Into the Gray

by Geanna Culbertson

  Lapellius.

  In an instant, the hairpin grew until it was my full-sized Fairy Godmother wand. I twirled the wand, gliding it across my fingers with the familiarity of an old friend.

  I’d had the trusty tool for over ten years. It was given to me by my godmother Emma, who was also the famous Fairy Godmother of my mother Cinderella. Emma had been dismissed from the Fairy Godmother Agency a long time ago for disagreeing with Lena Lenore’s strict conduct and ruthlessness. Now she was retired and living in the kingdom of Ravelli.

  When Fairy Godmothers retired they usually got to keep a little magic, but since she’d been fired, Emma’s had been stripped away. Luckily, before her termination Emma asked fellow Fairy Godmother friend Paige Tomkins to do her a couple of favors. One was to enchant Emma’s wand with the ability to transform into any weapon that its wielder willed. The second favor was concealing the transfer of a spark of Emma’s magic into me.

  Neither Godmother knew that this spark would manifest into Pure Magic. They’d only transferred me the power so I could operate the wand. Wands did not hold any power; they merely conducted it. Fairy Godmothers couldn’t utilize magic without them, and each unique Godmother’s wand worked by recognizing her specific magic. Hence, only I could work the enchantment on Emma’s wand because only I had a spark of her magic.

  I loved that aspect of the weapon. It meant it was just mine and no one else’s. Plus, it was super convenient to carry around since the nifty thing shrank back to hairpin size at the command word Lapellium.

  Sparring with my wand had always brought me a lot of joy. And with all the real-life practice I’d gotten, I was now much more skilled at utilizing its full potential.

  Spear.

  My wand extended to my favorite weapon, and the one I was most capable with. Daniel still held a sword from the weapon wall, but the inevitability was coming. I counted in my head.

  Six, seven, eight . . .

  FLASH!

  Eight seconds. I’d been timing it. That’s how long it took for any sword Daniel held to magically transform into the cursed blade from Camelot. It was really too bad Daniel was so dang talented with a sword. Maybe he wouldn’t be in this mess if he were an axe or a knife guy. But Daniel was one of the best swordsmen I’d ever seen. I garnered that’s one of the reasons the magic sword had been drawn to him.

  Daniel twirled his blade with the same ease I felt with my wand. “I have to say, I was kind of worried about keeping this sword after I found it on Avalon,” he said. “But it’s kind of cool to have a magic weapon bonded to you. Now I know how you feel with your wand.”

  My stomach lurched. Merlin and I were going to have a serious talk in Camelot tomorrow. I couldn’t take this much more—watching Daniel cavort about in combat with a weapon he was cursed to kill his one true love with.

  “You don’t question why it’s bonded to you?” I asked.

  “Of course I do. And maybe one of these days we can ask one of our Camelot friends about it. But for now, I definitely feel like it makes me stronger. And if Blue came back from Camelot with mutant monster powers and Kai gained levitation magic, and they’re both fine, then I think a souvenir sword from Avalon shouldn’t hurt me. I’ve never had a sword this nice before and I like it.”

  Ugh. I might not even have to worry about the antagonists’ plans destroying me if this didn’t get taken care of soon. Powers of life or not, I was sure the guilt of this secret was going to erode my insides.

  “Same rules as always?” he asked, raising his blade.

  “We don’t play by any rules.”

  “Exactly,” he said.

  I pushed past my anxieties and forced a smile. If I hesitated, Daniel would notice something was bothering me, so I charged. Daniel evaded my spear and swooped around my other side. I spun as he drove in. I blocked. We moved across the arena—a fluid, violent dance of energy, moves, and countermoves.

  The cursed blade gave Daniel’s profound talent an extra oomph, but I was strong in my own right from years of hard work and passionate practice. I was not afraid of Daniel’s skill or magical sword. Even as his blade came within inches of me, and my muscles strained, I could not keep a genuine satisfied grin from creeping across my face. I loved this. And I loved how Daniel challenged me. One look at the matching smile he wore and I knew he felt the same way.

