She stood from her desk and led the way to the door.

  “Head Healer,” I began, staring at the folders with a sense of dread. “I don’t know how to use my gifts yet, you saw what happened in Maddox’s exam…”

  Rezinax held open the door. “You have a full year to develop your gifts. Neither of your cases is going anywhere.”

  I followed her down the ward. We passed a row of coat hooks on the way and she waved a hand wordlessly at the lone lab coat waiting there, taking the hint I quickly shrugged it over the top of my blazer. There was embroidery over the front pocket, and I struggled to read the curling script. It was my name, then underneath, ‘Tyro, Level One’.

  “But what if I screw up?”

  She gave me a stern look. “The patients volunteered. They were approached over the summer when we learned of your gifts and they have both signed waivers freeing the college from liability. Should you manage to harm them further, you will obviously be removed from the course.”

  How desperate must these people be, I wondered, to sign away their lives as a college project.

  She opened another door, marked with brass letters as ‘long term patient housing’ and led me down to the last two doors. Opening one she ushered me inside, a professional smile appearing on her face as she showed me into the room.

  It was quite a nice room, well laid out with a sofa, a bed and a bathroom attached. Though the colour scheme was a typical plain magnolia, the curtains were a rich cherry colour, and the bed was made up to match. All around the room were small personal touches, photographs and books adorned every free space, giving it a homely feel despite it being part of the infirmary.

  The unshown who greeted me was laying in a bed surrounded by cushions. Despite her immortality, I could tell she was old, her eyes held a weight of experience that threatened to drown whoever looked into them. Even though she was supposed to be ill, she still smiled kindly as we entered. “Healer Rezinax.” She made an awkward nod of her head. “Is this the young one using me as a test dummy?”

  “This is Tyro Carazor.” Rezinax approached the woman as she introduced me, sparing only a brief glance at the chart above her bed. “How are you feeling today, Mrs Oxomoda?”

  “In pain, but you knew that already.” She shrugged very slightly. “It’s why I’m here.”

  I could see she was in pain, it was written in every line of her body, and I knew what Rezinax wanted me to do. “You want me to take her pain away,” I guessed under my breath. “Head Healer, I’m not sure…”

  “Tyro Carazor is my newest student.” Rezinax cut me off. “She has a pain gift. It is my hope that she will be able to take away the source of your fibromyalgia.”

  The worst thing about her announcing it so bluntly was the hope with which the woman then looked at me. “Tyro Carazor, I am in your hands.” She inclined her head towards me slightly.

  “We have another patient to see, Mrs Oxomoda, but we might be back later. Is there anything you need to be more comfortable?”

  The older woman shook her head, leaning back against the pillows. “I will just try and get some sleep,” she mumbled to herself. “Sleep is so very hard to come by these days.”

  When we left her room, Rezinax went straight into the one opposite. It was almost the twin of the room we’d just been in, only instead of an elderly person in a bed there was a young Wrath demon sat on a chair. Behind him a large mirror took up a lot of the wall and I noticed how starkly bare his room was in comparison to the one we’d just left.

  “This is Mr Gozi of Wrath,” Rezinax told me. “He was committed into our care by his family for a panic disorder. He experiences several panic attacks every week and his condition has invariably given rise to periods of severe depression and anxiety. Mr Gozi, this is Tyro Carazor.”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr Gozi.” I tried for a friendly smile.

  He smiled back, but I could tell it was forced. The man looked tired as he surveyed the two of us from his seat, his deep-set eyes taking in my presence.

  “Your pathokinesis provides an opportunity for you to work with us in helping people with serious mental health issues.” Rezinax informed me. “Given the potential in that gift alone, I have decided that should you only manage to help Mr Gozi, I will allow you to pass the course, but your overall grade will be capped at the minimum pass mark.”

  She was serious. She wanted me to use my two completely untested gifts to try and help actual people when I didn’t even know what I was doing.

  “My life is in your hands, Tyro.” Gozi’s dark eyes told me he didn’t have any more faith in my ability to help him than I did.

  My eyes traced his form, the torpor in every muscle in his face gave him a bit of a vacant look, and I felt stirrings of alarm as I saw the scar marks that covered his bare forearms. Each cut was tiny, straight and lined up with others, all purposefully made.

  When Rezinax took us both out of the room, I slouched against the wall.

  “Head Healer,” I mumbled. “I think you have the wrong girl. I’m… Those people need someone qualified, not a student stumbling around in the dark.”

  Rezinax nodded. “I agree. So, you’d better shape up because they’re your responsibility now. You are the head of their cases and their nurses will answer to you.”

  I shook my head, irritated that she was ignoring what I was trying to say. “I can’t do this.”

  “You want to dishonour those patients’ choice to let you try by giving up before you’ve even begun?” Rezinax snapped. “Grow a pair, Tyro Carazor. You don’t quit this module, you either pass or you fail. And, for their sakes, I hope you get a grip and pass.”

