At least the pup felt comfortable navigating the school and finding his way back.

In the meantime, Florence was desperately fighting her conscience. We weren’t supposed to keep pets so she was breaking the school rules. But since she was a warden she was also getting away with it–for now. Some of the other students had glimpsed the fluffin. They’d kindly offered their silence...in exchange for the occasional chance to cuddle with the adorable creature.

Florence was basically offering bribes in the form of fluffin snuggles.

But I wasn’t about to point that out to her.

While Florence had gone off to the library, Naveen had gone to practice in one of the training yards.

But just in case one of them decided to walk in, I’d pushed a heavy chest in front of my door.

The ritual had to be performed at night, under the open sky, and in a place of ancient power.

I already had a place in mind. I’d use the Dragon Court. There was no doubt it was a place of power. The sculptures seemed to have been standing there for centuries. Not to mention there was a grove of trees there and part of the ritual involved using the earth.

The Dragon Court was usually empty during the day time. I was sure it would be completely quiet at night. No chance of interruption.

Then came the ingredients.

One was easy. I needed to use some of my own blood. Blood was the essence of the living soul. It served as the basic conduit for breaking the bond within me.

The next was a little more tricky. I needed the blood of someone I either loved or hated. It had to be a strong emotion. I only needed a few drops, but apparently the connection was key.

“Love and hate are the only emotions potent enough to fuel such a dangerous spell,” the ritual text read. “They are the emotions that bind souls, making them the only ones strong enough to undo such bonds.”

I already knew who I had to use. There was only one obvious solution. Blake Drakharrow. I hated him.

I might have tried to use Florence but our friendship was still fairly new. I wasn’t sure if what I felt for her as a friend would count as a strong enough emotion.

I also didn't want to involve her in this in any way. So Florence was out.

Getting Blake’s blood might have been a problem, but I’d thought of a possible way to do it.

Lastly, there were two ways the ritual could be cast.

One involved an anchor. The soul would enter an inanimate object and be bound to it until such time as the anchor was destroyed. Orcades could live for hundreds, even thousands of years, if she entered an anchor.

The downside to casting the ritual this way was that the caster could inadvertently become consumed by the emotion from the second conduit’s blood, potentially transferring not just the soul they wished to expel, but part of their own essence into the anchor.

The other way did not involve an anchor. It was also safer for the caster.

I’d thought my mother would prefer the option with the anchor but to my surprise she chose the latter.

Now there was just the matter of getting my hands on some of Blake’s blood.

Oh, and the tiny little issue of my technically not being able to do magic at all.

I’d basically failed all of Professor Wispwood’s tests. That would have been enough to discourage most people from attempting what was probably one of the most difficult spells in existence.

The ingredients might have been basic, but the power required to make everything work was not.

And if I messed this up, the results could be disastrous. According to the book, a number of things could happen in the event of failure to cast the spell properly:

I could die. That was simple enough.

Or, my soul could be snuffed out. That was a different kind of death. My body would live on, but my mother would be in control. She’d basically get a second chance at life. I guess it was an outcome many highbloods would have loved.

Yet here I was, feeling fairly confident I’d be able to cast this thing successfully. Maybe it was arrogant of me to put so much trust in the very soul that had invaded me, but I didn’t really see how I had any other choice.

I might not have had magic but Orcades did. She’d been incredibly powerful once. Now she’d promised me she’d put everything she had into helping me cast the spell successfully.

A few hours later, I slipped out of the First Year dormitory and made my way towards the arena.

At night, the school was quiet and bathed in torchlight.

When I reached the arena, there were no torches to light the rest of the way. Instead, moonlight cast an eerie glow over the huge colosseum, lending it a silent, foreboding air.

I walked slowly down the tiers of stone, my eyes scanning the ground in the center for any glint of light.

When I reached the bottom, I crouched low, moving from platform to platform, searching in between the wide cracks in the stones for the prize I hoped to find.

An hour later, I was sweaty and annoyed but I’d finally found it.

Coregon’s dagger. The one he’d used to stab Blake. It was wedged between two stone platforms, much farther from the center where the fight had been than I’d expected. I’d been able to remember Blake kicking it off the platform and seeing it flying through the air that day, but not where it had landed.

I still couldn't believe Blake had given up the dagger in the first place. He’d taken a risk, choosing to fight Coregon without the weapon.

I picked up the blade carefully. The hilt was coated in dried blood. Blake’s blood.

For a moment I wondered why Coregon had chosen the dagger. It was clearly not the finest weapon. Tarnish covered most of the blade in an ashen sheen. Faint writing snaked along the length of the blade but I couldn’t make out more than a few letters under all the discoloration.

I looked around the arena. For a fleeting moment, I considered doing the ritual right there. It was certainly a place of power. I could feel the abiding presence of violence all around me.

But something about the arena felt wrong for this kind of magic.

I tucked the dagger beneath my cloak and left the arena behind, making my way to the Dragon Court.

The towering stone dragons took shape in the distance, their silhouettes stark against the moonlit sky.

When I arrived at the courtyard, it was as empty as I’d hoped.

I felt more at ease here. The grove that lay behind the red dragon seemed the perfect place, powerful and primeval.

I stepped into the space between the trees, my breath steady but my nerves already on edge.

Kneeling down, I pulled out the dagger, then two books. One I’d stolen from Rodriguez. The other I’d taken out of the Bloodwing library. It contained a simple spell to turn solid matter into liquid.

I flipped it open, then whispered the short incantation. I could feel Orcades presence swell inside me, lending me her aid.

So close, my darling. You're doing well, she whispered, her voice skimming across my mind like the gentle touch of fingertips.

I was hit with a sudden wave of loss.

Was this really what I wanted? I had never met Orcades in life. Never seen her face to face. Now my mother was present, within me, every day. She was full of power, not to mention a surprising amount of wisdom.

I’m not sure we're doing the right thing, I whispered back, a lump stuck in my throat. Maybe we should put this off for a while. We have the book now. What’s the hurry?

No. Her voice was surprisingly firm. We’re doing what we must. A pause. Please don’t misunderstand, my love. I have no wish to leave you. But this union of souls... It’s wrong. I see that now. It’s endangering you. And I would never want that, Medra. You deserve to live a long and happy life. As for me, I could never be happy living with the fear I might be threatening you somehow, child.