by Sarina Dorie
“Can you find them?” I asked.
He was too busy enjoying pets to answer.
“Excuse me,” I said to Miss Periwinkle and wedged myself between her and the unicorn. “Bart, I’m talking to you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said in a teasing tone. “Does this make you jealous? Do you not like it when other women pet me?”
“Can you track the students?” Miss Periwinkle asked.
“I guess.” He tossed back his head, a cloud of glitter shaking loose from his mane. “Get on my back. I’ll give you a ride.”
“Can you ride?” I asked Miss Periwinkle.
“Of course I can. I was on the equestrian team for four years.” She grabbed a fistful of mane and tried to haul herself up, but her skinny arms shook from the exertion.
I gave her a boost, trying to be gentle with her. The last thing we needed was for her to break a hip. I scrambled up after her.
Bart set off along the trail. “So, is there anything you have for me to smell so I can scent them?”
“Um, no,” I said, wishing I had thought of that.
Miss Periwinkle sighed in exasperation. “One girl is a fire Elementia. Her magic will smell like fire and brimstone. The other girl is a siren. She might smell like water, but the prominent magic will be sexual.”
“Well, that cuts out about half the creatures who live in the forest.”
I placed my hands over Miss Periwinkle’s, hoping I would give her some of my magic.
“I think. . . .” Miss Periwinkle swallowed, her usual authoritative demeanor replaced by something hesitant. “I sense two distinct siren presences in the forest. One is a group, a family perhaps. The other might be Maddy.” She pointed to the right. “That direction.”
Bart leapt off the path into the foliage. “Hold on. This is going to be a bumpy ride.”
A wolf howled in the distance. It was hard to tell for certain, but it sounded like it was coming from the direction Miss Periwinkle had pointed.
“Are we going toward the wolves?” I asked.
“Werewolves,” Bart said. “Yep. That probably means we’re going in the right direction.”
Miss Periwinkle nodded. “Indeed. It’s a full moon. Two young women, ripe with sexuality, alone in the forest with little magic to defend themselves. They’re going to attract werewolves and who knows what else.”
This just kept getting worse.
Bart charged ahead. “On to the werewolves! This is great fun. The guys are going to be so jealous when they hear about this.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The Siren School of Wisdom
Bart rode so hard and fast, his hooves kicked up dirt at us. I was afraid Miss Periwinkle might become injured with all the jostling. I closed my eyes and visualized more of my magic infusing into her.
We broke through clouds of mist that gave the spindly branches of barren trees a spooky ambience. Shadows shifted as Bart’s rainbow glow cast across bushes and outstretched limbs.
I kept thinking about Thatch and what we’d almost done. If we hadn’t been interrupted, Bart might not have come when I called him. I had been so ready to lose my virginity.
I cared for Thatch, as a friend—as something more? I thought about all the other times he and I had kissed. By all the times, that was four. Once at Oregon Country Fair when he’d been trying to steal my magic and drain me, and then the next day when I’d stolen some of his magic to save myself from the Raven Queen. He hadn’t been happy about either. When I’d kissed him over winter break, I hadn’t realized he’d been trying to perform a spell using touch magic. I had thought he wanted to kiss me. Or perhaps I just had wanted him to want me.
And then there had been the night in the forest when the chimeras had almost eaten me. We’d both lost control. We’d both given in to our desires and affinities.
Only there was a distinct difference between us. Even when he’d been ruled by his affinity, he had still been Thatch: bargaining, conniving, and manipulative. He had wanted me to agree to some Fifty Shades of Grey dungeon magic, but he hadn’t forced himself on me. I was the one who hadn’t been willing to take no for an answer. I had become a different person.
A wicked witch.
He said I wasn’t a succubus, but I couldn’t see the difference. How was I any better than my mother? Or Julian? Thatch was a strong Witchkin, in control enough to remind me to use my magic properly. But what about Derrick? Someday I would be reunited with him. What if he didn’t want me the way I wanted him? It seemed like he would have told me he was here if he wanted to see me. I wouldn’t know if he loved me or not because my magic would overpower him the moment we touched.