  I bit my lip and nodded. “I’ll… I’ll go and study the files.”

  “The student office is next to mine.” Rezinax’s tone had softened only marginally. “Don’t try to hide away in there. You need to check in on your patients at least once a lesson, although you have permission to enter the ward at any time, day or night. In the pocket of your coat there is a pager, replacement batteries for which can be found in the student office, the nurses will page you if your patients take a turn for the worse at any point. Although it’s unlikely to happen for each of your patients, I’d suggest you get used to having it for next year when you’ll be assigned more urgent cases.”

  I couldn’t believe the amount of responsibility she was pressing onto me, or the calm certainty that she seemed to have in my woefully underdeveloped gifts.

  “They’re under your care until they are cured, you fail, or the year ends without you making any progress.” She carried on, blithely ignoring my panicked expression.

  I took several deep breaths, then nodded, even though she couldn’t see me from her position several steps ahead. “Yes, Head Healer.”

  She left me at the office, and I entered to find the other tyros sitting at desks. There were four empty desks, and I chose one off to one side.

  Time crawled by as I read through each file and tried to figure out what half of the medical jargon meant. When I asked an older year for help, I got a look of contempt so chilling that I apologised and turned back to my own work.

  I didn’t go to dinner at all – much to the disgust of Onyx and Ivory – instead I simply transferred myself and all my books to the library. It was practically empty at the beginning of term, and Mrs Mogg, the librarian, was only too happy to help me try and search for more books about my gifts.

  But there were so many gifts, and they were all so rare to begin with that finding specific records about any of them was an achievement. Unsurprisingly, very few people had ever tried using odynokinesis to heal, and records of the bearers were mostly just handwritten accounts of their ferocity in combat. Pathokinesis was almost non-existent, a gift so rarely seen that the few instances where it popped up just told of people with a calming presence or the ability to rile a crowd.

  It wasn’t as though I’d expected to find a full instruction manual – though it would have been nice – but I had expected there to be more. The longer I stared at the dusty old books the more overwhelming the whole thing seemed, until I realised I had been re-reading the same paragraph for a full hour.

  I stretched and yawned, and my stomach chose that moment to make it’s presence known with a loud grumble. My imps must have been hungry as well because they wasted no time in raiding the vending machine. Together we munched through a steady stream of chocolate bars and crisps as I continued my search. I’d expected Onyx and Ivory to disappear as soon as things got boring, but instead they started reordering the books on the shelves where Mrs Mogg was working. I had to work to prevent myself from collapsing in fits of silent laughter as the librarian huffed and tried to reorder her precious shelves, slowly becoming frantic as the imps became more and more disruptive.

  When the library closed, ten minutes before curfew, Blaze was waiting outside for me. In one glance, he saw the look on my face and pulled me into a hug.

  “I don’t know if I can do this.” His chest muffled my words, but he still heard them.

  “You can,” he promised me, holding me for a long time and letting the warmth of him and the steady beat of his heart calm me down. “Come on, you’ll be out past curfew if you stay here.” He stroked my shoulders as he reluctantly released me.

  “Both Hadrian and Rezinax want me to use that gift on actual people.” I shuddered. “Yes, Rezinax wants me to do the opposite, but what if I just hurt my patients more? Hadrian said he would kick me off the course if I didn’t show improvement by next lesson… How am I supposed to improve without hurting anyone! What if I put more people in the infirmary?”

  “You won’t. Directing your power is about intention, and you would never intentionally hurt someone unless it was your last resort.”

  I rubbed my eyes, the long hours spent pouring over books making them ache.

  “I have Maddox’s class tomorrow morning. Hopefully he’ll have some miracle solution to all of my problems.” I seriously doubted it, but I held out hope just the same.

  “It’s only the second day of teaching. If you were meant to figure it all out straight away, you wouldn’t have a full year ahead of you.”

  I mused over his words as we got closer to the tower. “I never asked how your chess match went.” I realised with a grin.

  “Your assassin is mad,” Blaze grumbled under his breath, a frown marring his features. “He threw away nearly all of his pieces till he only had his king, his queen and a handful of pawns, then took my queen with only one pawn, and my king with another.”

  “But he’s still alive, right?” The disturbing thought that I hadn’t heard from Enzo since that match niggled its way into my brain.

  Blaze rolled his eyes. “Despite both of our best efforts, we survived the experience.” A long pause. “Next week I plan to win.”

  I laughed in relief. “I’m sure you will.”

  “Bane had Leonie send some food up to your room,” Blaze said as I reached the door. “The others were worried about you, as well, so I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more of them was up there.”

  I smiled kissed him softly. “Thank you for always listening,” I whispered.

  “Any time.” He stroked a hand softly against my back. “Sweet dreams, Sweetness.”

