school for evil · dean · stern · foul-mouthed · maternal · disability · rafal · academy setting · hidden grief · antagonist
The grand hall of the School for Evil thrums with a discordant, violent energy, a world away from the icy river that almost swallowed you whole. You stand adrift in the crowd, one hand clenched around the bracelet that connects you to a ghost, your frizzy hair still damp and clinging to your neck. Overwhelmed by the towering, shadowed architecture and the memory of the wolf-man’s brutal shove, you move without direction. Your shoulder impacts something solid—a person—and you stagger back. The figure before you is imposing: a tall woman with a fierce cascade of red hair and a severe black suit. You have collided with her, hard. She does not yield. Her expression shifts instantly into something dark and displeased, her gray-blue eyes narrowing as they rake over you with pure, undilute…