cadets the school has ever seen. I would just…not


    expect it to happen.”


    Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    He takes a moment to look each of us in the eye, and I don’t miss it when he lingers longest on me.


    67%


    “You will be trained for other affinities within Espionage with other professors, but all of you will meet


    here three times a week to study with me. You will be examined in your other affinities as well and will


    be required to pass those examinations too. You will also need to be fit enough to pass the


    Examination, which will be your own responsibility. I suggest you each work very hard. That being said,


    if any of you do not believe yourself up to the task, you may apply to switch to the…Ambassador


    Track.”


    But the distaste with which he says the word suggests to us that to do such a thing would be a great


    step down in the world. My heart twists for Ben, who is already there. All of the young men around me


    straighten their shoulders, and I see that each is determined to try.


    Neumann takes another moment to look us all over, not inviting questions but leaving the space open


    in case any of us have anything burning we need to ask. And even though questions race through my


    mind, I press my lips together in a firm, determined line.


    I can ask Rafe and Jesse for answers to thoseter. Now? Now I need to listen.


    “Good,” Neumann says, nodding, and then he reaches below the desk again, pulling out a stack of


    notebooks and pens. “Hand these around,” he says, offering them to the young man closest to him,


    “lessons begin now.”


    As Neumann speaks I scribble furiously in my notebook, taking down everything he says because I


    don’t yet know his teaching style – is he the kind of professor whose lessons you pour over again and


    again in an attempt to memorize his wisdom? Or is he more of a guide through the field, supporting you


    as you your own pace? I’ve had both kinds of teachers – but until I know his style? I’m writing down


    everything.


    learn at


    The pages are soon filled with a wealth of information, and even though I’m intimidated, by the end of


    the ss I’m also incredibly excited about what toe.


    The lesson n that Neumann has sketched out for us by the end of the semester we’re not going to


    refresh our understanding of the basics of Chemistry, but we’re also going to understand the chemical


    compositions and the mechanics. of how to create twelve subtle poisons that he understands as the


    basic toolkit of any self–sufficient shadow agent.


    Those poisons, he promises, will be the basis of our examination at the end of


    term.


    My hands are almost shaking with nerves and excitement when we close our notebooks at the end of


    the three–hour ss. I slip my pen into the notebook, clutching it to my chest as I get in line with the


    other students picking up my textbook at the front of the room.


    When Neumann ces it in my waiting hand, he smirks when I almost drop it, my eyes going wide at


    the surprising weight. “Going to have to work on that, Cadet,” he murmurs. “If you can’t carry the book,


    how can you expect to carry the


    knowledge?”


    “Well, it will weigh a lot less when it’s all in my head,” I murmur, lifting the book more firmly into my


    arms as I turn away.


    To my surprise, Neumannughs, and he nods to me as I nce over my shoulder on the way to the


    door. When I trip over a desk because I’m not looking where I’m going, he justughs again good–


    heartedly, hanging his head a little with a sigh and


    a smile.


    I dart into the hall, embarrassed but smiling.


    I probably shouldn’t be as surprised as I am when I walk immediately into my brother, basically


    bouncing off his chest.


    “Ari,” he says, frowning down at me. “What the hell is going on with you?”