Spark (Academy of Unpredictable Magic Book 1)

by Sadie Moss

  “Learning magic has become same old, same old to my little sister.” I chuckle dryly. “What is the world coming to?”

  “Very funny.” She snorts. “How’s it going with you?”

  I take a deep breath, bracing myself. “Here’s the thing, Maddy. Um. I’m going to be leaving.”

  There’s a long pause on the other end of the line, as my sister probably wonders if she’s heard me correctly.

  “You’re… you’re leaving?” she whispers. “Why? Is everything okay? Are you hurt? Are—”

  “I’m fine! Don’t worry about me. But there was an accident. I messed up.” It makes me cringe to talk about it, but I explain what happened in the dining room. I don’t mention the student being murdered, though—I don’t want to worry her.

  “It sounds to me like that wasn’t your fault,” Maddy says firmly. “You didn’t make those cuffs come off. And you said it burned you like it burned everyone. How is anybody supposed to think when they’re in that kind of pain? It hurts, you don’t know where the danger is coming from, and you want it to stop, so you’re not really thinking clearly. And your magic just goes off. You had a fireball coming at you! That’s terrifying! And even if you didn’t hurt Asher, someone else easily could’ve. You don’t know.”

  “Maddy—”

  “It was an accident.” Her voice brooks no argument.

  Shit, I know that tone. Mads is my sister, and just like me, she can be stubborn as hell once she gets an idea in her head.

  “An accident that could’ve been deadly,” I insist. “I can’t risk something like this happening again.”

  “But that’s exactly the reason you’re there! To learn to control it.”

  “Or I could just get it taken care of so I never have to deal with it again,” I murmur, my voice tired.

  “So you’re going to run away from the problem instead of facing it? Instead of trying to overcome it?” She huffs a breath. “That doesn’t sound like the sister I know.”

  Damn it. She’s got me dead to rights.

  I’m sure she can sense my glare through the phone. “You’re a real pain in the ass sometimes, you know that, Mads? Actually listening to all the stuff I’ve said to you over the years? How dare you pay attention to me.”

  She chuckles, and her voice softens a little. “I’m serious though. You don’t run away from things, Elliot, and you’ve never let me run away from them either.”

  It’s true. When our dad skipped out on us, I hated him for it. And I promised myself I wouldn’t follow in his footsteps, although I’m doing a pretty shitty job of keeping my vow at the moment.

  “If you leave now, if you get rid of your magic, you won’t really be facing the problem,” Maddy continues. “You’ll just be running away. And I know that you don’t want to do that. If you create a problem—and still I don’t think what happened to Asher is your fault, but I know better than to keep trying to talk you out of it—then you can’t walk away from it. You have to stay and make things better; fix what you broke. That’s what you always taught me, and Mom too. Spilled milk.”

  I grin in spite of myself. “Spilled milk.”

  As a kid, Maddy didn’t understand the whole expression no use crying over spilled milk. She thought it was insensitive.

  “Does that mean we’re not allowed to be upset when sad things happen?” she asked our mom once.

  Mom told her that wasn’t what the saying meant at all. “It means when you do something wrong and make a mess, you shouldn’t just stand there and say how sad you are about it. Clean up your mess. Because everybody makes mistakes—there’s no way to avoid it. But you can choose whether to clean it up or not, and that’s what people will remember about you. Whether you’re the kind of person who cleans up her mess.”

  I hate to admit it, but Maddy’s right. I can’t let this school beat me, and I can’t run away without cleaning up my mess. If nothing else, I need to woman up and go visit Asher to apologize properly and make sure he’s okay.

  Squinting in the light of the setting sun, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You’re never going to let me live it down if I tell you you’re right, are you?”

  “Nope!” Maddy says cheerfully. “But that’s okay because you love me anyway.”

  I grin. “Yeah, I do. To the moon and back. I’ll let you know how things go.”

  “So you’ll stay, then?”

