“This is amazing,” I said, looking around with a new appreciation. This was like scuba diving without all the bulky gear. The sea floor gently sloped away from the shore, and in the distance, the kelp forest swayed back and forth with the rhythm of the waves. My gaze was drawn back to the mermaid beside me, though, and I tightened my arms around her again. “You are amazing,” I added.
She was even more beautiful underwater—her home environment. Her delicate tail sparkled in the sunlight that filtered down to us, her hair flowed around her like seaweed, and every movement she made was graceful. I could breathe here, but I was drowning all the same, lost in my overwhelming desire for her.
Gabriella met my eyes and brushed her hand against my cheek, but she pulled herself farther away from me. “You should be careful. It’s not a good idea to fall in love with a mermaid.”
“Too late,” I blurted out. We both blushed again. “I mean, I really like you, but we don’t need to put a label on it. Let’s just… swim together?” I tried to take her hand.
She swam back a few feet and glanced over her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought you down here. Someone might see us.”
It felt like the world was crashing down around me. I’d finally kissed the girl of my dreams, and just like that, she was shutting me down. “Who would see us? There isn’t anyone at the beach on a cold Sunday.”
“My family,” she said, her face turning pale. “There are rules for mermaids. I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”
I folded my arms. “I’m breaking a lot of rules, too, but I don’t care about that. I just want to be with you. Couldn’t we keep it a secret?”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “It’s too dangerous to risk it, even though I really like you, too.” She turned and swam into the deeper water.
“Wait!” I scrambled to follow her. Without needing to interrupt my strokes to breathe, I could move faster in the water than I’d ever gone before, but she was beyond any human speed. She flicked her tail, and in a few moments, I couldn’t even see her anymore.
With no one to follow, I was getting lost in the vast expanse of water, and I could feel the currents getting stronger. I kicked my legs back up to the surface and looked around to find the shore. I was farther out than I’d ever been on my own.
I wanted to scream her name, to call her back to me with a spell, but I knew she wouldn’t answer. Then I realized I couldn’t breathe in the air any longer and I was forced to stick my face back into the water. It was a weird feeling, the opposite of what I’d always known, yet it was nothing compared to my breaking heart.
Tears leaked out of my eyes and mixed with the ocean. What had Gabriella said right after she changed me? I should go back to normal if I left the water. But if I got out, would I ever see her again?
As I floated there, thinking desperately for something to do, I could feel my body drifting even further out to sea. It was too risky to stay out here, especially if the spell wore off on its own. I had to get back to land and clear my head before I did something rash.
I stayed near the surface as I swam back so I could see the shore I was aiming for, although I didn’t need to breathe. I no longer appreciated the things I could see under the water because none of it meant anything without Gabriella. Recklessly, I thought that I might never go near the ocean again.
Don’t think like that. Just get back safe.
Twenty minutes later, I dragged myself out of the surf and collapsed on the beach. This time I felt the magic as it drained out of me. I gasped, air filling my lungs again, and let it out in a sob. My whole body ached. I’d swam hard at the meet yesterday, but it was nothing compared to what I’d just put myself through in the ocean.
Something flickered in the water, at the edge of my vision. I jerked my head up and searched for a sign of her. Was she coming back to say she’d changed her mind? Or was she just checking to make sure I was okay?
But even when I struggled to my feet, I didn’t see any sign of her.
12
I moped around for the next few days. Without Gabriella, there wasn’t much left here in Santa Cruz that interested me. I thought about just giving up and calling my moms to come take me home. Suddenly, I missed everything about our little town like crazy, even the dumb kids who bullied me at my old school.
But then I decided that I didn’t want to just let her go without a fight. If I could talk to Gabriella and tell her how much she meant to me, maybe I’d change her mind. I didn’t care what it took. I’d say I loved her; I would break every rule and let the school suspend me. I’d even fight a whole pack of mermaids. Anything to get her back.
How could I talk to her? I went back to the beach every day, not even bothering to take my surfboard, but she didn’t answer my call. She was hiding in the bay, and I’d have to track her down. That meant finding the witchcraft equivalent of her magic so I could breathe underwater.
I didn’t have any way of learning Water magic, but maybe there was an Earth solution. My herbalism class taught us about using plants for cast magic. I searched through the handbook on magical plants we’d been given, but I quickly realized that there were no recipes. I didn’t know how to combine any of the ingredients we were learning about.
The day before Halloween, I got up the courage to ask Ms. Murphy for help. The herbalism class was meeting outside in the garden for a lesson in identifying plants. But since I was here three times a week to do the weeding and other work as my service project, I already knew what everything was.
I raised my hand and launched into my question without waiting for her to give me permission to speak. “Hey, I’m just wondering when we’re going to learn about potions and stuff.”
Ms. Murphy kept her face neutral, but her orange cat gave me a judgmental glare. “We don’t just stuff herbs into a bottle and call it a potion. There are many kinds of preparations,” she said in a patient tone. “If you’re talking about internal uses, there is infusion, decoction, tincture, vinegar, syrups, and honey infusion. For external uses, you might want an herbal oil, salve, poultice, compress, bath, soak, gargle, or steam inhalation. Each use is for different circumstances and each herb is better suited to different preparations.”