  “You should wear a dress,” Kai said firmly, standing behind me in our walk-in closet. “It’s a date. On dates you wear dresses.”

  “Said my grandmother,” Blue retorted. “You have to take a dragon to get there. Wearing a dress would be awkward as all heck.”

  I considered banging my head into the wall. As the only one of us with any dating experience, Kai was trying to be helpful as I prepared for my night with Chance. Blue simply had a lot of opinions, which she was contributing just as easily. Both girls’ commentary was driving me crazy though.

  “Don’t you two have to be downstairs for dinner?” I said, pointing at the clock in our bathroom. “Come on, give me a break.”

  “Ugh, fine. We’ll go,” Blue said. “But one more thing.”

  “What?”

  “You’re going on a date!” she teased in a singsong voice. “Crisa’s going to be dated.”

  “Your face is going to be dated if you don’t leave,” I huffed angrily.

  Blue shot me a surprised look.

  Ugh. What did that insult even mean?

  “Sorry.” I sighed. “I’m just having second thoughts.”

  “About Chance?” Blue asked in her regular voice.

  “About this in general,” I said. “Going on a date. I know this kind of stuff is supposed to be normal for seventeen-year-olds. I know we’re supposed to think about boys and get excited about spending time with them and dream of our Prince Charmings, but I don’t play that. I never have. To me, boys are just people. Daniel and Jason and Chance might be good-looking, but I’m not actively trying to pursue them. They’re just there. Maybe I’m a defective teenager or something, but this doesn’t come naturally to me.”

  Blue put her hand on my shoulder. “You’re not defective, Crisa. There are different kinds of girls. In all honesty, I might love staring at hot guys and commenting on them, but I would be equally nervous if I ever had a date with one. I’d probably say something stupid and climb into a tree if a boy even asked me out. I’ve got kind of a look-but-don’t-touch mentality about it. Dating is scary because it’s a transition into growing up. Some people grow up faster than others. There’s nothing wrong with that, just like there’s nothing wrong with a girl who isn’t ready for it.”

  “But . . .” Kai interceded. “Being nervous is not a good enough reason to call things off. Crisa, do you like Chance as a person?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you find him attractive?”

  I shrunk into myself a bit and gulped from the embarrassment, but nodded. “Yes.”

  “Then step outside your comfort zone and try something new. I respect that you’re different, but Chance is a nice guy and he could make you happy. Dating isn’t that hard. It’s simply spending time with someone you like, usually doing an activity you both enjoy.”

  I didn’t necessarily buy the logic. By that rationale, I’d just come from a date with Daniel. I did, however, appreciate Blue’s honesty. She understood. Kai was too experienced in the boyfriend-girlfriend world to relate to my present situation—though she was right about feeling nervous not being a good enough reason to call things off.

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath. “I can do this. You two go. I’ll find something to wear on my own. I need to mentally prepare myself.”

  My roommates wished me good luck and departed as I continued searching through my closet. I passed over countless dresses and jackets and leggings, sure I would never find anything suitable. Then I spotted it. My face brightened as I pulled out the perfect outfit. It was a white jumpsuit with an illusion neckline that bridged into a halter. Attaching at the waist with a glittery bel
t, an overlay sheer skirt trailed off the back of the outfit like a cape—the material decorated with crystals and sparkling blackbirds. One side of that sheer material went up the front of the dress, extending blackbirds like a sash up to the neckline. Paired with my black ankle boots, it was a seamless look. I felt comfortable, cute, and like myself. And it was dragon-friendly.

  That stressful selection out of the way, I had a little time to kill before I was supposed to meet Chance. I sat at my desk and pulled a few textbooks out of my book bag.

  Yes, I am going to do homework before my first date.

  No, I am not losing it. I am being productive.

  I tore through my Fairytale History homework—coming up with four ways that could have broken the spell the Swan Princess had been under, which kept turning her into the same darn bird every evening.

  Channeling my inner SJ, I remembered a potion for animal-to-human transformations and another for revealing one’s true nature. I journeyed to her bookshelf across the room and thumbed through several indexes before I found the book with the desired potions and copied down the ingredients.