  “Yes.” For now. “I’ll stay.”

  Chapter 22

  After I hang up with my sis, I head back down the path toward the school. I’ve never been to the infirmary before, but I know where it is. I’m pretty sure everyone knows where it is now thanks to all the attacks over the course of the semester. I cross the campus, ignoring the looks from the few students who are still out and about, but stop when I hear my name being called.

  I turn and see Roman walking quickly toward me.

  Well, at least I didn’t literally run into him this time. And at least we’re not alone in a dark, enclosed space. Because given my emotional state right now, there’s a one hundred percent chance I would jump his bones. And I’m supposed to be untangling the mess I’ve made of my life, not adding to it.

  “Hey, prof. What’s up?”

  He comes to a stop in front of me, and his dark cobalt eyes flicker at my use of the nickname. I called him that once to push his buttons, but now I’ve decided I kind of like it. If I’m gonna be naughty and bang my professor, I might as well lean into it, right?

  Judging by the look on his face, he doesn’t hate it either. Or maybe he’s just remembering what happened last time I called him that.

  Then he shakes his head slightly, seeming to gather himself. “I wanted to let you know—it’s not official, so don’t spread it around, but there’s talk of shutting down the school.”

  He sounds pissed as hell about it. His expression grows stormy as he speaks, and I can’t blame him for being upset. My stomach twists as my heart drops, and I’m surprised by how upset I am about it.

  A few minutes ago, I was planning to leave the academy, and now I’m angry that it might be shut down. It’s a little contradictory maybe, but this isn’t just about me.

  “That’s totally unfair.” I shake my head, my anger rising. “Just because one student—or maybe it’s not even a student!—is going crazy, that doesn’t mean everyone else should get screwed over.”

  Where will all the people with Unpredictable magic go? Will they just have to give up their magic instead? Will they even get a choice anymore?

  Cam has no family. Other kids have families that are ashamed of their status as Unpredictables. If this school is gone, what’s going to happen to all of them? Will any of them be safe?

  “The Circuit has pointed out that our failure to apprehend whoever did this is a huge oversight on the part of the school. They’ve come to the conclusion that the faculty are unable to prevent events like this from happening, or to find and punish students who do break the rules,” Roman says, his tone oddly formal. It’s something I’ve realized happens when he gets pissed. The madder he is, the more proper his speech patterns become. “And we don’t actually have proof that it’s all one culprit. It could be that one person carried out the two non-deadly attacks, another person framed me for murder, and a third pulled the stunt in the dining hall. The Circuit is insisting this is evidence that Unpredictables have a propensity toward chaos and violence.”

  My gut twists at that. No. No. I’m positive it was just one person. And not just because I don’t want the hoity-toity Circuit bitches to be right.

  “But you don’t think that, do you?”

  “No. I think it was just one person responsible for this mess. But we can’t prove it, and that’s the Circuit’s point.” Roman clenches his jaw. “I just wanted to let you know so you could start making any necessary arrangements.”

  “But what’ll happen to all the other students? I’ve got a tiny bit in savings, and I think Ajax would take me back at the bar. So I’d be oka
y if we all got booted. But what about everyone else? What about our magic? And the faculty? You! What’ll happen to you?”

  He sighs, running a hand through his thick black hair. “I don’t know. We haven’t really gotten that far yet. Hardwick is trying to think of contingency plans. I can look for a teaching post elsewhere if I need to, but…”

  “But the rest of the world doesn’t trust Unpredictable magic. That’s what everyone says. How will any of us be safe if we can’t control our magic? Where would we even go?”

  Roman shakes his head. “I don’t know, Elliot. I’m sorry. Just… be prepared. I’ll think of something if it comes to that.”

  “It won’t come to that,” I say stubbornly. I vowed the other morning that I’d get to the bottom of this and find out what, and who, made me hurt my friend—and I meant it. Jesus. I want to kick myself for my earlier cowardice. How could I ever think of leaving and letting this asshole get away with it? I’m going to find whoever it is and make them pay.

