I stood on the walkway that led from the street sidewalk up to the front porch and cleared my throat. “Thank you to everyone who has come here today to celebrate my Ascension, and this new chapter in House Medeis’s history.” My voice was loud, and I kept my expression fixed and stoic.

“I am so happy that, after the many trials and tribulations that have fallen on House Medeis since my parents’ death, the time has finally come for me to claim my birthright and bond with House Medeis in this Ascension ceremony.”

There were a few guilty looks in the crowd after that—particularly from the Curia Cloisters reps—good. They deserved to feel guilty.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to announce a change I intend to implement to House Medeis.”

That got everyone’s attention. I hadn’t told anyone besides Felix and Momoko what I had planned.

Both of them innocently watched me while the other House Medeis wizards stirred, exchanging lowered whispers and furrowed brows of confusion.

“For years House Medeis has had a culture of peace…and passivity. We generally do not train with our magic outside of school, and we do not train to fight at all.” I paused, meeting the gaze of my senior wizards. “That is a policy we will no longer follow.”

The lowered murmurs became explosive exclamations—mostly among the audience. (The House Medeis wizards seemed preoccupied with gaping at me in shock.)

“Instead, we will train our magic and our bodies. We will become proficient at fighting—not so we can conquer or act as tyrants, but so we can defend, and so we can protect.” I felt some magic slip past my control and make my wizard mark flare. “What has happened to us this year will never happen again. And as long as I breathe, I will see to it that it happens to no other wizard House.”

The silence was deafening.

I could almost taste their rejection, and they didn’t even bother to hide the scowls, shared looks, and elbow nudges.

The House Medeis wizards looked like miserable sheep clustered together, frightened and alone.

This was the right decision. Watching them only reinforced that.

The extreme to which House Medeis had taken our desire for peace made us rot from the inside out. We would still be peace-loving and kind—but rather than passive, our kindness would be ruthless.

I smiled.

It didn’t matter who doubted us, or even if House Medeis ended up hating me as the Adept.

I cared about my family, and I’d do whatever I needed to, to make sure that next time we’d be strong enough to hold on to what was important.

“Thank you for listening,” I finished. “I will begin the ceremony.”

Alone, I walked into the House and climbed the staircase up to the third floor.

The House was silent, and even though I wore the signet ring, it didn’t react to me.

I made my way to a small closet stuck between two doors in the top hallway, revealing a ladder nailed to the wall.

I climbed it and pushed against the wooden trapdoor at the very top, which opened up into the tallest turret in House Medeis.

The turret was open air, circular, and small enough that a really tall human could almost stretch their arms from one side to the other. The only thing in the tower was a stone stand, and a globe of blue magic laced with veins of gold—the House Beacon.

The globe was the center of House Medeis, and the source of all its power.

To complete my Ascension, I had to push the ring into the globe and place my hands on it, solidifying my connection to the House.

I set the trapdoor back in place and edged around the Beacon so I faced the street—and all of House Medeis.

I saw a few people point, then wave to me.

I smiled, even though they couldn’t see it, then took a deep breath and removed the signet ring.

“Okay, House,” I murmured. “It’s your turn. You heard what I said, and I’m pretty sure you can judge my heart. Are we in this together?”

It didn’t respond—but I figured its reply would be in however it morphed the House, so that wasn’t unexpected.

My fingers shook as I dropped the signet ring. It passed through the Beacon’s exterior with only the smallest of ripples, and a tiny chiming sound.

Now it was my turn.

I took a deep breath, and before I could over-think it, I slapped my hands on the globe.

Magic flared around me, lighting the area with a brightness that was so invasive I had to shut my eyes. It exploded outward, making the turret into a torch of blue and gold magic.

This is it.

The ring had connected me to the House, but now I could feel its foreign, magic intelligence. It brushed against me like a pet would…producing a purring vibration I felt in my bones.

It felt pleased. I could feel it in the way the light emitting from the Beacon curled around me. But was it just happy to finally have an official Adept?

As if it could tell my thoughts, the wooden flooring beneath my feet began to rumble. My heart sped up as I heard the sound of bricks and mortar crumbling, and wood groaned.

Was it destroying a part of itself? Was the House that mad with me?

