by Nika Gray
It felt like a confession.
“Define strange,” he said.
“New magic. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.” I dropped my voice and looked over my shoulder.
I didn’t want anyone hearing this conversation. Declan saw my caginess and nodded in understanding.
“I've been at the library all morning trying to figure out if I’d been hexed or cursed. I’ve found nothing to explain its manifestation.”
“You missed battle magic for the library?”
“Yes.”
“How bad is it?” His concern for me was written all over his face.
“It’s not bad. It’s just different,” I said, hesitating on describing how much I enjoyed it. How free it made me feel.
“Different how?”
“I don't know,” I shrugged. “I guess you’ll need to see for yourself.”
“You also talked about a kingdom?” Declan asked quietly.
“I don’t have control over my dreams, Dec,” I replied. “And I have no idea where they’re coming from. They were wild last night, though.”
“You need to come with me to one of the meetings,” Declan stated.
He’d really wanted me to join his resistance group and I kept putting him off. I didn’t want it to become a wedge issue between us. I was afraid of losing my lifelong best friend, my only ally.
“You know I can't do that,” I said.
“You need to let your family go,” he shook his head. “They don’t deserve you.”
“I don’t want to talk about this right now,” I waved him off. “There’s too much shit going on with me right now that’s throwing everything off balance. I don’t have any more wavelength for intrigue. And I’m not ready for the resistance yet.”
Declan backed off. “I hear you. I'll leave it alone for now. But you belong with us. And you know it,” he said.
“So you keep saying.”
“Because you know I'm right,” he said. “When are you going to show me this magic?”
“When there’s nobody around. I don't know how it would manifest with a conduit ring and I don't want to chance anyone seeing it.”
“Hold up,” Declan demanded. “You're doing magic without a conduit ring?”
“Would you shut up?” I hissed, glancing around to see if anyone heard him. “That's exactly why I don't want to do this right now in front of the world. I need your help, Dec. But not like that.”
That silenced him for the moment, and we walked into class late and not speaking.
Chapter 10
Sadie
I found Kelly quickly enough at the end of one of the long tables. She’d chosen a spot far enough away from any mage so we could have some privacy. I sat next to her so we could speak without being overheard. As we chowed down on fish and chips, she told me about her morning which had been completely taken up with helping her dad search through the archives for all the past and present members of the Magic Council.
“Your morning was probably my fault,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“I got my memory back and saw the faces of the men who abducted me from the club.”
“My dad told me about that,” she said as she popped a French fry into her mouth.
“He really thinks they were part of the Magic Council?” I dipped my French fry in tartar sauce and nibbled on it as she nodded.
“His thinking was that only someone super powerful would dare to abduct you out of a human club. Especially after your hanky-panky with Cole Trahern,” Kelly said with a sideways glance.
“Crap. So he saw that while thing, too.” I sighed, my face flushing.
“I can’t believe you let my dad poke around in your mind.”
“What other choice did I have? I can’t draw for shit,” I said. “Am I red?”
“You sure as hell are,” she giggled. “And Cole Trahern? Really? He’s so cold and standoffish.”
“He wasn’t with me,” I said.
“I’ll bet,” she laughed. “Girl, you’ve already gone through half of these Council boys.”
I looked up sharply. “Your dad saw me with Fergus too, didn’t he?”
“Yup, he did,” Kelly said with a giggle.
I groaned and wished the ground would swallow me up. I was so embarrassed.
“Don’t worry,” Kelly assured me. “My dad might look old, but he’s no prude. My mom told me some stories about him, and oh boy did those two have fun.”
“Ew, she told you about that?”
“Uh, huh,” Kelly said and scrunched her nose in an “ew.”
We both had a good laugh at that. When we finally stopped laughing, and Kelly was getting rid of the subsequent hiccups, I took a sip and lowered my voice.
“Something weird happened with magic when we were together,” I confessed.
“Did your magic come out again?” she asked.
“It did. It crawled all over him and pulled at him, caressed him. Have you ever heard of magic doing something like that?” I asked.
“No, never.” she shook her head.
It’s exactly what I expected her to say. I finished up the rest of the fish and took a long hard sip of the lemonade. The tart taste puckered my mouth and I loved it.
“Mages use spells and hexes,” I said.
“And curses,” she added.
“What’s a magical creature that calls forth its magic without spells and hexes?”
Kelly bit her lip.
“I honestly don't know. Witches have an inherent ability to imbue their potions with magic. That comes from their own life force and not from the elements like we mages harness.”
“I see,” I said.
“So, spill it on Fergus,” she leaned closer. “My dad didn’t go into details.”
“It was out on the lake.”
“Outdoors? Girl, you are adventurous. I’m not down with all that grass, and twigs. Or the bugs,” Kelly said.
“I barely noticed we were outdoors,” I admitted.
“He was that good?”
“Better,” I said.
Her eyes widened and she let out a giggle. “You’ve got a wild side, Sadie Bishop.”
I supposed I did.
