Tells

by Scott Rhine

  While I completed both circles, my minions tore through the room like Santa’s elves on caffeine, sabotaging anything Miss C might find useful and camouflaging my tools. I thought long and hard about who would stand with me tomorrow. Luca was still too weak, and her geometry was crap. Though Blaise was devious, she didn’t have patience or stamina. From what I had gathered so far, a duel was a chess game where you had to expend more energy for each move than it took to jog up a flight of stairs.

  I announced my decision after we relocked the teacher’s lounge door. “Though you’re all worthy in your own rights, I choose Lilith to be my second for this duel. She doesn’t have a scholarship that can be endangered, and they can’t threaten her mother’s job to silence her.”

  “That’s okay,” said Blaise. “Tonight has been the most fun I’ve ever had at this school. Whatever happens, it was worth it.”

  I put my gloved hand out for a team moment. Instead of piling on, Luca grabbed my wrist. All four of us linked arms this way. “Rejects rule!”

  “Sisters!” said Lilith, almost glowing with pride.

  28. Duel

  Friday morning, Lilith gave me a spinner ring. It had a scripture written on it that rotated so I could read it—if I learned Hebrew. She told me it said something about the Lord being my strength. Allegedly, the more I spun the verse, the more it increased the chance that spirits would listen to my gestures during the duel. I thanked her profusely. Honesty, it worked as a fidget spinner to keep me from exploding from nerves while I waited.

  During Chemistry, Blaise bragged to everyone that I would be going toe-to-toe with a teacher. When the Cow gave us a pop quiz in Math, people figured out who my opponent was. She couldn’t shake me; though, several girls blamed me for the unexpected work.

  By lunch, girls were openly staring at me and gossiping. Our table was no exception. Blaise shared what she’d learned from her mother on the way into school that morning. “Miss C’s lockdown rating has nothing to do with her skill at magic. Someone without a Book can’t hope to compete with a real caster.”

  I sipped another pineapple soda from Lilith and passed out Pop Tarts. Most of their parents were health nuts who wouldn’t allow the treats in the house. “Then why does she teach this stuff if it’s so nerfed that no one can get hurt?”

  Luca fielded that one. “Because when the metaphysics department develops a new technique in low-power mode, everyone can use it. A battle that takes you minutes barehanded will be over in seconds with a Book, but the principles are the same.”

  “Metaphysics department?”

  “Miss C does theoretical math for the Council’s research branch,” Lilith said. “I’ve read her résumé.” Academics called it a CV, but I didn’t correct my friend. “She got her master’s degree in math at a free university in Germany because she’s poor.”

  “They’re all free there,” I explained. “My brother wants to go to Munich for his. Why would you say she’s poor?”

  Lilith leaned closer to whisper the juicy bits. “Her undergrad was free, too, because she’s one-quarter American Indian. It wasn’t the best school.”

  I snorted. “Hey. Having no student debt is good. She must know more than the average bear if the school picked her for the response team.”

  Blaise tried to speak without moving her lips because Bradstreet was staring at us. “That just means she has no kids or family of her own. Every minute she can talk to a shooter to delay them means fewer casualties from the student body.”

  I lost a little of my appetite and anger at this.

  Noticing my pensive mood, Luca nudged me. “Hey. The Cow still needs to be tipped for what she’s doing. Right?”

  “Yeah, but don’t call her that,” I said.

  Too late.

  Bradstreet walked by with a detention slip for Luca.

  “We need a nickname for the eavesdropper,” said Blaise.

  “Which one?” I asked, tapping my smartwatch.

  Blaise perked up. “Oh, that reminds me. When I told her there would be several surprises this afternoon, Mom wanted you to record the duel so our battle witches could analyze it.”

  “Sure. I’ll give Lilith the camera, and she can do the color commentary.” I stood up and closed my lunch bag.

  “Where are you going?” Luca asked.

  “The chapel to pray.” For the Cow and myself.

  Blaise nodded. “Like knights did before battle. Cool.”

