CHAPTER ONE

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"Be scared, and do it anyway."

That's my new mantra, and I'm gonna live it and breathe it.

Because a lot of crazy shit has happened to me in the past three days.

Understatement of the century!

One day, I'm a high school drop-out barely scraping by as a waitress. The next, I'm a student at a secret college of magick.

I just got to Atlantis Academy this morning, and I've already made some new enemies, got arrested for murdering a siren—it was self-defense, I swear—and blew up the main building on campus. Oh, yeah, and... I died.

Yep. I died. My heart stopped three times, the doc said.

How's that for making a grand entrance?

But everything's fine now.

Really.

More than fine!

How could it not be?

I let out a half-crazed laugh and drop my new turquoise suitcase—first one I've ever owned—to the ground.

So much has happened, it's true... but I'm right where I've always wanted to be: in an old-growth Redwood forest in Northern California.

I can't believe I'm really, really here!

I twirl around on the path, letting out my nervous energy, inhaling the earthy, citrusy fir tree scent of the gigantic Redwoods swaying in the breeze hundreds of feet above me.

Then I fall against the nearest one, trying to catch my breath, and press my hand into its soft reddish bark, careful to avoid the spiderwebs crisscrossing it.

I close my eyes and send all my love through my palm and into the tree. A rush of happiness and love come back to me, along with the high-pitched vibration of the beautiful magick the Redwood trees hold.

"Ah." I let out a contented sigh as my nerves settle down.

Magick is real, and I get to use it. I just gotta learn how to use it in a way that doesn't kill people... including myself.

Simple, right?

It better be... 'cause if I don't pass the Entrance Trials, the Academy will hand me back over to Cerberus Supernatural Law Enforcement agents so they can execute me for murdering a siren.

Can't have that.

"Start before you're ready," I whisper, repeating Chloe's words of advice yet again. "Be scared, and do it anyway!"

I can pass the Trials, and I will.

'Cause I'm an Atlantean, and I belong here.

I smile and let out a loud whoop.

Something rustles to my right.

My hands fly to the straps of my backpack, and I go still, peering into the enormous ferns that carpet the forest floor.

An animal? Probably just a rabbit... Nothing ominous in here, right?

It sounded a lot bigger than 'just a rabbit,' Lyric.

Shut up, brain.

It's suddenly way too dark in these woods.

I shiver, dart another look around, and grab my suitcase.

I'd better get to my room. Chloe said there's an opening ceremony I have to attend tonight. My ADHD will make me late, if I let it.

Not this time.

I start jogging, but as I turn the corner, the dirt path abruptly ends.

I'm deep in the forest now, nothin' but Redwoods and ferns as far as the eye can see. Goosebumps pop up on my arms again, and I glance around, feeling like I'm being watched.

Don't be silly.

There's no one here but me. But there should be, shouldn't there? Where are the cabins and the other students? There's no sign of civilization.

And yet... I still don't feel alone.

Something catches my eye—a slight shimmer in the air in front of me.

Hmm.

Shimmering air, a telltale sign of magick. At least I know that much now. I take a careful step back, and the shimmering stops.

A wooden pole pops into existence outta nowhere, and I let out a gasp.

"What the...?" I warily take a step closer.

The pole's about my height—five foot five—and it looks like it's been carved from an old, twisted tree branch. There's a small, clear glass globe, about the size of my fist, perched on top, and just beneath that, someone's carved an eye into the smooth wood. Looks kind of like an Egyptian hieroglyphic.

I'd say it was weird, but then, everything about Atlantis Academy has been weird so far.

I glance around again, feeling amused. Where's the wizard who lost his staff?

Wait. Do wizards exist? I seriously don't know what's real and what isn't anymore.

I let out a sigh. "Hello, wizardly staff. Do you happen to know where I'm supposed to go next?"

"What?" someone snaps.

I nearly jump outta my skin, dropping my suitcase in the process, whirling to find the source of the voice.

Nothin' but trees and ferns all around me.

I swallow hard as I turn back to the pole, staff, whatever it is. Maybe someone's out there, beyond it, in the thick brush ahead? I take a hesitant step past the pole into the thigh-high ferns, hoping I don't collect a bunch of bugs in the process.

Or get murdered.

I've come too far to die like this.

"Uh-Hello?"

A terrible whooshing sound screams past my head.

I slap my hands over my ears and leap back onto the path, my heart thumping wildly in my chest.

"That was very rude. I did not say you could pass."

I shriek like a three-year-old, but I think it's justified. There's a giant green eyeball staring at me from the glass globe.

The eye blinks.

"Are you...?" I lick my dry lips and lean closer to the pole. "Are you..." I whisper, feeling like an idiot, "um... talking to me?"

"Of course I am!" The woman's voice erupts from the pole again, sounding irritated.

"Um..."

"Well?" Eyeball Lady blinks again.

"Um... I'm trying to find my cabin, but the path ended. Is this like... a... concierge, er, phone or something?"

"Concierge? I am everywhere. I am everything," she says haughtily. "I am no concierge."

"Then who are you?" I blurt out, getting annoyed.

"Who are you?" The pole sniffs with its nonexistent nose. "Who are any of us?"

Is this a riddle? "Uh—"

"Don't bother answering that. You have not been granted access to my metaphysical records."