The dining hall was filling up with more students. We’d gotten there so early, we were some of the first ones seated and I didn't necessarily want to be around so many people.
“Want to walk this fish off before herbology?” I asked.
“Sure, I could use some fresh air after all of that greasy food we just ate,” she said.
We left the hall and didn’t speak again until we were alone, walking the path to the faculty village.
“You said your mother was a witch?” I asked.
“Yes, she was,” Kelly nodded. “She died when I was ten and my dad has never told me why exactly. Supposedly she had some problem with her flying one night to her mother's house.”
“You mean on an airplane, or…” I asked.
“With her flying,” Kelly said again.
“She could fly?” I asked.
“Well, you know, with the broom,” Kelly nodded. “It was imbued with her magic. I’d heard of accidents happening like that before so it's not completely unheard of.”
I wondered why Kelly needed to say that last part. Was it unheard of?
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You were so young when you lost her.”
“Thanks,” she said.
Neither of us said anything for the next few minutes as we walked.
“What is Fae magic like?” I asked to break the silence.
Kelly shook her head and put her finger to her lips. “We shouldn’t speak about it in the open. The walls have ears here, even out in the open,” she said.
“But shouldn’t we know what to expect on the battlefield?”
“I don’t think anyone here really believes we’ll see the Fae anytime soon.”
I thought that sounded weird, but I nodded.
“All right then,” I said and droppe
d the subject.
My curiosity flared even more as to who she thought might be watching or listening. Both she and her father had assured me how safe the academy was. Sure didn’t sound like it at times.
The more questions I asked, the more uncomfortable and worried they both became. Maybe I should talk to Fergus instead? I wanted to believe he’d give me a clear answer.
We made small talk all the way to our herbology class until we entered a classroom set up as a chemistry lab. There were only twenty of us in this class. Kelly and I grabbed a station and class began.
The instructor walked in from a back door followed by a trail of smoke and a pungent odor. Professor Dobbs was a petite, round, and bespectacled lady who looked to me more like a witch than a mage.
“She’s knows everything about healing potions,” Kelly whispered.
“Morning class!” Professor Dobbs greeted us with a welcoming sweep of her hand. “Today we delve into healing potions. All mages carry small pouches underneath their robes while on patrol,” Professor Dobbs said as she looked around the room, noting who was present. “The healers carry a lot more, of course, but all of you must know how to make each of these in case you find yourself in a pickle.”
She waved her hands and loads of ingredients appeared at each one of our stations.
“These ingredients create poultices for wounds and cooling agents to help with mage fire,” she began as the class marveled over the rare ingredients.
It was a lot like chemistry class which I remembered I’d always enjoyed.
The class after that was history and I was disappointed that Professor Althoff didn't want to go very deep into the beginnings of the Fae War.
It seemed to me from reading the history book there were a lot of internal politics going on between the various magical factions. On closer reading, I didn’t see much hard evidence the Fae had actually murdered all those magical folk, as the accepted version of events claimed. From what I gathered, it seemed Fredrick Bloodstyne had stoked fears against the Fae until the various magic groups turned on them.
Professor Althoff ignored that completely. He droned on about the dry facts of who, where, what, and when, never once mentioning why. His primary magical skill seemed to be boring the crap out of his students.
The class seemed to stretch on forever and by the nodding of heads, everyone was having a hard time staying awake. Kyna Bloodstyne and Avery Craig sat several rows in front of me, busily passing what seemed the same note to each other. After a while I realized it wasn’t the same note, just the same paper. They were magically erasing and writing anew each time. If I didn’t know better, those girls were scheming about something.
All in all, it wasn't much different than some of the lectures I'd endured as a senior in high school. I’d been saving for college but hadn’t been able to attend classes yet. And here I was at an elite academy for mages. I would have laughed at anyone who’d have told me where I’d end up within a week.
After two grueling hours of boring lecture, we were finally dismissed. Kelly had to meet with her Dad and left me to my own devices. As I walked out of the lecture hall and Alexis Schoenburg ran up to me.
“Sadie!” she called. “Want to grab some dinner with me?”
“I’d love that,” I said.
“Excellent.” Alexis beamed. “Now tell me all about yourself. Where are you from?”
Chapter 11
Sadie
I walked down the hill with Alexis chattering next to me. She asked very pointed questions about my past and I evaded them as best I could. I had no intention of telling any of these people about my past. Except for Fergus, of course. Because I’d already made that mistake.
I did tell her I was from New York City and didn't have any family. She had a hard time fully understanding the concept of no family and grilled me on my acceptance into the Protectors Academy.
“But, how did you get your recommendation if you don’t have any family?” she asked.
At first, I told her I’d received a recommendation from a faculty member, but she didn’t understand that, either. She asked if the faculty member had been affiliated with my family and I finally told her I was a powerful mage and Headmaster Hotchkiss recruited me for the school. She was quiet after that, obviously thinking about what I’d just said.
As we drew closer to Gallagher Hall, Kyna Bloodstyne stepped in front of us. Her minions and my roommates flanked her.
