Chapter 17 · Dropped Into Witch Academy at Midnight - Chapter 17: The Real Midnight Summoner

The duel circle smells like burnt iron and old blood.

I'm standing in the center of it. My boots stick to something dark on the stone. The whole academy is watching from the tiered seats above. I can feel their eyes, a thousand of them, waiting for me to pull off another miracle.

I've got nothing.

Across from me, maybe twenty feet away, stands a girl who looks about nineteen. Long black hair. Pale skin. Smile like she knows exactly how I'm going to die.

She's the real Midnight Summoner.

I know because the moment she stepped into the circle, every torch in the arena went out. Then they came back on, burning cold and blue. My breath misted in the air. In June.

"Alex Morris," she says. Her voice is soft. Almost kind. "I've been looking for you."

I don't answer. My throat's dry. I'm still wearing the academy uniform but it feels wrong now, like a costume I stole.

Cassandra's standing at the edge of the circle. She's not allowed to interfere once the duel starts. Her face is blank, that ice-queen mask she wears when she's two seconds from snapping someone's neck.