  ****

  Lilith and I arrived at the teacher’s lounge early, and Coach Williams let us in. Miss C was still at lunch. I gathered all the gear we’d hidden around the room, and the coach laughed. Her coarse voice reminded me of drill sergeants in WWII movies. “So you’ve got a plan.”

  I placed my stupid glasses safely in their case. “When I fight, I either win or make sure the other person never bothers me again.”

  “I support that attitude, but what did Miss Math do to you?” I could tell she wanted to call off the event or resolve things. My anger amused her like toy tiger at an arcade.

  “It’s private.”

  “Well, if boys get into a fistfight, I make them do a few rounds in the boxing ring. That usually clears the air between them. I hope this does the same for you two. She says you have a lot of potential for someone so young.”

  Lilith shook her head in disgust.

  “What?” asked the coach.

  “Her age is irrelevant.” She did that sideways head bob I couldn’t manage. “Whenever you feel like adding a qualifier, try substituting ‘for a negro’ or ‘for a woman,’ and ask yourself if you’d slap a man for saying it.”

  Her defiance made the coach smirk. “Yeah. You think you can school me on affirmative action?” The door to the room opened, and a woman strode in. “We’ll talk about my qualifications some other time.”

  I almost didn’t recognize my opponent. Miss C wore a combat jumpsuit like the response team had. By the sunlight spilling in from the courtyard, I could see silvery glyphs sewn into the fabric. Though she may have been a little bottom-heavy, she had a lot of curves that her dowdy clothes normally hid. Her hair was up in a tight bun, and her glasses were nowhere to be seen. She carried in a bulging black gym bag like the protector trainees.

  I was just about to shake her hand and wish her luck when I spotted the Hula Hoop slung over her shoulder. It bore Hebrew lettering like my new spinner ring. “You got that idea from Dad, didn’t you?”

  Closing the door behind her, she sat her gear by the marked candle spot closest to the door. “Yes, yes, I did.”

  I felt so betrayed that I could barely form the words. “Last night? On the phone?”

  “You abandoned him. He needed someone to talk to.”

  I wanted to slap her, scratch her eyes, and make her cry. My right hand formed a fist. I had to behave myself because Lilith was already filming the drama. “I hope it won’t be too embarrassing when someone with a week’s training beats your extra-wide pants off.”

  The comment stung her. “I’ll take this end. Candice, close the curtains. I don’t want the other girls watching when I spank this brat.” After placing her candle, remarkably similar to mine, she began to do yoga stretches to warm up. She was actually pretty limber for someone her age and weight.

  Not wanting to be outdone, I positioned the candle from my backpack in the center of my hidden circle and showed off with some volleyball preliminaries. Lastly, I took the lid off the paint container and snapped on a fresh set of purple latex gloves from the box.

  “Are you ready?” Miss C asked. “Because this is going to happen really fast. I don’t want you crying foul later.”

  I gripped the Easter candlestand like a quarterstaff. “I won’t be the one crying.”

  Lilith snorted, sure what would happen next.

  We were both wrong. Mad Cow turned off the light switch behind her. She used the moment of surprise and total darkness to light her own candle with a snapping sound. Another device? It was probably on
e from an emergency response team kit.

  Fortunately, I’d spent a lot of time in near darkness in this room last night. My lighter responded a moment later. “I praise the crown of God, which reigns above all others.” This completed the first sphere of the Tree of Life.

  Her next move was to use the hoop as a template to chalk a bigger circle than the one I had painted in UV. Had she agreed to this duel just to have something to call my dad about? With a gesture of anger, my ward flared.

  “Holy crap? How did you do that?” asked the coach.

  Instead of answering, I toppled the paint can, spilling it over seven feet of bare floor.

  The coach rushed forward to stem the silver tide. “What the hell?”

  “Touch it, and you forfeit,” said Lilith said with glee.

  Coach froze and watched in horror as paint seeped into the beautiful wood flooring. “You’re cleaning every speck of it.”

  I seized my advantage and gushed the candlestand into the puddle of paint. As I stamped the next ring, I recalled my Kaballah notes. “I thank you, God, for the understanding you give us, the truth woven into every aspect of your creation.”

