by Wendi Wilson
Dimples grooved into his cheeks as he smiled brightly and said, “That’s my girl.”
A streak of warmth shot through me at the praise, making me more determined than ever to do my best. It was a strange feeling, but I wanted to make him proud.
I spent the rest of our session conjuring different items. I created a stack of blank papers, then another with words written on them, thinking of the times Celeste, Rowan, and Finn told me the paper they used was made of synthetic materials. Lies, obviously, but I wasn’t upset. I would’ve thought they were insane and would never have come to Oberon Academy if they told me the truth.
I started feeling a bit tired, so I conjured a chair. It appeared with plush cushions and a high back, and I plopped into it with a contented sigh. Cris cocked his head at me, but didn’t comment as he let me have a few moments rest.
“What about living things?” I asked.
“Didn’t you conjure vines to pull out the window and launch Sebille out of the building?”
“I don’t know,” I said, thinking on it. “I kind of assumed they’d already existed and I just called them to me. I guess it’s possible, but I was thinking more like animals. Could someone, for instance, conjure a puppy?”
His lips turned up at the corners, but his eyes held a hint of sadness.
“Never had a pet?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Besides the fact that pets are so rare, and they cost a small fortune, moving from foster family to foster family meant I never had a home, or any of the perks that came with it. I’ve never even seen a real dog, or a cat, or any other domesticated animal. Just pictures.”
He scrubbed a hand down his face and cleared his throat before saying, “Well, conjuring animals is frowned upon. While not technically illegal, it’s considered taboo because like higher beings, animals have souls, and it’s impossible to conjure a soul. So if you do possess the ability and bring an animal into being, it wouldn’t have one. It would be an empty shell, living and breathing but lifeless, just the same.”
“I understand,” I said, knowing I would never create something like that.
“I think that’s enough for today,” he said, then pointed at the chair I was sitting in. “Think you can get rid of that?”
I shrugged and stood, imagining the chair gone, zipping back into nonexistence. It took a few seconds, but eventually faded from view.
“What about these?” Cris said, holding up the chocolate bars and the papers.
“You can keep the paper,” I said, grabbing the chocolate from his hand. “I’ll be taking these with me.”
He laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “See you later, December.”
I waved and left the gym, feeling light like I was walking on clouds. I’d done it. I’d figured out conjuration and had done a pretty darn good job at it.
It made me wonder what else I could do.
Chapter 22
“Ooh, chocolate! Thanks, bestie!”
I slipped into my chair after dumping the chocolate bars on the middle of the table top. Easton pushed a tray of food in front of me as he leaned over and brushed his lips against my cheek. I shot him a smile of gratitude and picked up the greasy cheeseburger, taking a big bite.
“Where did you get these?” Charles asked, plucking one from Shaela’s hand, earning him a disgruntled growl. “I tried to buy some from the student store yesterday and they said they were all out.”
He handed the bar back to his girlfriend, who thanked him with a pleased smile. Watching them across the table, I felt my own lips turning up at the corners. They were so stinking cute together, I could hardly stand it.
I swallowed the food in my mouth and took a drink of water before answering, “I conjured them.”
Silence. The thick kind that reeked of shock and disbelief.
“What?” I asked, looking at each of their slack-jawed faces. I glanced at Easton, whose expression mirrored theirs. “What?”
“You conjured these?” Easton asked. “All of them?”
“Yeah,” I said. “And paper and a comfy chair. But I made the chair disappear before I left the gym.”
The three of them continued to gape at me, making me shift uncomfortably in my seat.
“Why are you guys staring at me like that?”
“D, this is some serious high-level magic,” Shaela said, her eyes like saucers.
“But…Cris made it seem like it was a normal everyday thing. And we’re starting work on elemental magic and conjuration next week in gym class,” I said. “I saw an announcement posted to the gymnasium door this afternoon.”
I was rambling, my words gaining in speed and pitch as they poured from my mouth. The thought of me being able to do something else the others couldn’t do filled me with panic. There were already enough reasons for me to be set apart from everyone else. I looked different, I was raised different, my elemental magic was different…now my other abilities seemed to be different, as well.
“Breathe,” Easton whispered in my ear before leaning back in his chair.
“The conjuration we learn in gym is more an extension of our elemental abilities,” Charles said. “My specialty is fire, so my group will focus on strengthening our skill at forming fireballs, creating flames at further distances, creating streams of fire, and stuff like that.”
“Yeah, and earth users practice conjuring tremors, pulling underground roots to the surface and making plants grow at a highly elevated rate, creating deep crevices in the ground, and even turning dead soil fertile again.”
“Air users,” Easton said, “like me, work on creating wind funnels, blasts of air that could knock someone over, and using air to assist the other elements—like combining with a water user to create a hurricane, or with a fire user to accelerate the spread of their flames.”
“So, when do we learn to conjure non-elemental items like I did today?” I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
“We don’t,” Shaela said. “At least, not in our normal classes. If a Sylph shows a capacity for that type of conjuration, they usually get special study classes with Rowan.”
