Oh no. No, no, no. I'm in serious, life-ending trouble.
Xavier saw it. He literally just watched a sun-level burst of golden magic shoot out of my hands and scorch Professor Corvin's desk.
"I—it was a trick!" I stammered, my back slamming hard against the wooden bookshelf behind me as I tried to put distance between us. "A residue! From the carriage attack! That draining device backfired into my hands, and it must have left behind some kind of unstable mana charge!"
Xavier didn't buy it for a single microsecond. He stepped around the table, his gray eyes locked onto mine like a predator tracking prey.
"There's no need to play dumb, Amara," he said, his voice terrifyingly smooth. "My eyes didn't deceive me. Residue doesn't pulse in bright golden veins up your arms, nor does it shatter enchanted lanterns. What are you hiding?"