As we ventured along the trail, Bart said, “I smell mutts. Can you smell it? We can’t be far.”
More howls came from up ahead. These were closer.
I couldn’t smell dogs or wolves, but I did smell smoke. The sky was dark with clouds and mist, but I thought I saw a trail of burnt-umber smoke drifting over the spidery branches of trees.
A scream rose out of the forest. It made my blood chill.
Bart cantered. Golden light shone through the trees. Dark shapes shifted around the flickering flames.
Encased in a ring of flames, Maddy and Hailey huddled with their backs against an immense tree. A pack of creatures circled the tree. They were larger than wild wolves, their limbs too long and awkwardly proportioned to be canines. Their bodies were a hybrid of human and animal. Their eyes glowed red, or perhaps it was a reflection of the fire.
One lashed out with a claw at the girls. I gasped in trepidation. Maddy smacked it with a burning branch. Hailey shot fire out of her hands. One of the wolves bounded over the line of fire, his jaws gaping. Maddy screamed. Hailey was preoccupied with two more wolves about to pounce on her. Bart leapt in front of the girls, kicking his legs and slashing with his horn.
He reared up, sending Miss Periwinkle and me falling off his back. I fell onto Maddy and Miss Periwinkle fell onto me. I was glad the librarian had a cushion to break her fall. She was so frail and weathered, I was afraid this field trip might kill her.
Miss Periwinkle flailed, trying to get up, and I squeezed out from underneath her in the tight space between Bart’s hooves and the base of the tree. I hauled the librarian to her feet. The girls had already managed to right themselves and were using spells on the werewolves.
A dozen beasts circled our tree. Bart slashed out with his horn. They fell back whimpering, but the wounds miraculously sealed themselves and healed. The wolves came back stronger.
“Elfing horn of healing,” Bart swore. He kicked another in the face.
Miss Periwinkle removed her wand from her sleeve and thrust a burst of light at another wolf. Hailey continued her fire magic. A tree nearby caught on fire. The smoke stung my eyes, and I waved it away to try to see. Maddy thunked the branch she held onto a werewolf’s head.
“Is it getting hot in here, or is just me?” Bart asked between kicks.
It wasn’t just the ground on fire, but the tree behind us and more trees in front.
Miss Periwinkle shook Hailey’s arm. “You’ve started a forest fire!”
I couldn’t see any more werewolves through the flames. Maddy and Miss Periwinkle dropped to their knees, choking on the smoke.
Bart nudged me. “Smokey the Bear says, ‘Only you—” He coughed.
Miss Periwinkle held out her wand, a paltry stream of water sputtering from the tip, causing steam to billow out. Maddy kept pushing and pulling with her arms, as though she were inviting water from somewhere to put out the fire, but we hadn’t passed any streams. I didn’t know if there was one nearby. A hiss of steam burned my arm. I staggered into Hailey.
“Miss Lawrence, give her your magic!” Hailey shouted over the crackle of flames and popping of wood.
I looked to Maddy. She was doubled over, coughing now. Miss Periwinkle was nearest. She nodded in understanding. Knowing it was the only option, I placed my hands on Gertrude Periwinkl
e’s shoulders. She didn’t say any words, but I felt the moment she invited water to come to us.
I willed my affinity into her. Red light passed through my nerves, cooling as it reached my hands. Icy liquid rushed out of me and into Miss Periwinkle. Water flooded over the forest floor, dousing the flames. Steam clouded the air, clearing the smoke, and making it easier to breathe.
I held on to her, trying not to lose my balance. My legs had turned to jelly, and I was exhausted. I wobbled into Bart and fell to my knees in frigid water. That woke me up at least.
Bart trotted a few feet away. He kicked at the limp body of a werewolf. “Well, I hope you learned something from all this, children.”
“It takes teamwork!” Hailey shouted in triumph.
Miss Periwinkle dusted herself off. She tsked. “That is not the moral of this story.”
Red eyes glowed in the darkness. A cloud of steam rose between us.
I pointed, words eluding me. “Agh,” I managed to say with my extensive vocabulary.