I folded my arms. “Okay, yeah, but when are we going to make any of that?”
Ms. Murphy frowned, and Precious intensified to lashing his tail. “If you’ve read your syllabus, then you have seen that we will learn a few simple preparations after we’ve learned how to identify and harvest the plants. Not much you can make without gathering your ingredients first.”
I flipped to the beginning of my notebook for the class, where I’d stapled in the syllabus, and skimmed her schedule. I raised my eyebrows. “That’s not until after Thanksgiving break, which practically the end of the quarter. Why do we have to wait so long? Most of this class is just about picking plants, not doing any actual magic!”
“It’s an introduction,” Ms. Murphy said, still in that droning voice. “If you asked your mother, I’m sure she’d tell you that her first quarter students work at the same pace.”
The reminder of my mother strained the last ounce of my patience. I threw my hands in the air. “This is bullshit!” I exclaimed. Students around me gasped to hear me curse at a teacher, but I ignored them. “We won’t even get another herbalism class for the rest of the year, and I bet you barely teach anything with one quarter in the second year, too. Most of our time gets wasted on these academic classes like any normal high school. What’s even the point of this whole first degree if we can’t learn any magic that actually helps us?”
Ms. Murphy rose to her feet and looked down at me. “I can see that you’re upset, Brie, although I’m not sure why. I don’t make the rules, I have to follow them like everyone else. The guidelines set by the government say that for witches under eighteen, you can learn the basic principles of magic, but no, you cannot learn many practical applications. If you want a license to cast spells and brew potions, as you
call them, you will need to earn your second degree. The school was very clear about our program when you signed up.”
I jumped up because I wasn’t going to let her talk down to me like that. She was still a few inches taller when we were both standing, but I raised my chin and stared her down. “The rules are bullshit,” I repeated. “When my mom was my age, she already knew dozens of spells and she could invent her own potions. And she saved the whole damn world from the Witchgate.”
More gasps echoed around the garden.
Ms. Murphy raised her eyebrows at me. “Rosamunde McAddams is a great witch,” she said coolly. “But she did not get that way by yelling at her teachers. Is there something specific you would like to ask for my help with?”
I hung my head, suddenly feeling ashamed. “I—I was just wondering if there was something that could help me breathe underwater, or maybe swim better,” I mumbled. “I’ve been struggling in swim team.” I’d thought up the excuse ahead of time, just in case anyone questioned my motives.
“I am sorry to hear that.” Her voice became gentler. “But I think you already know that if you use magic to cheat, then you won’t feel proud of achievements.”
I nodded. “Sorry.”
“You may take the rest of the class to calm down,” Ms. Murphy added. “If you want to talk to me later, you can find me in my office.”
I grabbed my bag, feeling my face turning red. All the students were staring at me, which I deserved, but they were also whispering things. Like, “So her mom is that McAddams?” and “Does that mean her grandmother is the crazy witch who lost her powers?” I wanted to be anywhere else right now.
As I left the garden, Erin, Ms. Murphy’s daughter, came running after me and caught the garden gate before I could slam it shut.
“Hey, don’t go off mad,” she said, reaching for my arm. “My mom isn’t as mean as she sounds. If you go talk to her later, I bet she could tell you more about plants that you could use without cheating. She loves to find creative ways to help you.”
I pulled away from her and looked at the ground. It felt weird to let another girl touch me, like I was betraying Gabriella, even just in a friendly way. “Thanks, but I have some stuff to figure out on my own. I’m going through a lot right now.”
Erin’s face fell. “Yeah, I’ve heard about your problems with Samantha Blackburn.” She tried to smile. “But you don’t have to deal with it all on your own. You should let your friends help you.”
My eyes snapped up to her. “We’re not friends.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them. Erin had been nothing but kind to me and now she looked like I’d slapped her. She took a step back, staring at me in horror.
But before I could apologize, she turned and ran back to her mother’s class. She covered her face with her hands and a faint sob echoed through the garden.
Great, I was just lashing out at people all over the place. Ms. Murphy would never be willing to help me after I insulted her daughter. For better or worse, I had burned another bridge in the academy.
I was just carrying around so much hurt, trying to bottle it up and hide it from everyone else, that it seemed to spill out at the worst times. I couldn’t even tell Damian what had happened. If this got any worse, I would go crazy.
At least I could see Loki tomorrow. On Halloween, I could cross the Veil and find the Fae to report on what I’d learned about the mermaids. If I told him that I needed magic to continue my investigations, maybe he could teach me something that would help me track down Gabriella.
I didn’t know if I could ever feel happy without her.
My angry outbursts came back to bite me. For yelling at a teacher in the middle of class and using foul language, I was punished by not being allowed to attend any Halloween festivities. That sucked for so many reasons.
Halloween was on a Thursday but the party would spill over into Friday and the weekend. The whole campus was being transformed for the celebration because Baroness Karma and the rest of the local Court had been invited to join us. Many parents and other family members of students would be coming, too—although it was too far away for my moms to come. All my classes were spent working on Halloween preparations, so I had to help everyone set up for a party I’d never get to attend. Once it started, I could only go to the library or stay in the dorms.
