I sat silently, watching as the new students trooped into the Grand Hall for their welcome speech and initiation.
The massive chamber was already filled with noise, laughter, whispers, the rustle of cloaks, and the faint echo of footsteps against polished black marble.
This was my last year at Nocturne Academy.
My father had promised that I would find both amusement and answers to my questions here.
Yet now, standing on the edge of graduation, I realized something unsettling.
I still hadn't found any answers.
The worst part was that I wasn't even sure what I was searching for.
The thought irritated me more than I cared to admit. My fingers tapped slowly against the dark oak table in front of me as the hall continued to fill with noble heirs and magical prodigies.
"Nik!"
Someone shouting my name snapped me out of my thoughts.
My eyes slowly shifted toward the caller, focusing on him without immediately responding.
"What do you think about the new students joining us this year?" Sebastian asked as he dropped into the chair beside me, resting one casual arm across the back of my seat like he owned the place.
I shrugged nonchalantly.
"The same as before," I replied flatly. "Nuisance."
Sebastian chuckled under his breath, clearly unsurprised by my answer.
"Will you finally choose your team?" he continued.
"You know this is our last year here. We need our teams ready before graduation."
My expression darkened immediately.
"I'm not choosing any team," I responded sharply.
"Teams are for pussies. I don't need help, neither do I need someone buzzing around me, constituting a nuisance. I can handle my own business."
The subject alone was enough to irritate me.
Sebastian sounded exactly like my father and my older brother, always pushing the same notion that every Vampire Lord must have a team.
But why?
Who even made that rule?
My irritation threatened to spill over, so I reached for the goblet in front of me. The thick crimson liquid inside shimmered under the candlelight.
Blood.
I took a slow sip before placing the cup back on the table, forcing my nerves to settle.
My gaze drifted back toward the incoming students.
Just like every year.
A parade of royals relying on their noble lineage to gain entry into Nocturne Academy, despite possessing little real talent. At this rate, the royal courts across the supernatural world would soon be flooded with incompetent aristocrats who had nothing but their family names.
Sebastian's mischievous eyes never left my face. His smile grew wider, almost knowing.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
Whenever Sebastian looked like that, it usually meant trouble.
I swore silently that if he even suggested I attend one of his ridiculous seduction classes again, I would murder him right here in the Grand Hall and be done with it.
"Relax, cousin," he said lazily. "One would think you are constantly plotting murder with the way you brood all the time."
His smirk widened.
"They wouldn't know that you don't plot murder, you only execute it."
I raised an eyebrow.
Was that praise?
If it was, it wasn't entirely unpleasant.
"Let's hear it," I said flatly. "What do you want?"
"Well," Sebastian said casually, leaning back in his chair, "it's not what I want."
"It's what your father wants."
That immediately got my attention.
"I heard him speaking with my father during the holidays," Sebastian continued. "He said that if you don't assemble your team before the end of this session, he plans to extend your stay here at Nocturne Academy."
My goblet froze halfway to the table.
"What?"
My voice dropped dangerously low.
Sebastian merely shrugged.
"We have a deal."
"A deal which you are not keeping your end of," he added. "I suggest you take this year to pick out your team. How hard can it be?"
He waved a dismissive hand.
"You can pick them. Nobody said you must actually use them."
I exhaled slowly.
The thought of being forced to stay in this academy longer than necessary was unacceptable. If choosing a useless team was the only way to leave this place, then perhaps it was worth considering.
Fine.
I would pick a team this year.
Not because I needed them.
But because I wanted my freedom.
Just then, Darius, my best friend, walked into the hall and headed toward us.
His bright blond hair caught the light from the enchanted chandeliers above, practically glowing. As usual, several girls around the hall were already swooning at the mere sight of him.
Darius responded with playful winks.
Typical.
He was a notorious ladies' man and a shameless player. During our first year alone, he had broken more hearts than most people collected trophies.
Every girl he dated swore he loved them.
Every one of them believed they would spend the rest of their lives together.
It had been a chaotic era.
You would think the girls, and even the few foolish boys, would have learned their lesson by now.
Apparently not.
I shook my head slightly as he approached.
"What are you two talking about?" Darius asked, dropping into the empty chair beside us.
"About Nik picking out his team," Sebastian answered.
Darius snorted immediately.
"That is never happening. Next topic."
His eyes remained fixed on the main entrance of the hall as he spoke, clearly more interested in the incoming students than our conversation.
Something about his certainty irritated me.
Was I really that predictable?
"Who is that?" Darius suddenly muttered.
Then he whistled.
Both Sebastian and I turned toward the massive doors of the Grand Hall.
Two girls had just walked in.
The effect was immediate.
The hall grew quiet.
The chatter faded as dozens of eyes turned toward the entrance.
One girl had bright blonde hair that shimmered like sunlight. The other had long, midnight-black hair that flowed down her back like dark silk.
"The Siren twins," Sebastian said.
My eyes snapped back toward him.
"Nerissa and Calypsera," he continued.
"They are as different as day and night."
He gestured toward the blonde.
"The blonde one is Nerissa. She carries the beauty and the voice. It is said that her song can overturn an entire city."
Then he gestured subtly toward the dark-haired girl.
"But Calypsera… not so much."
Sebastian shook his head.
"She's mute."
My eyes returned to the twins.
"There was a rumor," Sebastian added, lowering his voice slightly, "that she once possessed the voice of a goddess. The most powerful siren song ever known."
"But something happened."
"And she stopped singing."
He laughed quietly.
"Imagine how powerful she would be if you had her in your team… if that voice really existed."
His eyes remained fixed on her as he spoke.
"But you know what they say," he added dismissively. "Rumors are usually just feeble tales women create in their free time to entertain themselves."
"Lies packaged as truth."
Among all the new arrivals today, faes, werewolves, vampires, witches, and countless other magical beings,.none of them had caught my attention.
Until now.
This was the most interesting arrival of the day.
And for some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off the dark-haired siren.
Calypsera.
She had stopped walking.
And at that very moment, her gaze lifted.
Our eyes locked across the Grand Hall.