  My second ring flared white.

  The Coach said some four-letter words that would have netted us detention. “Can she do that?”

  I stamped my third ring an instant before the Cow finished her first. “I thank you God, for your wisdom, which confounds the most brilliant of men.”

  It was getting hot in here, so I took off my school jacket. While Cow spun up her Hula Hoop, I connected the three rings with a triangle as I’d done before. I wish I’d brought a bottle of water. The rapid charging of wards had left me dizzy and dehydrated. I couldn’t take so much from my own reserves. I needed to build up more slowly.

  The hoop left red-and-gold tracers in the air as she built up power. I spun my ring and prayed.

  Her first hand wave didn’t even ripple my candle’s flame. “What?”

  “Suck on that, old lady,” Lilith said.

  Miss C raised her arms for the megablast. I inked my stand and waited for the right moment. This time, papers flew around, and the empty paint bucket rolled to the back of the room. I had to lean into the wind. The assault dimmed my left ring, but I surged forward during her “reload” period to stamp Strength and Mercy. On my knees, I charged the circles, and my vision went white for an instant. This is the farthest I’d traveled last night. While gesturing to gather more power, I connected these spheres to the previous ones with my left fingertip. Magic surged through the entire circuit, stabilizing the damaged area. However, I had to crawl into the newest rank.

  “Are you alright, Isa?” Miss C asked.

  “Not quitting,” I said. I devoured a leftover Pop Tart.

  The Cow got sneaky. As I was recovering, she folded a paper airplane out of a piece of the ungraded science quizzes that had scattered on the floor. My candle was over four feet behind me, exposed. The plane arced toward it, so I jumped up to block.

  I managed to knock the missile out of the air but slid back two feet due to the rubber-band effect.

  “We need to record everything.” Coach Williams asked, “May I turn the lights back on for the sake of science?”

  My opponent and I replied, “Yes.”

  Trudging up to the front row was harder this time, but she didn’t know the pattern. Miss C aimed a blast at the left flank, the way I normally progress. However, the next sphere, Beauty, was in the center. My prayer of thanks for the beauty of creation became a whisper. I’m glad I didn’t have as far to crawl this time.

  Hulaing like crazy, she built up the biggest charge yet and waited for my move. I climbed to my feet and kicked my right clog toward her candle.

  She blocked, but I finished Majesty. Sweat was pouring off me, and I loosened the top couple buttons at my throat.

  “Isa, you really don’t look—”

  I launched my left shoe at her face and fell over, imprinting Endurance. The wet paint left a silver arc on my white shirt. I had to redraw a faded part of the sphere before connecting the dots. I had two spheres left, but I was three feet from the closest edge of her ward.

  For my ninth ward, I dug the volleyball out of my pack. Then I tossed it up and spiked hard. I bumped her candle, which rolled to the edge of the circle but didn’t go out.

  Williams chuckled. “Almost. Good one.”

  I used the distraction to stamp a weak Foundation and reach my arm forward limply to charge it to the minimum. I had to repeat myself twice before it flickered on.

  “Now it’s my turn.” When Miss C heaved the left clog at my candle, I swung the brass Easter candle stand like a bat. I connected, sending the wooden shoe through the frosted glass of the faculty-room door. Then the base of the candlestick followed, thundering across the floor like a bowling ball that had skipped into the wrong lane. The metal disc only halted when it embedded into the drywall.

  Both teachers looked at each other, trying not to laugh. “Oh, shit.”

  Lying on my side, I drew the missing lines. Only one circle remained, and I had no way to draw it. Worse, I had miscalculated and had no room for the final sphere of Kingdom. Drained, all I could do was dip my hand in fresh paint and inch my way into the ninth circle. The bungee cord wouldn’t stretch any further. I felt a dog on a leash barking at a cat who was inches out of range. With my left hand, I clutched my amulet of protection and prayed.

  I was saved by Hurricane Melisende, our beloved headmistress storming into the lounge. “What the bloody hell is the meaning of this?”