  Roman looks exhausted. He’s not too much older than I am—I did a lot of subtle digging when I first got here and found out that he’s twenty-seven—but I see every one of those years on his face right now. I have the strongest and stupidest urge to hug him, to tell him it’ll be okay.

  I hold myself back though. First of all, I have no idea if that’s true. And second of all… well, I guess I’m still a coward about some things.

  “I hope you’re right,” Roman says quietly. His hand twitches, like he wants to reach for me, but he holds himself back too. “Where are you off to?”

  “Infirmary. I need to see Asher.”

  He nods. “There weren’t any major injuries. I’m sure he’s fine. It wasn’t… don’t blame yourself.”

  “What makes you think I’m doing that?”

  “Because it’s what I would do. And I see a lot of myself in you.”

  “Ah.” I purse my lips, squinting at him. “So being attracted to me is just a form of narcissism. I should’ve known.”

  A burst of laughter erupts from his mouth, and he looks startled at the sound, as if he’d forgotten how to be amused. I grin. There. At least I’ve helped him somewhat.

  “I’ll see you around,” I say. “In class. Because the school isn’t closing.”

  He shakes his head, his darkly handsome features etched with concern. “Be careful, Reckless. Please.”

  “Always.”

  I shoot him a cocky grin before I turn and walk away, but with every step I take, the smile slides off my face a little more. Despite my bravado in front of Roman, I really am scared as I head into the infirmary. It’s on the west side of campus, in its own special building, and an air of gravity and importance clings to it.

  What if Asher really is hurt, and they just don’t know it yet?

  What if the school does get shut down?

  What if this person strikes again and kills someone else? What if they plan another attack like the one in the dining hall, and next time somebody, or several people, get hurt in a way that can’t be fixed?

  As I walk down the hallway, searching for the entrance to the recovery ward, hushed, urgent voices reach my ears.

  I freeze when I recognize Hardwick’s smooth timbre.

  Eavesdropping isn’t something I make a habit of, but what if this is news about the school shutting down? I need to know.

  It’s also a little strange that the dean would be having a meeting in a room in the infirmary when he’s got a nice big office in the admin building. Either he was already here visiting the injured students, or he specifically didn’t want to have this conversation in his own office.

  Either way, I’m curious.

  I stray closer to the door where the voices are emanating from. It’s open just a crack, as if someone pulled on it to close it but forgot to make sure it latched all the way. I sidle up, flattening my body against the wall and peeking through the crack. It looks like an out-of-use meeting room, and inside, I can see Hardwick and two other staff members. I recognize them—one’s a professor for the third years, and the other works in administration.

  “But what if that spell destabilized the protection wards?” the professor, Emmitt Macombe, is saying. He’s an unreasonably tall man with a gaunt face and intense green eyes.

  “I checked,” Hardwick assures him in a soothing tone. “The artifacts are still safe. Nothing’s been disturbed by the magical outburst.”

  I’m guessing the outburst he’s referring to is when all of us unleashed our power at once in the dining hall. It was a hell of a lot of magic to have flying around in the air.

  “Those objects are under three layers of runes,” the woman from administration says, her tone impatient. I forget her name… Ms. Pierce, maybe? “They won’t be disturbed that easily.”

  “But they’re under three layers of runes for a reason,” Professor Macombe replies, his tone growing curt in response. “They’re incredibly dangerous. If something like the dining hall event were to happen again and trigger any of them—”

  Wait, dangerous artifacts? In the school? What the fuck? Who thought that was a good idea? Hey, I know this school is full of people with powerful and Unpredictable magic that they can’t control yet, but let’s put a bunch of dangerous objects here too. That can’t possibly backfire.

  Idiots.