“What’s that honey?” Bart asked, turning toward me and away from the beast.
A dark animal shape lunged closer, the red eyes burning like coals. Without thinking, I raised my hand and shot out lightning at the wolf. The momentum of the creature halted in midair as bolts of electric light sizzled across it’s fur. It yelped and dropped straight downward.
“Whoa,” Maddy said.
I slumped forward into the puddle of water, my mojo of magic all used up.
I didn’t remember losing consciousness, but I must have. I sat up against the tree. Miss Periwinkle inspected me. I blinked, my head dizzy. Hailey and Maddy stood off to the side. Hailey was using her wand to dry her and Maddy off.
Bart touched his horn to my head, golden light radiating from it.
“You have been healed,” Bart said. “Arise. Praise the Lord.” He winked at me. “Are you ready to worship me yet?”
I rolled away and puked.
Maddy leapt back.
“Gross!” Hailey said. “Is that what happens when you get healed by a unicorn?”
“No, it’s from the fluctuations in her magic.” Miss Periwinkle skewered me with her gaze. “How exactly are you doing this energy transfer without completely draining yourself?”
I wiped my mouth on the back of my sleeve and then realized too late this was Miss Periwinkle’s coat.
“Isn’t sharing magic normal?” Maddy asked. “Other witches do it all the time. Like when Imani—”
Hailey elbowed her.
Miss Periwinkle’s eyes narrowed. “No. It isn’t normal.”
I leaned my head against the tree, too tired to think of a lie to cover for what I was. I shivered in the freezing wool.
I had given myself away, if not by giving Miss Periwinkle my magic, then by shooting lightning out of my hands. If she had any inclination what my mother was—and now understood what I was—I had no idea what she would do to me.
“Hey, will you grant us a wish?” Hailey asked Bart.
“What do I look like, a genie? Unicorns don’t do wishes.”
Hailey reached out to pet his head, but he shuffled back.
“What was that for?” she asked. “We’re friends now. We saved each other’s lives.”
He lifted his nose up in the air. “I only let virgins pet me.” He edged closer to Miss Periwinkle.
“I am a virgin,” she said.
“No, you aren’t.”
“Yes, I am!” she growled. “I’ve never slept with any boys. Ever.”
He shook his mane, glittering light flitting off him. “All I know is your hymen isn’t intact. You probably tore it riding a broom or something.” He nuzzled Miss Periwinkle.
“That isn’t fair!” Maddy said.
Bart flicked his tail at them. “Life isn’t fair. Get used to it.”
“And hers is?” Hailey pointed at Miss Periwinkle. “She’s an old lady.”
The old woman bristled. “That is none of your business.”
“Can you fix it?” Maddy whispered. “We read in a book that unicorns could heal old injuries and fix scars. Can you heal our hymens?”
OMG, this was why they had run away searching for unicorns? I felt so bad. Even I wasn’t that naive. Bart chuckled.
“Don’t laugh at us. We came out here to find unicorns and we found one,” Hailey said. “We might as well see if you can fix our problems using your horn magic.”
“Let’s use a little common sense,” Bart said. “Think about how every time I used my horn to stab a werewolf it healed immediately afterward. If I touched my horn to your hymen, which I’m not saying I would, but if I did, I would be deflowering you as I was healing you. It wouldn’t even make sense. It’s like matter and antimatter. It can’t exist at the same time.”
From the horror on Miss Periwinkle’s face, I could see she found this as disturbing as I did.
“This conversation isn’t helping anyone,” I said. “Plus, it’s probably inappropriate for you to have this talk with minors,” I said.
“But I need this,” Maddy pleaded. “I want to learn how to keep my siren magic to myself. I need to control it.”
“You don’t need a unicorn for that,” Bart said. “You just need. . . .”
His ears twitched. He stared out into the darkness.
“Yes?” Maddy asked. “All I need is. . . .”
The bushes rustled and shook. Feet splashed. Miss Periwinkle raised her wand. Hailey lifted her hand, fire floating in the air above her palm.
