Shifter In The Swamp (Academy of Necessary Magic Book 1)

by Martha Carr

  “All right.” Calsgrave and Ralthorn exchanged an amused glance, and the Illusions teacher stretched her hands out over the table to reach for Amanda’s. “Take my hands. Relax. Try to clear your mind. Think about reaching out to communicate with—”

  “My ancestors. Yeah, I know.” Shifting around in the chair, Amanda wiped her palms on her pant legs and took the teacher’s hands. “Do I have to say anything specific, or…”

  “Nope. We have everything we need right here, and I’ll direct the energies so they flow through you. Ready?”

  Whatever that means. “Sure.”

  Calsgrave closed her eyes and muttered the same wordless chant under her breath. Amanda cracked her eyelids open and studied the table covered in black velvet and lace, white candles, and an actual crystal ball half-buried in more cloth. “What’s the crystal ball for?”

  “Sometimes it helps with remote viewing.”

  “What?”

  “Shh. Focus on your ancestors.” Calsgrave took up her chanting again, and Amanda gently closed her eyes.

  This doesn’t feel like a real thing. I could blow out a huge sigh, and she’d say spirits were trying to get through.

  Before she could laugh at her thought, a cold tingle raced up her hands and into her arms. Calsgrave gasped and released Amanda’s hands, her eyes flying open. “Oh. That was… Ms. Ralthorn, hand me that unlit candle if you would.”

  “Of course.” Ralthorn grabbed the thick silver candle from a crate behind the table and handed it over.

  “What was that?” Amanda asked, studying her hands.

  “Extremely energetic activity, Miss Coulier.” Calsgrave’s eyes were wide with excitement as she offered the girl a box of matches. “Someone really wants to speak with you.”

  “Huh.”

  “Light the candle. Hurry.”

  After a glance over her shoulder—where Grace nodded in encouragement and Summer rolled her eyes—Amanda struck one of the matches and lit the silver candle.

  “Now, focus again on making that connection,” Calsgrave muttered. “This is wonderful. Excellent work. We definitely want to keep going.”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “That little flare between our hands says otherwise, Miss Coulier.” Calsgrave nodded. “Try again. Focus a little more this time.”

  This is nuts. Amanda closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Okay, ancestors. Whoever you are. I’ve never met you, but if you’re trying to show up and give me a message, now’s pretty much the only time I—

  The flame on the silver candle erupted and grew to a full foot in height, making Ralthorn leap back in her chair with a shriek. Now more students were getting interested in Calsgrave’s ritual table, and they slowly made their way toward Amanda’s not-so-private séance with whatever ancestors made the candle freak out.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Keep going.” Calsgrave stared at the massive flame. “This is—”

  A thick pillar of green-gray smoke burst from the silver candle, rising high and fanning out to create a roughly circular cloud in the air. Amanda instinctively reached into her hoodie pocket to feel the purple crystal there and instantly regretted it. Because the second her fingers touched the buzzing surface of the magic-amplifying stone, it amplified the message from her ancestors with full force, not only for her to receive but for everyone watching to see for themselves.

  Green light flickered inside the thick cloud as the silver candle sputtered and shot flames higher above the table. A strong gust of wind kicked up, ruffling the pages of Calsgrave’s open black book until she slammed it shut. Then a howl rose from the green-flashing smoke before three faces appeared in it.

  No.

  Amanda felt like her heart would explode when she saw the faces of her parents and her sister Claire in the thick cloud. They did not look happy to see her.

  Blood matted both of her parents’ hair, their eyes sunken and dark as they turned to fix their daughter with warning stares.

  “Oh my…” Calsgrave breathed. “These spirits are not at rest, Miss Coulier. Ask them what they want.”

  Of course, they’re not at rest. They were murdered.

  Amanda immediately let go of the purple crystal in her pocket, but it didn’t reverse the effects of this visit from her dead family members. “W-what do you want?”

  “Danger,” her father said, his voice breaking through the cloud as if from miles away instead of three feet in front of her.

  “Grave mistake,” her mom added, lifting a finger to point at Amanda.