  For my other two solutions on the assignment I simply wrote: “Kill the dude who cast the spell” and “Find the person that the dude who cast the spell loves most and threaten to kill them if the dude doesn’t undo it.”

  Kind of dark, I know, but Madame Barnum did say it could be anything.

  Knowing our ladylike faculty, I probably wouldn’t get full credit for these responses, but I was not going to tone down my solutions for the sake of putting on airs. I knew for a fact that the last option was the ultimate form of manipulation. It could break even the most defiant person. Arian and his cronies had used that exact method against me so I’d play into their hands. As a result, I was significantly more at risk with my Pure Magic than I had been weeks ago.

  Until recently our enemies had been operating under the assumption that because of my honor-bound, bleeding-heart princess nature, I would fulfill my prophecy in a way that spelled out their demise—hence all the attempts at my murder. But with me becoming so powerful, they’d decided to change tactics. Now they intended for me to fall victim to my corruptible Pure Magic so that the other interpretation of my fate would be enacted.

  As part of this plan, recently they’d tricked me into giving into my power’s darker side several times, including killing Parker and almost killing Madame Alexanders.

  While I was committed to reining in that side of myself, my magic felt hungrier since the incident. And the magic hunter murder made Arian and Nadia confident that my doom—and their success—was inevitable. I didn’t believe them completely, but would be lying to myself if denied that I’d been more afraid since then. My enemies had put a fissure in my soul and they intended to expand it until it broke me entirely. Was I really strong enough to stop them? To stop me?

  I leaned back in my desk chair and fingered my quill. My friends (except for maybe Kai) believed in me. I was not an inherently dark person, and I had faith in myself and my judgment for the most part. But I was concerned about how I’d handle my magic if I was in mortal danger again, if I was threatened. And then there was the Lady of the Lake . . .

  The price for taking Excalibur from Avalon was a life-altering poor decision, which I’d already paid. When I violated the advised rules of Pure Magic in a massive way to wake the dragon in Century City—the Lady of the Lake had appeared and told me my debt for claiming Excalibur was fulfilled. Which meant somehow, someway, what happened in the capital that day would negatively impact the rest of my future. Hence the question—had that one choice that I’d made to save Kai set me on the path toward evil?

  I trained with Liza. I utilized control. I had a fight-on natural attitude and the support of many people. Did none of that matter because of the choice I’d made in Century City, or was that decision going to bite me in the butt some other way I had not yet conceptualized?

  With a sigh, I closed my textbook and filed away my homework.

  I knew the future could play out in a myriad of ways, many of which were unexpected, but the Lady of the Lake haunted me. So much so that I’d kept her appearance in Century City a secret because I was afraid if I told my friends, they would look at me like Lenore or Merlin did—with a lot less certainty about the girl I would become.

  My Mark Two rang on the corner of my desk. Glad for the distraction, I flipped it open. SJ’s face filled the looking glass and like a ray of sun in the aftermath of a storm, my dark perspective felt lighter.

  “Hey!”

  “Hello, Crisa. Did I catch you at a good time?”

  “I have a few minutes before my date with Chance.” My smile faded. “That’s not why you’re calling, is it? I’ve been bombarded by our friends all day.”

  “Oh no,” SJ replied. “When you and Blue called the other day and she blurted out the news, I could sense you were not the most keen on dwelling on it. You can tell me about the experience when you come to Camelot this weekend if you like, but I will not press for details.”

  “Wow. Thanks, SJ. I appreciate that.”

  SJ smiled. “Please, I have known you for years. You are like a deer in the woods when it comes to addressing personal issues. People cannot come at you straight on because you startle so easily.”

  “SJ, I think that is an insult. I am most certainly not like a deer in the woods.”

  My friend tilted her head to the side and corrected herself. “You are like a deer in the woods with a cannonball launcher. Vulnerable but also deadly.”

  I mulled over the comparison then shrugged. “All right, I’ll take that. Now what’s up?”

