First Magic by Raven Steele (ebook reader screen txt) 📖

yesterday. The red, swollen edges around the wounds made them look like eyes. I quickly applied concealer. I hated the way the marks stared at me, accusingly.

I leaned back in my chair, thinking. How could I have not recognized that something was wrong with Mr. Steele? At the time I’d thought it was because of some weird attraction, but, looking back, I could see how stupid that was. For months Mr. Steele had secretly terrorized me, forcing the Light within me to mature early just so he could steal it from me like he did when he’d killed my mother.

The Light in an Aura’s blood was the one thing Vykens wanted most because it gave them many powers, including the ability to change their appearance. But Mr. Steele had underestimated my abilities. With the help of Christian, I had learned to use my ability over Light as a weapon—a weapon that ultimately saved my life.

However, my victory came with a price.

Mr. Steele had bit me, and ever since then I felt something growing inside me. It was dark and contentious, and its evil pressed on me from the inside out. I’d never felt dirtier, like I’d been touched by the worst kind of monster imaginable.

I turned away from the mirror and pulled a pink beanie over my head. Enough of the past.

I stood and was about to open my door to get May when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I glanced to my left, to the corner of the room where it was the darkest. There was nothing there, only an old dresser. I waited a second longer but nothing happened. Strange.

May opened my door, startling me. “What’s with the weird chimes?”

“I don’t know, but if I have to hear that every day, I think I’ll go crazy.”

“I know, right?” May turned to the mirror and adjusted her hair. She was wearing a different outfit—it looked brand new—and she had reapplied her makeup. She must be nervous. I never considered how hard this must be for her. She had guarded her secret of being a Fury for so long that to all of a sudden be surrounded by people who knew the truth might be overwhelming.

“Everyone is going to love you, and I’m not just saying that.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go be the new kids.”

May, with her easy-going personality, would fit right in, but I wouldn’t, nor did I care to. I was here for one reason only: to learn as much as I could about my ability, then I was out of here. I didn’t want to be a part of the Auras’ strange culture that didn’t allow us to reach our full potential. I wanted more.

We were almost to the end of the hall when a door opened and four laughing girls appeared, but when they saw us they stopped.

“Hi, guys,” May said in passing and smiled.

They said nothing, just stared like we were a new zoo exhibit. But before we turned the corner, my sensitive ears, which I’d inherited from my Guardian father, heard one of them whisper, “I can’t believe they put her in that room. I bet she’s dead by the end of the month.”