  “You must fix it.”

  “Before it’s too late.”

  “Don’t waste any more time.”

  Amanda swallowed and couldn’t find her voice. This was what her parents’ spirits came back to tell her? That everything she was doing was a mistake? “I don’t get it. What mistake?”

  One of the students gathered around the table gasped and pointed at the silhouette of Amanda’s sister within the cloud. “Holy crap, that’s you! It’s Amanda!”

  Right on cue, the image of Amanda’s twin sister Claire solidified within the smoke, and Amanda stared in horror. She hadn’t had a chance to see her sister like this the night the crime ring known as the Boneblade broke into her house and murdered her family. She’d had a bag shoved over her head before those assholes knocked her out, tied her up, and took her across New York. Now she saw her sister’s face, eyes wide in terror, hair also matted with blood, and the side of her face singed from some asshole magical’s fiery attack.

  “Take it back,” Claire said.

  The wind howled and kicked up, making everyone around the table stumble against each other.

  “Before it’s too late for you!” Claire screamed. “It’s too dangerous—”

  “Okay!” Ms. Calsgrave stood abruptly and shoved everything off the table—the black cloth, the silver candle, and her black book. The second everything toppled into the grass, the candle’s flame snuffed out. So did the thick cloud of smoke that had channeled Amanda’s most immediate family members—not her ancestors. The wind died instantly, and Calsgrave dusted off her hands. “I think we’ve had quite enough of that. Thank you, Miss Coulier. Next!”

  “Um…” Grace stared at the now bare table in front of their teacher. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Well… Maybe we’ll take a fifteen-minute break.” Calsgrave smiled weakly at the students standing in line. “Go have a piece of pie or something. Miss Coulier, can I talk to you for a moment?”

  Crap.

  “Okay.” Amanda stood and watched Calsgrave stalk off toward the main building.

  “Amanda, that was nuts,” Grace said breathlessly. “Was that real?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Why were you in that smoke all bloody and—”

  “I don’t know. Gotta go. Sorry.” She met Summer’s gaze and nodded for the girl to come with her as she turned to follow Ms. Calsgrave.

  “Damn, shifter girl.” Summer grinned at her. “You have some seriously fucked-up ancestors.”

  “Those were my parents,” Amanda muttered and whipped the crystal out of her pocket to hand it over. “I think this had something to do with it. I forgot I had it. So just…take it, okay?”

  “Uh-huh.” Summer absently let the crystal drop into her palm and stared at her friend. “Did you say your parents?”

  Amanda swallowed thickly and pointed at the main building. “I should go. Don’t tell anyone else.”

  “Yeah, I don’t even know what I’d say…”

  The shifter girl jogged away from the field, trying to drown out the dozens of conversations from the shocked and confused students about what they’d seen. She could hear all of it.

  I can’t tell them that wasn’t me. Then I’ll have to get into the whole thing about my family and having a dead twin and how the heck I ended up here afterward. How did this happen?

  She finally reached Ms. Calsgrave, who’d stopped outside the
main building's front doors to get them far enough away for a private talk. The teacher seemed a lot more pulled together now that she’d had a moment to herself.

  “That was a powerful message, Amanda.”

  “You said this was for connecting with our ancestors.”

  “I did, and it is. Your parents happen to fall into that category.”

  “A little warning would’ve been nice.”

  Calsgrave shook her head and drew a deep breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t stop to consider the fact that would happen for you. Honestly, that was the clearest interaction I’ve seen with spirits from the other side. Do you have any idea how that was possible?”

  Amanda stuck her hands in her pockets and tried to make her frown look convincingly clueless. “Nope.”

  Summer has the crystal, so the teachers can search me all they want.

  “Okay. Well, it would make sense that you had such a strong connection tonight because of how recently your parents passed. Who was the girl? The one who looked like you, only…” Calsgrave didn’t have to say “dead” or “bloody” or “terrifying.” All that had been clear to everyone who’d seen the spirits of Amanda’s murdered family members.

  “That was Claire,” Amanda muttered, trying to swallow that thick lump in her throat again. “My twin.”