  “A quick favor,” SJ replied. “In the bottom right drawer of my desk there is a big red folder. It will not fit through my enchanted sack like the other items I have needed from school, and I do not want to risk tearing what is inside. Can you bring the folder to me when you, Blue, and Jason come to Camelot tomorrow?”

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  “Wonderful.” She looked off-mirror. “Now I have to go. I left the cauldron on and I do not want anything to boil over. You do not want to be late for a very important date either. Good night, Crisa. Remember, deep breaths.”

  “Thanks, SJ,” I said, smiling. “Good night.”

  I shut the compact and centered myself. The second hand on the clock ticked itself toward the turn of the hour. It was time for the moment of truth. It was time for my first date.

  n the past, I’d only left campus while school was in session for three reasons: my friends and I were going AWOL for a quest, I was being banished and sent home, or I had Twenty-Three Skidd practice. Never would I have imagined that the fourth reason would be for a date.

  I’d left Lucky on the front lawn of Lady Agnue’s after we’d returned from practice. The guards had gotten used to him by now, and he didn’t bother anyone. Honestly, if he wasn’t training with the heroes at Lord Channing’s, he just idled about in the grass. His laziness was one of the traits I loved most about him.

  I hopped onboard Lucky and we spiraled into the sky. Like the ripple of a refrigerator plunging through a lake, we phased through the In and Out Spell over the school with a big disruption of magic. I glanced back at the effect. It was beautiful, especially against the sunset-soaked sky. The days were lengthening as summer neared; even at seven o’ clock, the world was still visible under a screen of pastel orange and lavender. The glow of these blushing colors graced the forest in a sleepy shade, and the remaining sun cast golden glimmers on the edges of various Lord Channing’s buildings.

  I spotted Chance waiting on the ground by the Shining Ward. Lucky and I descended. My pet landed with a large flap of his wings that caused the surrounding grass to rustle. The prince strode over. He looked good, but he always did. I usually only saw him in Twenty-Three Skidd gear or in formal ball attire though. Tonight he wore beige pants and a pale blue dress coat with tails, a gold satin collar, and gold cuff links and fringe epaulets. There was no mistaking
him for a prince, but perhaps one that wasn’t trying too hard anymore.

  “I’m glad you didn’t back out,” he said.

  “You thought I would?”

  “I thought it would cross your mind.”

  I looked away sheepishly, patted Lucky’s neck so he’d lower it, then slid off and landed next to Chance. “You have to understand,” I said. “This whole dating thing isn’t my jam. I don’t have a handle on it.”

  “Considering my only long-term relationship was with Mauvrey, and I didn’t know she was actually two girls in one, I wouldn’t say I have a handle on it either,” Chance replied.

  He said it with a smirk, so I knew it was a joke, but he did bring up a curious topic.

  “Does that weird you out?” I asked. “That antagonist girl, Tara, we told you about may be the person we’ve all come to know as Mauvrey. But the real Mauvrey is asleep in a curse right now and she could literally be anyone. You two were a thing for years.”

  Chance thought for a moment. “I was a different person then, so I guess it works out that she wasn’t who she said she was either. Honestly, I’d rather put it behind me. I don’t think you’re supposed to talk about ex-girlfriends on first dates anyway.”

  “Especially if those ex-girlfriends tried to kill your new date several times over.”

  “Exactly.”

  We both smiled at my inappropriate homicide joke. I shifted my weight awkwardly in the ensuing silence. “So . . . what’s on the agenda for tonight?” I eventually asked.

  Chance’s smile was so wide and sly that I was immediately intrigued. “You’ll see,” he said. “But we have to hurry. It’ll take us a little under half an hour to get to the next kingdom by dragon.”

  “Salinas?”

  “Yup. Mind if I drive? We’re going somewhere specific.”

  I shrugged. “Go ahead.”

  Chance climbed on Lucky and I followed. Many guys at Lord Channing’s had learned how to fly my dragon under Daniel’s and Jason’s guidance and supervision. I trusted Chance to get us there, even if it meant going against my natural instinct to take the lead. I held onto Chance as Lucky took flight, my sheer skirt full of glittering blackbirds fluttering behind me like the world’s coolest cape.