  Chapter 9

  When I walked into Maddox’s class the next morning, prepared to disappoint him the way I had Rezinax and Hadrian, there were four other people standing with him around his desk. Unlike Hadrian’s class, Maddox’s advanced lessons were still divided by year group, so it was only me, Bane, Daron and Grayson, the boy gifted with audiokinesis, who turned up.

  “Welcome, second-years!” Maddox called, interrupting one of the people on his left. “Do come up to the front and meet your mentors for the year!”

  We obediently shuffled forwards, eyeing the people before us warily. It wasn’t until I recognised Ruelle Ixia, the Wrath Elder, that I relaxed slightly.

  “I will be teaching you every other week, but your mentors have similar or complementary gifts that will assist you with training your own powers.”

  “Grayson, you’re with Tenji.” Maddox drew imaginary lines in the air between the audiokinetic and a casually dressed man. “Bane with Lucinda.” He waved Bane towards a pretty brunette who smiled at him in a way that made my jaw clench. “Daron with Lukas.” Daron’s mentor had large, tortoiseshell glasses and long, pretty hair with streaks of blonde. “Lilith with Elder Ruelle.”

  I looked over the powerful elder as she approached me with a gentle smile. Her long hair fell in perfect waves down her back, and her dark eyes twinkled as she nodded to me just deep and long enough for me to know she was discretely bowing.

  “We’ll be using the practice pit,” Maddox announced with a big grin on his face. “I’ll lead the way for those who’ve never been here before!”

  Ruelle and I hung back, following at a pace where the others wouldn’t overhear.

  “It is good to see you again, my lady,” she greeted me, her tone almost anticipatory as she looked me up and down. “Are you ready?”

  I didn’t really know how to tell her how bad I was, so I decided to nod anyway.

  “You don’t have to worry,” she reassured me. “Maddox told me you’ve been struggling with coming to terms with your gift… I personally think he’s had a stroke of genius inviting me to help you.”

  I nodded absently, but I wasn’t really listening. Instead my eyes were fixed on Bane and Lucinda and the too familiar way they were walking beside one another. They were smiling and laughing and, as I watched, she moved right into his personal space and he... didn’t move away, instead tucking her in under his arm.

  My hands fisted at my sides. Who was this woman? And how did she know Bane?

  “My lady?” Ruelle had obviously asked me a question, and I did my best to look contrite.

  “Sorry, I got distracted.”

  “I was asking if your main problem is that you fear hurting people when you practise?” She repeated patiently, stroking a curl of hair behind her ear.

  I nodded, jostling my imps who clutched onto my hair to remain on my shoulders. “Well, obviously. I used it once and the victim was in the infirmary for days.”

  “You won’t have that problem when you train with me.” She adjusted her robe. “I have replicakinesis, the ability to make body doubles of myself. They have the five senses, and will react to your power, but they are not sentient or truly alive. I will create one and you can practice on it.”

  I sighed out a giant breath of relief. “You have no idea how amazing that is to hear,” I admitted. “Hadrian threatened to kick me off his course if I couldn’t use my powers by his next lesson.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Hadrian.” Ruelle frowned, staring ahead at the practice pit. “Perhaps he thought it was necessary to motivate you.”

  “Can you help me with the other part of my gift?” I asked. “Pathokinesis?”

  Her shoulders slumped slightly, and her reply was hesitant. “I will try, though I admit I know nothing about it. One gift at a time, however.”

  I agreed, nodding before following Maddox down into the practice pit. When we were standing on the crisp gravel, Onyx and Ivory left my shoulders and started a competition, building tiny rock towers by my feet.

  The other four pairs moved away from us, and Ruelle took up a position beside me, extending her hand outwards. Power flooded from her fingertips like a mirror spreading out from the point where her hand was. A carbon copy of her, from the clothes she was wearing to the way her hair was tucked behind her ear, formed before my eyes, eyes fixed blankly on a space in front of me.

  I stepped forward, reaching for the double before I could help myself. I stopped just before I would have touched it, looking back to Ruelle for permission.

  “Go ahead,” she encouraged. “It’s just a soulless, empty shell. A body with blood and nerves but nothing upstairs. I control everything about it and it will disappear when I wish it to.”

  I touched the fabric of its clothes, lifted its arm and watched it fall back into place.

  I grinned back at her. “Your gift is amazing.”

  “So is yours.” She waved a hand airily at the replica. “Give it all you’ve got. It will react as a demon would, but you’ve seen it, you know it isn’t real. I want to see what you can do.”

  I glanced around at the rest of the class who were mostly still in discussions with their mentors. Bane and Lucinda were sat next to one another, in deep discussion over a daisy poking up through the gravel. Their heads were almost touching as they talked in low voices, and the longer I looked at them the more it felt like I was watching something intimate that I wasn’t supposed to see.

  I distracted myself with work, reaching inside myself, to that dark place I’d found in the desperation of Maddox’s practical exam. I coaxed the power out, allowing it to burst out of me towards the replica.