But the worst part was, I really needed to be at that party so I could talk to Loki. He’d be expecting my first report on the mermaid activity and I had a million questions for him. But if I was stuck in my room, would he even be able to find me?
Once the decorations were up, I watched my classmates run to put on their Halloween costumes. Witches loved Halloween as much as anyone else, maybe even more, so everyone was ready to go all out with creative outfits. One highlight of the night was a costume contest, and the competition was fierce for categories like Most Magical, Most Scary, and Most Original. There was also an unofficial contest for Most Sexy. Rumor had it that the RAs were too busy at the party to chaperone the dorms, so for one night, there was lots of action in the rooms. I didn’t want to see teens sneaking drinks and hooking up, so I left the dorms.
I shouldered my book bag and headed to the library. At least I could catch up on my homework. Over the weekend, I had to help with the party clean-up as part of my punishment, so it was better to get my assignments out of the way early.
The night librarian was a pooka man who barely glanced up from his phone when I came in. I spread my stuff out on a table and got to studying.
For a while, I could block out my worries by focusing on math problems and a few chapters about constitutional law. But after the first two hours, my mind began to wander. I pulled out my phone and checked social media to see if other students were talking about all the cool stuff I was missing.
Damian was tagging me in all his videos and it looked like he was having a wild time. Without me there to rein him in, he was taking full advantage of the holiday’s license to get away with crazy antics. We’d planned on wearing matching outfits, but he switched at the last minute to a sexy devil—skin-tight red pleather and horns. He’d already made a dramatic entrance with a guy on one arm and a girl on the other. Then he messed up his shirt in a pumpkin carving contest (which was just an excuse to take it off), and filled up a whole sack of candy.
“Don’t worry,” he messaged me. “I’ll save all the good vegan candy for you!” He followed that up with a line of vegetable emojis, including an eggplant next to a peach. The guy could never resist an innuendo.
I rolled my eyes. He liked to give me a hard time for my diet, claiming that there was no such thing as a good vegan sweet.
“Ha. Ha. Ha,” I wrote back. “You know peaches are fruit?”
But he didn’t respond, probably too caught up in the party to see a notification on his phone.
I shoved my cell deep into my bag. That was just making me feel worse.
“I see you’re dressed as a school girl,” Loki’s voice echoed through the library. “Not a very original costume. We’ll have to work on that.”
My head snapped up. He was leaning against a bookshelf, dressed in a shimmery gold suit and a dragon mask. I craned my neck to check the front desk, but the librarian must have left when I wasn’t looking, because there was no sign of anyone else.
“I’m grounded from Halloween. How did you know I was in here?”
Loki swaggered over and dropped into the chair across from me. “I have a talent for tracking witchlings, especially those under my auspices. Why are you grounded? That seems like cruel and unusual punishment.”
“It’s a long story,” I muttered.
“One I’d love to hear, I’m sure, but first let’s spring you from this prison. You’ll need an appropriate disguise to sneak out.” He snapped his fingers. “How about a ninja?”
I looked down and saw that my clothes had changed to black, with a plastic sword on my belt. I pulled the mask off my face and dropped it on the t
able with a shake of my head. “I kind of deserved it. More importantly, I need to talk to you in private.” I glanced around one more time, even though I knew no one was there. “About my mission?”
“A witch shouldn’t miss out on All Hallows’ Eve, no matter how bad she’s been.” He leaned back in the chair and folded his arms. “But if you want to get straight to business, I can accommodate your wishes. How is the mission going? Have you confirmed the presence of mermaids in Monterey Bay?”
I nodded. “Yes, they’re definitely here and they’re trying to hide it, so they know they shouldn’t be here. I think they came from somewhere near Mexico.”
“Interesting. There are two sanctioned mermaid colonies off the west coast of Mexico. I think they like the warmer climate.” Loki tapped the chin of his dragon mask. “If they had an approved place to live, why would they leave?”
“I don’t know yet,” I admitted. “All I learned is they’ve been moving around a lot for several years, probably trying to find someplace where they won’t be noticed.”
“Then coming to California was the wrong idea. There are so many people, magical and not, living up and down the coast here. If I were trying to hide, I would go farther north to Washington or even Alaska. Why come to a busy area like Santa Cruz?”
I looked down at the table. “I’m not sure what the next step is. See, one of them was talking to me for a bit, but now she’s avoiding me.” I cleared my throat. “If there were some way I could get out into the bay and find her… I need to convince her to see me again.”
Loki pushed his mask onto the top of his head and scrutinized me. “Why is she avoiding you?”
I squirmed under his gaze. There was only so much I could say without breaking my promise to her. “If the other mermaids see her with me, she’d get in trouble.”
“But if you’re in the water with her, aren’t they more likely to see you? Mermaids keep a close eye on their territory, especially if it’s an area that they’ve stolen from someone else.” He scowled.
The Reluctant Witch: Year One (Santa Cruz Witch Academy Book 1) Page 11