  “I see.” Calsgrave’s mouth popped open, and she struggled with finding something else to say.

  “Sorry about crashing the Halloween party. Samhain party. Whatever.”

  “No, don’t be sorry. That wasn’t your fault. I… Well, honestly, I had no idea anything quite like that was possible. If you’d like to talk more about what happened—”

  “I don’t, but thanks.” Amanda stared at the grass and kicked the sole of her sneaker back and forth across the blades. “I’m gonna go lie down or something.”

  “Sure. Of course. I’ll be at my table for the rest of the night. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

  “Yep.” She tried to smile at the teacher as Ms. Calsgrave set a gentle hand on her shoulder, then the woman walked quickly back toward the central field to pick up where she’d left off.

  No one else is gonna have anywhere near the same kind of connection. Wish I’d found a dead body instead of seeing Mom and Dad like that.

  Trying to push the image of her parents and sister out of her mind, Amanda took off through the buildings and headed for her favorite spot behind the outdoor cafeteria. At the very least, she could hang out beneath the mangroves and think of something else—anything else—before heading to bed. It would probably be impossible to get to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  She stayed out there by the edge of the swamp through the rest of the Halloween party, listening to the conversations and the dancing and laughter slowly die out as the students turned in for the night or headed somewhere else in small groups. No one came looking for her until almost midnight, and the only one who tried turned out to be Summer.

  Amanda heard her coming although the other girl tried to be quiet and sneaky. “I’m fine.”

  “Oh, yeah. Obviously. You came out here to spend the rest of a Friday night with some trees and stinking saltwater.”

  “There’s some mud too.” Amanda grabbed a handful of the thick mud at her side before slopping it back onto the bank.

  “Fun.” Summer stopped beside her and lowered herself to the ground.

  “Did you do the whole ‘talk to your family’s ghosts’ thing too?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I didn’t touch the crystal at the same time, so I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who saw or heard what I did.”

  “I had no idea that would happen.”

  “I know.”

  The girls sat silently for a moment, listening to the wind through the cattails and the occasional skitter and plop of some nocturnal creature moving through the swamp.

  “So what the hell was all that about with the ghosts?” Summer asked. “Like, some creepy future version of you if you don’t ‘fix the mistake?’”

  She tried to make a joke out of it, but Amanda could only sigh morosely and shake her head. “That was my sister.”

  “Whoa. For real?”

  “Yeah. Claire.” The shifter girl clenched her eyes shut and swallowed. “I thought ghosts or spirits or whatever only looked like that in movies.”

  “Calsgrave said they weren’t at rest yet, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What…” Summer tossed her bangs out of her eyes and stared out at the dark swamp. “What happened?”

  Amanda twisted to look up at her. “If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone else. I haven’t actually… I mean, I haven’t talked about it. ’Cause it’s—”

  “Shitty?”

  A wry chuckle burst from the shifter girl’s lips. “Yeah, you could say that.”

  “Don’t worry about it, shifter girl. If anyone can handle shitty, it’s me. I was raised on it, so…”

  “Okay, okay.” Amanda wrung her hands in her lap and wrinkled her nose as she studied the dark shadows of the trees playing across the moon’s reflection on the water. “My family was killed in May.”

  “This last May?”

  “Yep.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Some crime ring or gang or whatever. I guess they found out about my family. That we’re shifters. I’m pretty sure they tried to take Claire and me, but my parents fought back. Didn’t help. I’m the only one who made it out after that, and it wasn’t ’cause I ran away.”

  “Damn.”

  Amanda shook her head. “Next thing I knew, I woke up in this gross basement. Like, in a cell. Bunch of other girls passed out in other cells. Kidnapped. I almost escaped once.”

  “For real?” Summer’s eyes widened. “How’d you do that?”

  “Shifted and tore a guy’s throat out. Crashed the van we were in.”

  “Holy shit.” The other girl playfully slapped Amanda’s shoulder with the back of a hand. “I knew you were badass.”

  “I guess. Still got caught again, though. Turns out these guys were kidnapping girls from all over the place to sell us. Obviously, that didn’t happen to me.”