“Oh, no!” Bart backed up, his eyes growing wide. “They’ve found us.” He trotted backward, his rump colliding into a charred tree.
My heart spasmed with newfound fear. Anything that could make a unicorn fearful wasn’t a good sign.
Out of the shadows, a light emerged. Vega strode forward, Josie peeking out from behind her.
“I told you that was smoke,” Josie said.
Bart whinnied. “It’s more of those sluts—I mean nonvirgins.”
Vega flipped the bird at him. “Fuck you, pegasus breath.”
Maddy and Hailey looked from Bart to Vega. Bart neighed. He opened his mouth, about to speak.
Vega held up a hand. “Don’t even think about classifying me into one of your hypocritical unicorn ideals of conformity and chastity. I’ll hex your fucking mouth closed if you start spouting off your patriarchal Fae notions at us.”
That was Vega, unapologetically herself and not caring what the world thought of her. For once, she was the female role model students needed.
“Ahem,” said Miss Periwinkle. “Language, Miss Bloodmire. Students are present.”
Bart blinked, for once speechless. I stared at Vega in openmouthed awe. She was my hero. From the way Maddy and Hailey gazed at her, something similar must have been going through their heads as well.
Josie rushed forward. “Clarissa, what are you doing here?”
“Rescuing us,” Hailey said. “Not that we weren’t handling things fine on our own.”
Josie stooped, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Are you all right, hon? Did you get hurt?”
“I’m fine.” I pushed myself up.
“You’re shivering.” She waved her wand over me. Immediately I was dry and warm. It was nice having friends like Josie.
“Ahem,” Vega said. “We’ve found the missing students. Now can we get back to the school?” Vega raised her wand into the air and sent up a purple flare.
“That’s to let everyone know we found you,” Josie said.
I patted Bart’s nose. “Thanks for your help tonight. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I know.” He nudged me with his nose. “Any chance I could get a little sugar?”
“I don’t have any sugar cubes. I’m sorry,” I said.
Bart whispered in my ear. “That’s not the kind of sugar I want.”
“Wait, what were you going to tell me?” Maddy asked. “You said I didn’t need a unicorn to restore my virginity. There was a
nother way.”
“No.” Bart shook his head, his rainbow mane flopping one way and then the other. “I said you didn’t need a unicorn to learn how to use your powers properly. What you need are sirens. There probably are some hanging out at the stream on a full moon like this.”
Miss Periwinkle stared off into forest. “Yes, there are sirens out here.”
Maddy turned to me. “Will you take me to see them? Please!”
Vega held up a finger in warning. “We are not rewarding you for running off by escorting you to more trouble.”
Miss Periwinkle tapped a finger against her chin. “I agree. I don’t like to reward delinquent behavior. Yet, Maddy is a siren. Our school hasn’t taught a siren in years . . . since my day. They never knew what to do with me either. . . .”
“What?” Josie stared in disbelief.
“You’re a siren?” Maddy squealed.
Hailey looked her up and down, her expression skeptical.
Miss Periwinkle stared off, lost in thought. “If we have the opportunity to speak with sirens, we might be able to learn how to rein in Maddy’s powers.”
“I agree with Miss Periwinkle,” I said. I looked to Josie.
She nodded. “I vote that we go.”
“This is not a democracy,” Vega said. “There is no voting. Our mission was to find the missing students and get back to school. Period.”
I turned to Miss Periwinkle. “Where are the sirens?”
Miss Periwinkle nodded toward the shadows. “Our sisters are near water. I can feel that much, but I don’t know more.”
I petted Bart on the nose. “Do you know where? Will it take long?”
“Does it take long to find a werewolf on a full moon?” he joked.
“I did not sign up for this.” Vega growled.
I turned just in time to see her bend her knees and launch herself in the air, shooting herself upward like a rocket. A trail of yellow sparks shot out from her feet as she ascended.
“Whoa. Cool,” Hailey said.
That was one way to make an exit.
We heard the sirens before we saw them. Their voices rose and fell like waves crashing against the shore. The sweet notes of their lullaby caressed my ears, growing louder as we neared the stream.