Her teeth clacked together as she snapped her mouth shut. She shot me an apologetic look before turning her attention to the chocolate bars in front of her.
“I guess Cris has taken over that position, too,” I mumbled, fighting the sting I always got in my chest when Rowan’s name came up.
Easton’s hand reached over and squeezed my knee. The touch was comforting, the heat of his palm seeping into my skin. I tangled my fingers with his under the table, and he held on tight.
“Those special courses are usually reserved for seniors,” Charles mused, his gray eyes focused on Shaela’s hands as she toyed with a chocolate bar’s wrapper. “And they’re usually beginners, only conjuring small, simple items. Nothing as complex as candy bars. Taste it.”
Those last two words were directed at Shaela.
“Okay, you don’t have to ask me twice,” she said, regaining some of her usual spunk.
She ripped open the wrapper and folded it down before taking a huge bite. Her lips immediately turned down as she chewed, her nose wrinkling as her eyes went all squinty.
“Ugh,” she said after swallowing thickly, “it’s terrible. You don’t want any, believe me. I’ll just take these and get rid of them.”
She spread her hand over the remaining bars and started to slide them toward her side of the table. Easton’s hand came down on top of hers, stopping her. Her face immediately morphed into a pout.
“No fair,” she said, pulling her hand from beneath his.
Easton laughed. “You should’ve realized I’d know if you were lying.
“Okay, fine. They’re delicious and I wanted them all for myself. Happy?”
I giggled as some of the tension drained out of me at their antics. “Oh, let her have them. I can always conjure up some more.”
A hand waving in the air caught my eye and I looked over to see Tiana wiggling her fin
gers at me. Her smile was bright and genuine and, not knowing what else to do, I lifted my hand and waved back. She beckoned me, motioning to the two empty seats at her table, but I shook my head with an apologetic expression.
“What the hell is happening?” Shaela asked, watching the whole thing unfold.
“I told you she was being weird,” I said. “She’s still trying to get me and Easton to come sit with her and her friends. It’s kind of freaking me out.”
“You can go sit with her, if you want,” Shaela offered.
I picked up a strawberry from my tray and threw it at her. Her hand popped up and caught it, then shoved it into her mouth as I laughed.
I looked at Easton, asking, “What do you see?”
“Gold,” he said. “Same thing I saw when they approached you in gym.”
I hadn’t even thought to ask him about their auras at the time.
“Hopeful is good, right?”
“Depends on the interpretation,” he said, his eyes meeting mine. “They could be hopeful that you’ll accept their invitation because they really want to be friends. Or they could be hopeful that you’ll accept so they can enact whatever plot they have brewing. Either way, it would show gold.”
I glanced back over at Tiana and Aubrey, who sat beside her. If they were up to something underhanded, they weren’t as smart as I thought they were. My retaliations had proven to be unpredictable and dangerous, and there was no telling what might happen if they provoked me again.
Someone was sure to end up hurt.
Chapter 23
“Thank you for coming, December.”
I nodded at Finn as I sat down in one of the chairs in front of his massive desk. Cris was already seated in the other one, and I wondered why Finn wanted to see both of us at such a late hour. Dinner ended hours before, and I had been relaxing in my room with Shaela when I received the summons.
I didn’t have to wait long.
“I called you both here because I have some news. One of my contacts in the city has informed me that Queen Sebille has been showing herself in public.”
I wanted to ask what the big deal was, but Cris’s sharp intake of breath stalled the words on my tongue. I glanced over at him and noticed a sickly pallor on his face. He looked like he was going to throw up. I turned my gaze back to Finn.
“What does that mean?”
“Sebille never goes out in public. At least, not without using Glamour to change her appearance,” Cris mumbled, and I wasn’t sure if he was speaking to me, or to himself. “The humans have never seen her true face.”
“You are correct, Crispin. It is very odd, indeed. She has been seen catering to the humans. Offering extra food and supplies to the poorest of them, in particular those that have served as foster parents.”
He gave me a pointed look, and I gasped. Fear slithered down my spine.
“She’s looking for information about me.”
“Yes,” Finn answered, even though my words were not a question. “That is what we must assume.”
“Would your foster parents tell her anything?” Cris asked.
I barked out a humorless laugh, saying, “In a second. Especially if Sebille offers them money. Or Lox.”
“They use Lox?” Cris asked, his face paling even more than before.
“Todd is addicted,” I said, my voice void of emotion. “He uses all of his wages and whatever the state gives them for my care to buy the stuff.”
The last word carried so much bitterness, even I flinched at the sound. I shook my head to clear it before speaking again.
“Anyway, yeah, I’m one hundred percent sure they’ll tell her whatever she wants to know.” I paused, tilting my head to the side. “What does she want to know?”
“Anything she could use to her advantage,” Finn answered. “Small details about your life, your likes and dislikes, your friends…”
“Well, I never had any friends until now, and Todd and Gretchen never really paid much attention to me, so maybe they won’t be able to tell her much.”