  Summer didn’t have anything to say to that but kept listening.

  “Johnny’s the one who found me before I ended up somewhere horrible. He and Lisa. She’s a Fed.”

  “Magical?”

  “Yep.” Amanda stripped a handful of grass from the earth and chucked it at the water. “Then he kinda took me in. So that’s where I’m from. I haven’t been back to my old house since those assholes mur—since they did what they did to my family. I knew they were gone. I wanted to stay with Johnny, and he let me. Then I wanted to come here.”

  “Shit.” Summer ran a hand through her hair and let out a heavy sigh. “I had no idea.”

  “Yeah, most people don’t. I kinda wanna keep it that way.”

  “I totally understand. I would too.” Summer smirked. “Makes you way more badass than I ever expected, though.”

  “Feels more depressing than anything else, honestly.”

  “Yeah, but you’re not depressing. You’re here. Those weenies out in the field were screaming their heads off because actual ghosts showed up, and you sat there like it was no big deal.”

  Amanda shrugged. “I’m pretty sure I was in shock.”

  “Ha. Yeah, probably.”

  “So what did you see with your ‘ancestor-ritual’ thing?”

  Summer grimaced and leaned back to prop herself up with her hands in the grass. “My grandma. You know, the one I said would probably cuss everyone out and start throwing shit.”

  “Is that what happened?”

  “I mean, you know… Yeah. She basically told me a bunch of crap about how much of a failure I am and no wonder my parents don’t wanna talk to me and I should go blah, blah, blah. I’m the only one who saw it, though. Told Calsgrave I saw some beautiful lady with flowing locks saying she was here to guide me toward my life’s purpose. Sh
e ate that up like candy.”

  Amanda snorted, then they both cracked up laughing.

  When they quieted, Summer tilted her head back and forth. “Not nearly as crazy as having my whole family murdered, though.”

  Hearing that sentence out loud made Amanda freeze. No one had said that before—that they’d been murdered. Not Johnny, not Lisa, not even Amanda herself. Because that finally made it officially real.

  “I’m trying to move past it, you know?”

  “Who wouldn’t?”

  “That is why I came here, Summer. Why I actually wanna be here. I have to get better at everything there is to learn here so I can make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to some other kid. Who knows? Maybe my family’s spirits will fizzle out and quit being so creepy at Halloween parties.”

  Summer snorted. “That’s probably a good start. So you are into this whole bounty hunter thing, huh?”

  “Yep. That’s exactly what I’m gonna do when I graduate.”

  “I mean, it’s cool that you know. Not like I had much choice coming here, but hey. There’s still plenty of time for me to figure out what I wanna do after school. Still haven’t made up my mind about the whole bounty hunter thing yet. I’m pretty sure I’ll end up doing something in explosives. Probably.”

  Amanda tried to shoot the other girl a warning glance but burst out laughing instead. “Follow your passions, I guess. Right?”

  “Yeah, right down into a secret temple under the swamp.”

  After the Halloween party, Amanda was more hesitant to touch the stone she and Summer had found. She still took it for Illusions and Augmented Technology, but it stayed in her pocket, and she had to actively force herself not to stick her hands in her pockets too.

  Thin veil between worlds or not, I’ll never be able to focus and get better at magic here if I get another visit from Mom, Dad, and Claire. Who told me I’m making a mistake. Did they mean I’m not supposed to be at the Academy?

  Besides the occasional run as a wolf after slipping through the hole in the dorm’s wards—and even those were short and vigorous, spending all her extra energy so she could get to sleep—the only other effective way to distract herself from thinking about her family was watching Louper practice. Oddly enough, watching the team train with the headsets as their magical avatars helped calm her down and focus her mind. Mr. LeFor took notice of the young shifter girl sitting against the wall of the training building to watch the small projection of the team’s virtual field, but he didn’t tell her to leave. David, the team captain, didn’t say anything to her about it either, most likely because Summer had made her point at the Halloween party and also because Amanda wasn’t disturbing the team’s practices.