Ohhh-kay. "Look, I'm just trying to find my cabin. Do you think you could tell me—"

The pole clears its throat, interrupting me. "Somehow, you seem to truly not know who I am. This is unacceptable. I am Aes Isly af'Aetlyntis. But you may address me as 'FAE.' Capital F. Capital A. Capital E."

I blow out a breath. "I'm sorry, FAE. I'm a little new to all this. So you... work here?"

"Work here? I am the Atlantean Archivist! I am the eminent historian and your guide on this base. All information resides within me. I am the source of Everything. Of all records in the Archives. Of all the answers you seek."

The Archives? It suddenly dawns on me. "Oooh. Like Atlantean Google?"

The eye widens, then blinks out of existence, leaving me staring at the forest's strange, upside-down reflection through the globe.

"FAE?"

No answer.

Did I offend her? Dammit. I just keep making enemies here, don't I? Is she some kind of artificial intelligence robot or something? Even the Atlantean robot hates me now.

"FAE? I'm sorry... I didn't mean that. Like I said, I'm new here... I didn't know. I'm really sorry if I said something wrong. FAE?"

I have to apologize three more times before her green eye reappears.

"Alright." She finally says with a sniff. "I forgive you."

"Thank you," I try not to look too amused, but she's kind of ridiculous. "So... I think I might be lost."

"Lost, yes. Or clueless. Probably both. Luckily, you've found me."

So prickly, this... device. I suppress another smile. "I'm supposed to be attending an opening ceremony tonight and then training for the Entrance Trials. I need to find my cabin. It's in the Grove of Wisdom, I think. Can you help me find it?"

"Mmm. Yes," FAE says. "You are already in the Grove of Wisdom. And as I said, I can help you find anything. As long as you have the correct clearance, of course. Which I doubt you do, because anyone with the proper clearance to be here already knows who I am."

"I think I do have the clearance to—"

"Where's your key? I must see your key in order to allow you to proceed to your cabin. If what you're saying is true." FAE's giant, creepy green eye begins to dart around. "Well? Where is it?"

I can't hold back my giggle any longer. Who made this thing, and what drugs were they on?

"What's so funny?" FAE asks indignantly.

"Nothing." I bite my lip and hurriedly check my backpack.

Chloe said my key was in the front pocket, and it is. I was picturing a house key, but it's a white metal card with the school's logo on one side, instead.

"I haven't got all day." FAE snaps, sounding way more annoyed than a service robot ever should.

I hold the card up quickly, so that the shimmery silver Metatron's Cube is facing her eye. On the opposite side, there are a few mysterious shapes, and my name and room number are beneath that, in a fancy script.

Lyric Ava Hart, A-12.

"I do not need to see The Atlantis Society's logo," FAE says tartly. "I know where we are. Unlike you. What I need is your name and room number."

I try to keep a straight face as I quickly turn the card over.

"Thank you." The eye lights up, becoming brighter, until the entire globe turns a solid shade of emerald green, and the eye disappears. "Welcome, Lyric Ava Hart," FAE says, sounding much nicer now. "You may proceed to your cabin."

I let out a quiet sigh of relief as the air shimmers in front of me, revealing that the path actually continues on.

But I've reached a fork in it.

"Which way do I go now? Left or right?"

"Students should arrive at their temporary lodging prepared," FAE says sternly. "You should already know which way to go."

I open my mouth to say something rude about her usefulness, but a huge map pops up in front of me, and I let out a squeak of surprise instead.

The map's semi-transparent—I can see FAE through it—and as I squint at it, the shapes and words seem to dance across it.

I blink, suddenly feeling nauseous and super dizzy.

"Whoa." I catch myself on the pole, and as I do, a slight electric shock races through my brain. Ouch!

I back away from FAE, pressing my fingers to my temples, rubbing them. Did she just shock me... on purpose?

Note to self: Stop pissing off the robot!

My vertigo fades just as quickly as it came on, and I take another step back so I can study the map safely.

The bottom corner says, "The Grove of Wisdom," and there's an enormous, irregularly-shaped lake at the center called "The Lake of Twenty-Five Thousand Lovers."

Ha. Sounds naughty. Or like the plot of a murder mystery involving—

"You are here," FAE says.

A golden "X" pops up at the bottom of the map, and then a matching glowing line weaves its way around the lake until it arrives at a bunch of small circles marked "A." A green dot at the far end of the cluster is blinking: "A-12". My cabin, apparently.

There are a few more marked clusters around the lake—they must be the other cabins—and at the far end, a large circle is labeled "The Gathering Hole."

I think they meant "Hall." Unless the Gathering Hole is where the twenty-five thousand lovers put their—

"Do you need something else?" FAE asks impatiently.

"Nope. Thanks, FAE." The sun peeks out from behind the clouds at that moment, lighting up the forest, and I grin.

That's my sign to get moving.

I grab my suitcase and shove my key card into my pocket. The map vanishes, and I carefully step around the pole. As I start down the path, a breeze picks up from behind me, bringing FAE's parting words along with it.

"Enjoy your stay with us in the Grove of Wisdom. Please be advised: There is no swimming in the Lake of Twenty-Five Thousand Lovers."


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