  “We can’t move them,” Hardwick insists, still in that calming voice. “First, we can’t risk them being detected, and second—and perhaps more importantly—they are our bargaining chip. You know the conditions.”

  Conditions? Bargaining chip? I tug my lip between my teeth. What the hell is he talking about?

  “The school can be kept afloat even if we’re not playing nanny to a bunch of magical time bombs,” Macombe insists. “That was fine when the founders of the academy needed to gain the Circuit’s trust to get started, but we have a good reputation now. We can stand on our own two feet; we don’t need to keep sitting on a disaster just waiting to happen!”

  I tap my fingers together, pulling on various scraps of knowledge stored in my brain to try to make sense of all this. I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think I’m starting to get an idea of what’s going on.

  Unpredictable magic users are frowned upon—thanks to my history class, I know that the prejudice against us has been around pretty much ever since the first Unpredictable manifested their powers. But then one day a long time ago, some group decided they wanted to start a school for those kinds of people to teach them how to control their magic. If the government said no, what might that group be willing to do to sway them?

  Would they be willing to, say, house and protect a bunch of dangerous artifacts in exchange for the right to start an academy for magical outcasts?

  Magic leaves a mark, a residue. That’s how the Circuit knows when someone’s had their first outburst of magic. It’s how Aurora knew about Maddy.

  My mind races as the pieces fly into place faster and faster. A bunch of magical artifacts, dangerous ones with lots of power, all stored in one place with wards to protect them and keep them locked down? The magical residue on all that must be insane. Anyone who came close would be able to tell that something was going on.

  If the Circuit tried to stick a bunch of artifacts like that in a warehouse, it would be like asking for some evil Indiana Jones wannabe to come in and try to take them. And there’d be no way to hide the objects. Everyone would be able to sense their magic and know something was up.

  But not if they stuck an entire school of Unpredictable magic users on top of it.

  In that scenario, our magical residue would cover up whatever magic the artifacts were giving off. Anyone who felt the aura would assume it was because of all the students, especially students with such strong and dangerous magic on their hands.

  It would keep the artifacts safer than they’d be anywhere else. Better disguised.

  That’s… kind of ingenious, I have to admit, although I’m not all that thrilled to know somewhere i
n this school there’s a vault with a bunch of… what was it Macombe said? Magical time bombs? Yeah, not happy to have that somewhere on the premises, just waiting for a student to let loose an errant sonic boom or something and accidentally set off a magical chain reaction.

  But it is pretty clever. And not all that surprising, in a way, especially since no one seems to think Unpredictables warrant the same protections other magic users do.

  I pull away from the door before any of them notice I’m here and bust me for it. I’ve been in enough hot water lately, and with all the heightened security right now, God knows what they’ll do if they find me eavesdropping.

  Shaking my head, I tiptoe quietly down the hall toward the infirmary.

  All the rest of this can wait. I need to tell the guys what I just learned, but right now, what matters most is Asher.

  I have to make sure he’s okay.

  Chapter 23

  When I enter the recovery ward, I see that Asher’s not the only one who’s still here on bed rest. It looks like about twenty students are laid up in the various beds, some just reading or on their phones, others sleeping.

  The woman at the front desk looks up as I enter.

  “Hi.” I try to give her a winning smile, but I think it falls flat. “I’m here to see Asher Prince? I’m his friend, Elliot Sinclair.”

  “This isn’t a hospital, you can just walk on in.” She purses her lips like she’s hiding a smile.

  Oh. “Right, then.”

  I visited my mom so often in the hospital, the routine is kind of second nature to me by now. But of course this isn’t the same as that. Ducking my head to hide my embarrassed flush, I walk quickly between the beds to get to Asher. He’s all the way in the back corner, and it looks like he’s asleep.

  Shit, he looks so exhausted and pale. I grab a chair and pull it up next to his bed, sitting down. Should I take his hand? Fuck, no, that would be too obvious. So I just sit here like an idiot, watching him.