Abruptly, the ground opened up, and another wing—wholly finished from the roof timbers to the ornamental stone edging—shot out of the ground. The tower I stood in grew taller, stretching high above House Medeis, before the two other turrets shot up in a similar fashion. Weirdly, I could feel the House at work in the taller turrets, installing what I thought was a telescope and wiring a security system.

I held on to the Beacon for dear life as the entire House grew another floor, and in my new connection with the House I realized…it had just built a gym in the basement.

The buzz of magic informed me the new gym was stocked with weightlifting equipment, treadmills, and more.

In the backyard, the decorative fountain with the diapered baby angels stretched out and deepened, turning into a lap pool.

The iron fencing that surrounded the House Medeis plot grew by about five feet, and the ends turned sharp and pointed.

A flower garden fell away and was briefly buried under dirt and soil, before the House spat up four targets, and two racks of swords, shields, bows, and different kinds of weapons I hadn’t seen even in Drake Hall.

Where had the House even found those weapons?!

I watched in shock as a mini training ground was created on the front lawn while the House industriously settled its inner architecture. It had added dozens of guest rooms—did it expect that our number of members would be rapidly expanding?!—and had scrounged up a second fridge in the slightly expanded kitchen.

A few of the flower beds were sucked under to make room for the additions, and both the gate that opened up to the sidewalk and the gate in front of the driveway thickened.

For the most part the outside of the House was finished—it was still making some minor adjustments to the landscaping, and I was pretty sure it had just added a bunch of mats to the basement gym—but from the increased wing and story to the taller towers to the new shooting range on our front lawn, the House’s response was pretty clear.

I finally pulled my hands free—my palms itched from the extra burst of magic.

The ring bobbed on the globe’s surface. I scooped it up and slipped it on, blinking as the pet-like feeling of House Medeis stayed with me with our new connection.

“Thank you.” I rested my hand on top of the Beacon. “I’ll do my best to make use of what you’ve given me.”

I tugged on the trapdoor, intending to shimmy back down the ladder, but House Medeis peeled back the railing of the Beacon and built what appeared to be a temporary staircase for me. I hesitated before I started down it, trying not to think too much as the House assembled the staircase about three steps ahead of me, and tore every step down as soon as I had passed it.

A few members of House Medeis were laughing. Some were hugging, and the youngest were bouncing up and down—but almost everyone my parents’ age were smiling through tears as they watched me step off the temporary staircase and onto the springy grass.

I held my arms up. “What do you guys think? Do you think the House likes me?”

Medeis wizards surged onto the new lawn, coming to hug me and examine the changes to their home.

“Oh, Hazel. I knew it all along!” Great Aunt Marraine dabbed at her eyes with her tissue.

“You’re going to be a great Adept, you brat,” Franco said with a grin.

“I think this is the biggest the House has been in generations,” Momoko said.

Felix smirked. “How badly do you think you freaked the other Houses out?”

I laughed and hugged every House Medeis wizard. With each person I saw my happiness grew, and I knew I was doing the right thing.

My family might not be so merry when I woke them up at six in the morning and got them started running laps before everyone left for work, but that was okay.

We would learn to fight, and the House would help us.

Once I hugged the last House Medeis wizard, I turned to everyone lining the streets. As I marched down the front walkway, the sidewalk gate swung open as the House anticipated my decision.

“Welcome to House Medeis,” I said with a smile that was more teeth than glee. “Come in, so you can tell everyone all about it.”

A few of the onlookers floated away—probably the ones going to report to my scoffers. The Curia Cloisters reps had to come in, and my more distant allies chose to as well. A few of the gawkers slipped through, but I didn’t worry.

If they tried anything, House Medeis would lock them in a closet.

I stayed at the gate, greeting everyone who passed through to go gawk at the House, until there was only one other person standing on the far side of the street, a pale, red-haired man wearing a black designer suit.

I slipped my chisa katana from its scabbard and sent a crackle of lightning shimmering up and down the blade. My wizard’s mark burned my cheek as I crossed the street.

“Get lost, Rupert. And tell the others I will no longer put up with them skulking around.”

Rupert scowled at me. “You can’t be everywhere at once.”