“Hello Alexis,” Kyna greeted us with a sugary tone. “Who's your new friend?” Kyna continued in a voice that showed how utterly unimpressed she was with me.
“I'm standing right here,” I said. “My name is Sadie Bishop. You’re Kyna Bloodstyne, correct?” That took her off guard a bit. I’d dealt with bullies and mean girls my entire life and knew you had to just stand up to them from the beginning. I knew she wasn’t expecting me to cut to the chase.
“Ah,” Kyna purred, recovering her commanding stance. “You know about the social order here at the academy. Good,” she said, turning her nose at me.
I wrinkled my nose because I had no idea exactly what she was talking about but, I had a feeling that I wouldn't like it.
“Social order?” I played dumb.
“What she means is don’t go above your station,” Sonia sneered.
Kyna stepped in front of Sonia and leaned into me. I wanted to take a step back, but I held my ground. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was about to zap me with some sort of hex.
“As I'm sure you're already aware,” Kyna said. “Fergus Malthowny is one of us.” She placed her hand on her chest as she spoke. “He's not one of you. I suggest very strongly that you stay away from him and us.” She waved her finger at me as she said the last part, as if she was telling a child “no”.
“I'm not exactly sure of who you're talking about when you say ‘us’?” I said, still standing my ground.
“The Council families,” Kyna sniffed as she stood straight again. “With your being new here, it’s understandable that you don’t know we’re destined for greater things than everybody else here.”
I nodded and looked over at Alexis, who was staring at the ground.
“I’m only telling you this for you own good,” Kyna said in the sugary tone again. “We’re different and that’s why we stick together. Don't be stupid and ruin your chances here by putting on airs and thinking you can exist where we do.”
“Why are you bringing up Fergus?” I asked, matching her sugary tone. “He hasn’t even started training me in battle magic yet. Are my private lessons what you’re worried about?”
“We saw you two together last night,” Avery said. “We have eyes, you know.”
“Oh, that’s so weird. If I’m so beneath you all, why were you spying on me?” I asked.
Avery's cheeks flared bright red. “How dare you,” she hissed.
I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Avery was poised to reach for her conduit ring. Last thing I needed was for her to blast me and have my magic flash into protection mode and kill her or something. I sure as hell couldn’t control it yet.
“All right,” I shrugged. “Thanks for the warning. Just so you know, Fergus found me walking along the lake late last night and offered to walk me back to the dorm. He's a nice guy like that, as I’m sure you know.”
Avery had clearly never encountered someone who wasn’t intimidated by her before. She wasn't sure what to make of me and from the expression on Kyna’s face, she didn't either.
“You've been warned,” Kyna said. “Your roommates are keeping a friendly eye on you. Next time you step out of line, we’ll have no other choice than to put you back in your place and I’m sure you won’t like that. Especially since your use of magic is shit.”
“Sure, of course whatever you say,” I said.
I wanted to get the hell away from these girls. With all the stuff that was going on, I was not about to get in some stupid war with them. I made a mental note of talking to Fergus a
bout being discreet the next time we decided to have some fun.
I wondered if we could somehow create our own mirror world to go be private in. Would the sex feel any different if the mirror world dulled pain? I’d assume it would dull pleasure, too.
Alexis touched my arm and brought me back to the present.
“Did I miss something?” I asked.
Kyna, Sonia, and Avery had walked away, and Alexis stood staring at me with a quizzed expression.
“Where did you disappear to just now?” she asked.
“I tend to dissociate when I have people attacking me and don't want to get into a fight,” I answered. She didn’t know what to say to that.
“Disassociate?” she asked.
“You learn tricks when you grow up in a big city,” I said.
Alexis clearly wasn’t buying that explanation.
“Sadie!”
I turned in relief to wave at Kelly. I was so happy to hear her voice.
She was barreling down the hill with a cute guy in tow. I knew Kelly had someone. By the way he was holding onto her hand, he had it bad.
“Can we join you guys for dinner?” Kelly asked.
“You got out of helping your dad?” I asked.
“I skipped out on him,” she whispered to me.
“Hi, Marcus. Nice to see you,” Alexis said.
Marcus smiled and I could see what Kelly liked about him. He had curly brown hair and warm hazel eyes and a kind smile. What he was doing in the Protectors Academy I didn't know because I couldn't imagine him opening up a can of whoop-ass on some trespassing Fae in the Borderlands.
“I'm Marcus Holloway by the way,” he said, holding out his hand to me.
“Sadie Bishop,” I said.
“Very nice to meet you.”
Kelly and Marcus led us inside and we found four seats in the middle of one of the long tables. As the conversation swirled around me, I looked around for Fergus, Declan, or Cole, but didn’t see any of them there tonight.
Feeling a bit empty and out of sorts not having any of the guys around, I focused on eating and worrying about the next battle magic class. I definitely needed practice using that conduit ring if I was going to play off that I was an actual mage. I wondered if Kelly could open a portal for me and show me the ropes. I turned back to the conversation and tried to keep up while hoping I could get Kelly alone and get started on my plan.