  Then I remembered the invisible circle I had drawn, currently inside Miss C’s ward. All I had to do was draw one line, a foot long, connecting my last circle to the UV one. While Bradstreet ripped us a new one, my hand slid forward a millimeter at a time. At last, I touched the border of last night’s circle and felt the tingle. “It is finished.”

  As I completed the pattern, the bell on the wall behind her head rang.

  “It’s too early for the next period.” Bradstreet glanced at the tiny Roman numerals on her Cartier wristwatch.

  The pressure released, and I snapped forward into the Cow’s ankles. She staggered back, avoiding Bradstreet, and knocked her candle into the hall. The light snuffed.

  “I’ll be damned,” said the coach wiping her hand through her hair. “She won.”

  Miss C said, “More importantly, when she finished her angelic pattern, the bell rang as a sign.”

  This speculation silenced everyone. The headmistress recovered first. “Girls, you need to clean up this mess immediately.”

  “Not yet. The Council experts will need examine the new ward type.” Miss C helped me to my feet. “The ten small units combine to form a huge sacred volume. This is like an inflatable tent. A bounce house that can fit a lot of people who may not be able to defend themselves. Genius.”

  “You allowed her to do this?” asked Bradstreet.

  “I bet her she couldn’t, and she was stubborn enough to prove me wrong.”

  Panting, I said, “Water.”

  “You’re out of uniform, child! Propriety.”

  Done taping, Lilith handed me my jacket. “Awesome. Just like you planned it.”

  The coach fetched me a drink from the fridge. Diet grapefruit soda sounds disgusting until you lose five pounds worth of sweat. I guzzled it in all its cold glory.

  “How did you subsume my circle?” asked Miss C. “I didn’t even know that was possible.”

  “A magician never reveals (burp) her secrets,” I said with a grin.

  Bradstreet crossed her arms. “Tell her, or you fail the class.”

  I pulled Miss C aside and whispered in her ear. “I drew two circles in here last night, one on each side. When I connected to mine, yours came along for the ride.”

  My Math teacher didn’t care about the breaking and entering. “That’s a major thautmaturgical breakthrough. If we can prove this in a paper—”

  “Later,” Bradstreet said. �
��Who’s paying for the window and the repairs to that brass thingy?”

  Covering a smile, Miss C said, “As the adult responsible, I can advance you the money. Isa’s father will probably want to pay part.”

  Coach cleared her throat. “It was my responsibility, too. Put me down for a third.”

  “Oh, you heathens! That’s the Easter candle. Who broke into the sanctuary to steal it?”

  “And into the teachers’ lounge to hide it,” added the coach. “This wasn’t a one-woman job. Security footage from last night showed four young ladies in black sneaking into the school.”

  Williams is the school’s protector, not just a trainer.

  Bradstreet looked like someone had lit the bow on the back of her dress. “How shall we punish these hooligans for irreverence and disrespect?”

  Before I could object, Miss C said, “Isa and her three companions will volunteer to deliver meals to the homeless tomorrow morning, starting at eight.”

  Since that’s what I had been planning anyway, I lowered my head in mock shame and surrender. Miss C must have known about Dad’s charity work. Why was she bailing me out?

  Unused to consequences, Lilith objected. “Why should I have to get up at an ungodly—”

  Bradstreet interrupted. “Seven it is.”

  I made a cut off gesture toward Lilith. She seethed but said nothing else.

  After the headmistress stormed off to her now windowless office, I whispered to my friend, “Suffering is good for the soul. Go tell Blaise what happened.”

  Lilith grimaced.

  “Give her a chance,” I said. “She’ll surprise you. If you showed her a few fashion tips, she’d be your friend for life.”

  “I suppose I—”

  Miss C interrupted. “We need to take Isa to the nurse’s office before someone has to carry her there. She should lie down a while.”

  Before I could object, Coach excused me from gym class.

  29. Zak Attack

  Miss C camped at the end of the exam bed while I got my strength back. “You have to learn to pace yourself. What were you so fired up about?”