“Was your life so bad?” Cris asked, his voice somber. “I mean, I haven’t heard much. Just that you spent your life in foster care and came here after your Glamour presented itself and you were recruited.”
“Actually, I decided against coming here after talking to Celeste the first time,” I said, smiling at the memory of her.
It had been a while since I’d seen her. I hoped she would visit soon.
“What changed your mind?” Cris asked.
He was pushing for personal information, but for some reason, I didn’t mind. My time with the Holts was fast becoming a distant memory, and I felt so…detached from that old life.
“Todd got high on Lox and tried to break into my room that night. I had to get out. It wasn’t safe anymore.”
“What?”
The word came out as a ferocious growl as Cris jumped to his feet, causing the chair to fly backward. His reaction startled me, causing me to flinch. I curled lower in my chair as his breath heaved in and out through his open mouth. His eyes looked strange, too, the normally bright blue color growing darker and darker as his face reddened.
“It’s okay,” I said, holding up a hand in a placating manner. “I escaped through my bedroom window before he could get in. He never touched me.”
My words seemed to get through to him. The dark fire in his eyes faded in small increments as his breathing slowed. He mumbled out an apology and turned to pick up his chair. Slumping into it, he stared at a spot on the floor in front of him until his face returned to its normal color.
“While I applaud you for caring about your students, your reaction seems a little over the top, as the humans like to say,” Finn observed, his words slow and measured.
Cris coughed into his fist and cleared his throat, saying “Any child being preyed upon by someone who is supposed to be a parent, a caretaker, is disgusting. Besides, December isn’t just a normal student. I’ve grown quite fond of her after spending so much time together.”
He looked at me as he said those last words, and I couldn’t squelch the blush that bloomed across my face. Cris admitting he cared about me made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It also made me see him a little differently.
He wasn’t just a hard-assed mentor that pushed me past my limits. He was also what I’d also hoped to find in every foster home I bounced in and out of—an adult who had my best interests at heart.
“We’ve gotten off-topic,” Finn said, breaking up the weird thickness in the air. “I just wanted you both to know what Sebille has been up to, so we can all be prepared should anything come of it.”
“Thank you, Finn,” I said, standing.
Cris gave Finn a firm nod, then held out an arm, indicating I should precede him to the door. He followed me out without another word, closing the office door behind us. He motioned for me to follow him and led the way to his office.
“I know you’re tired,” he said, slumping into the chair behind his desk, “but I need to talk to you for a minute about where we go from here.”
I cocked my head to the side and waited for him to continue. When I didn’t interrupt with complaints or questions, he gave me a tight smile and waved me into the chair in front of his desk.
“Sebille has obviously added you to her agenda. Before, she just wanted to take over the school, to shut down our greatest strength, but now…she has to see you as her biggest threat.”
I swallowed thickly and nodded. I knew she viewed me as a thorn in her side, an abomination she needed to destroy because of my forbidden parentage, but a threat? She was the freaking queen of the Zephyrs for God’s sake. I got lucky, took her by surprise, but she wouldn’t be so unwary around me in the future.
“I can see you have doubts,” he noted, his eyes boring into mine. “She discovered a half-Zephyr-Sylphid, training with an army that means to ruin all her plans. Not only did one of her people defy her law and, quite literally, sleep with the enemy, they kept it a s
ecret from her. Now this hybrid is training to fight in the war against her, and exhibited an enormous amount of power by ousting her from the school grounds in a very dramatic way.”
He smirked, but I could see the pride shining in his blue eyes.
“You think she’s scared of me?” I asked.
“Oh, December, I know she is. Nothing has ever frightened her more.”
We moved on to discuss upping my training schedule to twice a day—once before classes and once after. Yay! Like I wasn’t exhausted enough already.
And, since I had to get up two hours early in the morning, I said goodnight and headed for the door. Pulling it open, I turned back to look at Cris. He tilted his head, shooting me a questioning glance.
“Just…thanks for everything, Cris.”
He smiled with a nod and I slipped out, heading for the room I shared with Shaela. It had been a long, strange day, and I was ready for it to be over.
Hopefully tomorrow would be back to normal.
Chapter 24
“It came to me in the middle of the night.”
I was so tired, I could barely think straight, so I had no idea what Easton was talking about. After getting to bed late, getting up early for an hour-and-a-half long training session with Cris, then making it through two classes had really taken its toll on my brain function.
I turned in my desk to face him since Cris hadn’t arrived to start class yet. Shaela was oddly missing, as well. I hoped she wasn’t sick. Maybe she was as tired as I was, since she waited up for me the night before. She probably skipped class to take a nap.
“What came to you?” I asked, stifling a yawn.
“The reason for that,” he said, jerking his head to the left.
I looked in that direction to catch Tiana’s gaze on me. Her face lit up as our eyes met and she smiled, wiggling her fingers at me in a small wave. Not sure how I should respond, I returned the gesture and turned my attention back to Easton, who chuckled.