You have? Now, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I mean, despite what the Director said, having an undeclared vampire running loose around campus had to raise some flags.

Jinx crossed her arms. “What about me?”

“And you are?” the centaur asked with little interest.

“Jinx.”

She arched an eyebrow. “That’s it? No last name?”

Jinx shrugged. “Jinx. Just Jinx.”

The attendant huffed. “Fine.”

The centaur woman pulled out a sleek, glowing tablet and swiped through it, her expression shifting. “Huh.”

I could tell that the tablet she used was wired differently than the ones I’d encountered before. I had a hunch that the students’ devices had less capabilities than that of the faculty.

While I was mildly surprised at just how easily I was able to discern the differences between the classes of magitek, my ability to read the energy flows did open up some interesting career paths. Magical Vampire Hacker anyone? Yes please.

“Huh?” I echoed. “What kind of ‘huh’ is that? Good huh or bad huh?”

“Well, it looks like there’s been an error. The scanners weren’t able to pick up your full signatures when you approached.” She indicated the crystalline structure on display before us. I saw other would-be students walking up to the devices and a wave of energy played over them. I hadn’t noticed anything like that when we arrived.

Jinx frowned. “What do you mean? Isn’t this thing supposed to be, like, flawless?”

“Normally, yes. But the halo crystals have been -let’s say, glitchy- lately. It’s been causing problems with identification.”

I frowned. “So… what, don’t we put our hands on that glowing relic thingy and have it tell us our fate?” I pointed at the crystal device.

The Centaur let out a soft chuckle. “Nothing that crude. The moment you entered the Great Hall, the system should have read your aura and sorted you accordingly.”

“Then what are those?” I asked, still pointing.

“Those give you a readout of your results,” she said primly.

“Okay. And?” I prompted.

She turned her tablet toward me, though I couldn’t see the screen. “For example -when I look you up, Declan Dark, I get your vital statistics. But for race classification?” She paused. “It says… undetermined vampiric clan. Unknown bloodline.”

I went still.

Jinx’s eyes darted toward me. “Wait… what?”

My stomach twisted. “What do you mean unknown?”

Jinx leaned in, peering at the tablet the Centaur held up. “What’s so weird about that?”

The Centaur scrolled through the display. “Well, your stats are all here -height, hair color, eye color, age- basic telemetry that any good system can determine.

“Normal stuff,” I clarified.

She nodded and turned the tablet back to tap on it. “But under species, it lists ‘Vampire.’ And then…” She hesitated before reading it aloud. “‘Subspecies: Unknown.’”

Jinx tilted her head. “That is weird.”

I arched a brow. “Why?”

“The houses are pretty well-delineated,” Jinx said, frowning. “I mean, it’s not like you can just be a vampire without belonging to a bloodline. You have to fit somewhere.”

The Centaur nodded. “Exactly. I’ve never seen an ‘unknown’ classification before. At least, not for something as defined as vampirism.”

“Well, you did say the system was glitchy,” I pointed out. “Could that be it?”

“Maybe,” the Centaur admitted. “If the system’s lagging, it might just need more time to process your results. Have you two taken a tour yet?”

Jinx and I exchanged a glance. “Uh. Not officially,” I admitted. “We kind of made our own way.”

“Figures,” she muttered. “Alright, here’s what I suggest -you join one of the tours. By the time they bring you back to the Great Hall, the system should have had enough time to debug itself, and if necessary -complete a second scan. That should give us your proper classification.”

Jinx sighed but nodded. “Fine.”

I gestured toward her. “What about her? What’s it say for Jinx?”

Jinx perked up. “Yeah, you know -just out of curiosity.”

The Centaur checked. “It lists you as human.”

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Jinx nodded as if she expected that. “And?”

“Well, humans can only be here if they’re Awakened -meaning, you have some kind of magical inclination.” The Centaur scrolled further. “But for some reason, it’s listed as Undetermined.”

Jinx stiffened. “Undetermined? What does that mean?”

The Centaur shrugged. “Could mean your magic isn’t strong enough to classify yet. Or maybe it’s something subtle.”

Jinx’s face darkened. “Oh, I know why. It’s because my talent is useless.”

I scoffed. “Useless? Since when is magic useless?”

Jinx sighed, exasperated. “I talk to animals. I’m a Beastmaster, or whatever. Not a fan of the term, but that’s basically it.”

“That’s awesome,” I said, deadpan. “Super useful.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. It’s low-tier magic. Probably didn’t even register at first.”

Jinx spun on her heel and stalked away. I hurried to catch up, weaving through the press of students. “Hey, Jinx! Slow down.”

She didn’t stop, but her voice was clipped. “What?”

“You really think your ability is useless?”

She let out a bitter laugh. “I know it is.”

“It doesn’t seem useless to me,” I said, doing my best to come off as earnest, but not so much as to be suspicious. “I can think of plenty of ways to use it.”

“Oh yeah?” She shot me a sidelong glance. “Alright, genius. Hit me with one.”

“Well, you can talk to any animal, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So… can you talk to humans?”

She frowned. “No, because humans aren’t animals.”

I smirked. “Are you sure?”

Jinx groaned. “Oh my God, Declan.”

I chuckled. “Look, I saw how you handled yourself in the club. You’re downplaying what you can do. I bet if you applied yourself, you could do a lot more with it.”

