Mixed—Chapter four: The spell

My Luminor throbbed in my pocket, restless, flickering colors no one should see. 

The laughter and murmurs swelled until the doors at the end of the hall creaked open.

Professor Lenira Thale swept in, her robes smudged with ink stains, spectacles slipping down her nose. Her sharp green eyes scanned the room once, and the noise died instantly, as if someone had pulled the air out of the hall.

“What,” she said, voice calm but cutting, “is the meaning of this?”

Seraphina straightened in her seat, cheeks still red, lips pressed tight. The other perfect-bloods ducked their heads, suddenly absorbed in their food.

Professor Thale’s gaze flicked to me. Not angry. Not approving. Curious. Almost… knowing.

“Ryder,” she said, adjusting her glasses, “your name seems to be on quite a few tongues tonight.”

Heat crept up my neck. “Just… dinner, ma’am.”

Her eyes lingered, searching, then softened into the faintest smile. “Then let us keep it that way. Eat, all of you. If you must duel, you will do it properly in my classroom tomorrow—not in the dining hall like rabid children.”

A ripple of nervous laughter broke the tension. Students bent back to their meals, pretending nothing had happened.

Professor Thale turned on her heel, robes whispering against the stone floor. But as she passed my chair, her hand brushed the back of it.

Softly, too soft for anyone else to hear, she murmured:

“Be careful what you reveal, Ryder.”

Then she was gone, leaving the warning heavier than Seraphina’s glare.

The scrape of wood on stone cut through the chatter. Seraphina shot to her feet, her braid snapping behind her like a whip. She slammed her palm down on the table beside my tray, dishes rattling from the impact.

“What was that about, Ryder?” Her voice was sharp enough to draw every eye back to us.

She leaned closer, eyes burning gold, her hand darting toward my pocket. Toward the Luminor pulsing against my thigh.

Before I could react, Kael’s hand shot out, smacking hers aside with a crack loud enough to echo. “What are you doing?” he growled, scowling at her.

Gasps rippled across the hall.

Seraphina’s stone gleamed in her palm, light spilling between her fingers as her fury surged. The glow grew brighter, hotter, painting her face in angry gold.

I pressed my hand against my pocket, feeling my own stone tremble, shifting restless colors beneath the fabric. My heartbeat thundered in my ears.

If she touched it—if she saw—

The entire hall seemed to hold its breath.

“You’re lucky I don’t ask Ryder to blow your head off,” Kael said, voice low and dangerous, his scowl making the table fall quiet.

Heat crawled up my neck. My face went pink; everyone remembered the time I’d lost my cool—how I’d shouted a spell that could’ve blown a person’s head clean off before Professor Thale stepped in and disabled it. I’d spent months dodging whispers about “that day.” I didn’t want to be remembered for it again.

Seraphina’s stone gleamed in her palm, light spilling between her fingers as her fury surged. The glow grew brighter, hotter, painting her features in angry gold. Her mouth snapped shut; she looked furious—humiliated and furious both—and for a moment the perfect-blood composure cracked.

I pressed my hand against my pocket, feeling my own Luminor tremble, colors shifting beneath the fabric. The hall seemed to hold its breath.

Kael tapped his chin, smirking like he’d just thought of something clever. “How’d you say it again? Oh right—EXPLOSIONAS!” He threw his arms wide, laughing.

It was a joke. Everyone knew it.

But sparks snapped into existence around Seraphina’s head, crackling like a fuse had been lit.

My eyes widened. No, no, no—

“Watersacosis!” I blurted, flinging my hand toward her. A wash of shimmering blue magic surged, snuffing out the sparks before they could ignite.

The hall gasped in unison.

Seraphina’s braid had come loose, strands of hair falling across her face. Her golden Luminor still glowed in her hand, but her eyes… her eyes burned hotter than the magic ever had.

She wasn’t humiliated anymore. She was furious.

I let out a shaky sigh and dropped my head onto the table, the wood cool against my forehead. “Kael,” I muttered, voice muffled, “you almost killed her.”

Across from me, Kael sat straighter, his expression caught somewhere between disbelief and pride. He turned his stone over in his hand, the glow pulsing faintly.

“I did magic…” His voice trembled with excitement. Then louder, like he needed the whole table to hear it: “I did magic only Ryder and sixth-years can!”

He gripped his Luminor tight, eyes wide with awe.

Whispers flared instantly, like dry grass catching fire. Students leaned in, glancing between us, between Kael’s glowing stone and mine hidden in my pocket.

Seraphina’s glare burned holes through me, her golden light still simmering between her fingers. But for the first time, it wasn’t just me under her scrutiny.

Now Kael was in it too.