The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 91

“Each of you,” Alves says softly, moving to the book satchel perched on the edge of the desk and pulling from it the black orb, “demonstrated an affinity for magic. I will be here, over the course of the next several months and years, to see whether or not your particular skills can be honed for the battle field or otherwise in service of the nation.”

My eyebrows go up almost to my hairline.

I mean, our moms told the three of us when we turned sixteen that the Goddess has given each of us a particular magical gift. But that is a BIG family secret, and none of us have spilled a word of it to anyone.

I’m also pretty damn sure that none of the three of us have shown any hint of it, either. Which mom and Aunt Cora said not to worry about – they didn’t find out about their own gifts until later in their lives either.

So…how the hell did the Academy find out? My eyes dart immediately to the black ball.

“Yes,” the professor says, perhaps seeing the direction of my gaze and probably everyone else’s as well. “The sphere measures magical aptitude – one of my own inventions, very useful. And while it does allow us to identify candidates who have an affinity for magic, it does not at all tell us what kind of magic that person wields. So!”

He deftly tucks the ball back into his satchel, smiling around at the five of us. “Does anyone know what they can do?”

The five of us sit in absolute silence, staring at him.

I mean.

He just very, very casually told us that we’re all magic, and that he’s going to train us in battle magic –

And even if that is maybe the coolest thing I’ve ever heard…

It is definitely a surprise.

“Oh come on,” Alvez says, coming around the desk and shocking me by casually sitting on it, tucking his leg in beneath him. “Surely one of you is aware of what you can do? Sinclair?” he says, his eyes moving immediately to Rafe.

Rafe just stares back at him, unreadable.

“I’m aware of your mother’s talents,” Alvez says with a casual shrug, which makes Rafe’s eyes narrow. I feel mine doing the same. Mom – her healing magic isn’t precisely a secret, but she’s been very careful to never specifically confirm it. “She and your mother,” he shifts his eyes to Jesse now, “were instrumental in the formation of this department! They designed it!”

My lips part in shock now. What!?

Rafe sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, glaring at the professor a little bit. And I realize that the professor is trying to get us to casually confess our mothers’ magical affinities, which we have long sworn to never do.

“Oh come on,” the professor says, looking around at all of us and laughing casually. “We’re going to have to learn how to trust each other a little more. After all, we’re going to be spending a great deal of time together. In the spirit of trust and full disclosure…how about a little demonstration.”

I look over at Rafe and Jesse, who look between each other and at me. Together, we nod.

“All right,” Rafe says, speaking for us and no bothering to consult with Jackson or the other boy, who I see scowling at the other side of our line of desks, displeased to be left out. “You demonstrate first, then we’ll…have a conversation.”

The Professor smiles at him and then pulls a large piece of candy out of his pocket – a jawbreaker, I think. “Me first,” he says, his voice low with pleasure, and then he tosses the candy into the air towards the center of the room.

We all turn to stare at it and I gasp when, suddenly – almost from the bottom up – the jawbreaker stops falling and instead just…disintegrates in the air. The very miniscule pieces of it float through the air to the ground in a fine pile of pink dust.

“Whoa,” I breathe, shocked and impressed.

“Disintegration,” the professor says with a casual shrug. “My affinity also allows me to rust things, though it’s a longer process that mostly yields the same results.”

“How do we know it’s not a trick?” Jackson asks, clearly more suspicious than me. “That the candy wasn’t going to fall apart as soon as you threw it?”

“Give me something else,” the professor says, looking around at us. “I’m an open book in this classroom – we all have to be. I promise, I’m not lying to you about my skills or what the class is for, though it might sound unbelievable now.”

“Here,” I say, ripping a blank page from the back of my chemistry notebook and balling it up in my hand. “Can I just…toss it?”

He nods to me and so I do, lobbing it high into the air.

Like the jawbreaker, the paper likewise just falls apart into microscopic pieces that drift down through the air.

“Holy shit,” Jesse whispers, watching it. “That is…incredibly cool.”

“So,” Alvez says, smiling around at us, his voice a little self-pleased. “Does anyone know what they can do?”

But we all just look around at each other, completely silent.Until the dark-haired boy on the far side of the room heaves a sigh and raises his hand.