She slowed her stride, mulling it over. “Maybe.”

“See? Now you’re thinking like a Munchkin.”

“A what?”

“A power gamer,” I said. “Someone who min-maxes everything in a game to make sure they squeeze out every possible advantage.”

She smirked. “You were one of those guys, weren’t you?”

“Still am,” I said, my chest puffed up like a bird on display.

Jinx huffed a laugh, then reached out and grabbed my arm. “Fine. You’ve cheered me up. Maybe I do need to start min-maxing my ability.”

“Damn right.”

Jinx tilted her head toward the courtyard. “Oh look -there’s a tour starting. Let’s go.”

She approached the group of students just as the tour guide, a lanky Fae’Ri with luminous silver eyes, was about to begin.

“Hey,” Jinx said. “Mind if we tag along? We were told to hop in with the next tour.”

The guide glanced at us, then smiled. “Sure thing. The more, the merrier.”

As the tour guide wrapped up her introduction, she smiled brightly. “And once we’ve completed the tour, we’ll return to the Great Hall, where you will be assessed and assigned to your respective houses based on the results.”

Jinx leaned in and muttered sarcastically under her breath, “Ooooh, be judged…” Pushing against me suggestively.

I snorted. “Sheesh, I’m listening.”

With a laugh, she looped her arm around mine, giving a brief, affectionate squeeze before the tour officially started.

The guide led us through the heart of the university, taking us past each of the seven major houses -Fae’Ri, Djinn, Demons, Angels, Shifters, Vampires, and Humans. Each area had a distinct energy, an undercurrent, that shifted as we passed.

Then came the important landmarks: the Imaginarium, the Hall of History, various academic buildings, training grounds, the library, and the mess hall -which, from the hushed whispers around us, was apparently the place to be.

You have no idea, I thought as I smiled at the murmurs. That place was incredible.

When the guide rattled off another list of locations, I raised a hand. “What about the comm system? Someone mentioned a way to leave messages for other students?”

She gave a polite nod. “Ah, yes, the communications system! You’ll gain access once you’ve been officially assessed and assigned to a house. That’s when you’ll receive an ID, which will let you send and receive messages across the network.”

I sighed. “So no quick texts just yet. Got it.”

“Any more questions?” she asked, glancing around. When no one spoke up, she continued leading us along the enchanted pathways, directing our attention to the various landmarks of the sprawling campus.

Despite the sheer amount of ground we covered, none of us felt particularly tired. The pace was unnaturally smooth, almost effortless. I frowned and raised my hand again. “Uh, how exactly are we traveling so fast? Either this place is a lot smaller than it looks, or something weird is going on.”

The guide let out a silvery laugh, a sound like chimes in the wind. “Oh, that’s just one of the joys of walking the pathways. They don’t just take you to your destination, they take you there in the most efficient way possible. For instance, because this is a guided tour, we’re moving at an accelerated rate -faster than if you were exploring on your own.”

I blinked. “Wait. So… like, space is folding or something?”

She grinned. “Something like that. But don’t worry -that lesson will be covered in one of your classes.”

“Ah,” I said. “The ol’ ‘explain it later’ strategy. Classic.”

She simply smiled and moved on, resuming her role as the ever-cheerful tour guide.

The entire mood shifted when we passed by the Vampiric House. A group of students loitered outside, and among them, a striking figure turned her head in our direction, immediately honing in on me like a predator scenting prey.

She stalked toward us with an air of easy confidence, her lips curving into a slow smirk. “Fresh blood,” she purred, her voice rich with amusement. “New blood. Excellent.”

Jinx tensed beside me as the girl -Priscilla, according to the murmurs around us- closed the distance.

“My, my,” Priscilla cooed, giving me a long, appraising look. “Aren’t you something.”

Jinx’s eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?” I could practically hear her hackles raising.

Priscilla ignored her completely, lifting her chin slightly as if catching a scent in the air. Then, with a look of exaggerated disgust, she wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, foul” she drawled. “I wasn’t talking to you, pest.”

The barely concealed insult landed hard. I saw Jinx stiffen, but she didn’t seem to fully grasp its meaning. I did. And something in me, something new and hungry, bristled.

I took a step forward. “Do you have to be such a bitch?” My voice was calm, almost casual, but the words carried weight.

Priscilla’s eyes darkened. “Did you just call me a-”

“Yeah, sorry, was that unclear?” I tilted my head. “Should I enunciate? Biiiitch-”

A slow smile spread across her face. “Oh, I like you.” Then she leaned in, her voice dropping to something dangerously sweet. “But let’s get one thing straight, new blood.” Her fingers trailed down my sleeve before she pulled back with a smirk. “I am the queen bitch around here. And it would do you good to remember that.”

She turned on her heel, sauntering back to her group of fellow vamps. Over her shoulder, she called, “I’ll be seeing you soon, darling. Once they assign you to your proper place.”

Jinx exhaled sharply. “What the fuck was that?” I could hear her racing pulse. And the heat she was emitting was undeniable.

I ran a hand through my hair. “No idea, but I’d rather not find out.”

“She was such a bitch.”

“Yeah. No arguments there.”

Jinx folded her arms. “And what the hell did she mean about me? That whole… ‘foul’ thing?”

I frowned, not yet ready to cross that bridge. “Not sure. But I didn’t like it," I lied.

Jinx scowled, her expression troubled as the tour continued.