Page 18 of Alchemy of Souls

“Thank you,” I say uncomfortably, and in my rush to get out I almost walk smack into a Guardian.

No, not just a Guardian—Akari.

“Stone, Belrose,” Akari says with an authoritative tone. “We’ve been expecting you.”

I stand so straight you’d think someone pinched me. There arevery few Mages I admire in this world, but she’s one of them. My dream is to be her one day.

Akari’s tall and covered in lean muscle with black hair in a high ponytail that drapes down her back. There’s a scar running from her left eye to her jaw, and throwing daggers on her belt. She’s decked out in the customary Guardian black with leather wrist cuffs. She looks like a character from Robin Hood.

I’m fairly certain I sputter nonwords and lift my hand in an excited wave, wanting to die from embarrassment a second later.

“My name is Akari,” she says with a slight Japanese accent. “I’m the head of the University Guardians.”

Grayson flashes her his disarming smile. “It’s an honor.”

But there is nothing about me that’s relaxed. “Your—your combat skills arelegendary. You’re the single greatest ward protector, maybe ever. And you come from a Laboring family, which is—well, it’s amazing.”

Akari lifts an eyebrow and simply says, “Follow me.”

Grayson makes a sound like he choked on his own laugh, and I glare at him.

“What?” I whisper defensively.

“No. Nothing. That was smooth,” he says with a big grin, and I consider shoving him into a bush.

“You will find that the University is much more rigorous than the Academies,” Akari says with pride. “The magic here is challenging. The weaponry and hand-to-hand training are top tier. And the classes are designed to push you in every way possible.” She looks at me and then adds, “Not everyone is up to the task.”

A little piece of my pride withers and dies. She saw my entrance exam and obviously doesn’t think I deserve to be here. I doubt she’ll be the only one.

“The University was founded by the most powerful Mage in history—Aisling O’Brien,” Akari continues. “During a time when magic roamed free and Mages didn’t live behind wards. But Aisling knew that knowledge must be preserved and protected. So, she started the University, commissioning scribes to record all that was known of spellwork and the four disciplines.”

“The books Aisling commissioned—are those the ones in the Archive Room?” I ask as Akari leads me and Grayson through two enormous arched doors that open with a flick of her wrist.

The inside of the building is like walking inside a tree, the walls curving and undulating. The foyer is circular with a fanned staircase whose railings are made of twisted white vines.

“No one has been able to confirm anything about those books or that room in more than a century,” Akari says.

“Why do you think no one’s been in the Archive Room for so long?” Grayson asks.

Akari heads for the stairs, ignoring his question. “The two of you have been admitted to the Alchemy Guild. Your rooms are in the East Wing.”

Grayson’s shoulders tense—clearly he’s frustrated he’s stuck in Alchemy with me.

Akari points out the dining room and the student lounges, the training room and the weapons facility. But she doesn’t say one more word about Aisling or the Archive Room.

I keep my eyes peeled for Maggie as we make our way to the fourth floor past a group of girls in linen uniforms. They stop chatting and nod respectfully to Akari. But the moment she passes, they stare shamelessly at Grayson. He flashes them that disarming smile and I swear they all sigh, like he’s some rock star and they’re about to faint.

Even as we walk away, I hear them whispering to each other.

You know that was the Chancellor’s nephew, right?

Oh, I know who he is. And I also know this year just got a lot more interesting.

“This is your dorm room,” Akari says, snapping me out of my eavesdropping.

“Wait, did you just say room in the singular?” I ask, hoping I misheard her.

“It’s a two-bedroom suite,” she says flatly, and my eyebrows jump up my forehead. I know the Chancellor said Grayson and I would be together these next couple weeks, but it hadn’t occurred to me that we’dlivetogether.