Discovery of Magick (Dark Light Academy Book 1)

by Tabatha Stephenson

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “I didn’t know,” I sobbed.

  “Oh, that makes it worse. I really am sorry.” He pulled out a clean handkerchief. “Now, now, don’t. You’ll set me off. I’m an old fool who should learn to mind his tongue.”

  I accepted it, dabbing at my eyes. “No, you’re very kind, and thank you for speaking so nicely about my folks. From what I gather, her family hated her.”

  “They disapproved strongly,” he corrected. “Too proud and stubborn, they can be. Then it was too late. Come, now,” he took me by the elbow, leading me away from where we stood, “Let’s see about finding what you need.”

  “Can you tell while any magick I have is still bound?” To be honest, I thought it was all a colossal mistake, and I had no magick at all.

  “Oh goodness me, yes. Think of it like this. Your magick is locked up in a safe. But it doesn’t stop a detector from knowing there is something in the safe and matching to your personality so you can use what you have in the safe once you take it out.”

  That made a sort of sense. We stood in front of his counter’s display case.

  “Do you see anything that calls to you to touch it?” he asked.

  I looked down into the case, seeing brooches, rings, ribbons, and even wands. I shook my head.

  “Okay, not to despair.” He got no further as a small cat materialized on top of the counter, tail in the air.

  I stared at it, mesmerized. It was adorable, with large eyes, and what looked like would be black and white tuxedo markings if it wasn’t for one thing. The cat was in grayscale and transparent.

  “Mrrrump? Miaowww,” it said, moving as if to bump my arm. I felt a faint brush against my skin, more like a memory of cat rubbing its fur against me than the sensation of one doing so.

  “Heavens,” the old man breathed.”She’s going to be a powerful one.”

  Who, me?

  “Do me a favor,” he asked. “Kiss your elbow.”

  “Kiss my elbow?” I was sure I’d misheard him.

  “Yes, yes, kiss your elbow. Either one, doesn’t matter.”

  “Do you think-?,” my aunt asked.

  “Could be, could be.”

  I bent my right arm and kissed my elbow.

  “Have mercy,” my aunt whispered. She turned to the shopkeeper. “It had to be from her father’s side.”

  “Yes, yes. Must have been recessive.”

  “What?” I couldn’t stand it anymore, I had to know what the hell they were talking about.

  “Only fairies can kiss their elbows,” my aunt said. She lifted her right arm to demonstrate that she couldn’t do it. I turned wide eyes to the shopkeeper. He likewise did the same. No dice. I lifted my left elbow to my lips and touched them to it. I dropped my arm.

  “That explains how he came in through a fairy ring.” My aunt nodded to herself as she spoke. She looked over at me. “That’s how your parents met. She was on a picnic with her family, here in the Summer Court. He accidentally strayed into a fairy ring and crossed over to this realm, right into the meadow where they were eating.”

  “Oh.” I felt cold all of a sudden.

  The cat yowled.

  “I think she’s going into shock, hold her while I get a chair!” He scurried off, returning moments later. I found myself being lowered onto a seat, worried eyes peering at me.

  “I’m a fairy and a witch, and there’s a ghost cat.” The words came out between my chattering teeth.

  “Tea, we need some strong, sweet tea,” the shop owner muttered, hurrying away again.

  The cat jumped into my lap. I stiffened.

  “It’s alright,” my aunt soothed. “I know it’s a lot to absorb. You’re still you, though, just with powers. The dormant Fae blood you must have inherited from the Adamski side will enhance your other abilities and give you access to magicks those without fairy blood cannot access.” She glanced up and over to the side in the direction the man had gone. “Oh, look. Mr. Joel is here with your tea.”

  So that was his name. Mr. Joel. I latched onto that fact as if it was an anchor tethering me to reality.

  “Here you go, sweetie,” the kindly man said, handing me a sturdy mug with the words “Mages Do It Wanderfully” on it.

  I laughed weakly at the craptastic joke, panicking as some of the tea slopped down from the overfull mug to where the cat sat watching me with worried eyes.

  “Shit! I’m so sorry, kitty!”

  “Mreooow.” The cat cocked its head at me quizzically, then proceeded to lick its paw.

  Duh! It was a ghost, so the one who got burnt was me. Thank goodness; it was scorching, after all, and it had landed close to my knee and not my crotch.

  “Your familiar is comforting you, how cute!”

  Now that was a term I understood. I’ve watched Sabrina, I’ll have you know. And Charmed, and stuff like that. I might have grown up in Bowring, but we had TV and the internet and even occasionally went to the movies in the next town over.

  “The ghost is my familiar?” I asked, sipping the lukewarm tea. Man, he’d loaded it with sugar, but he was right, it did make me feel somewhat better.

  “Yes, and as such, your conduit. As you grow and strengthen your abilities, his tether on this world will make him corporeal. Poor thing, I remember the day someone hit him in the back parking lot. He was just a young cat and from what I could tell, only on his first life. They really do have nine, you know. One mortal one, then the remaining eight are spent as familiars.”

  “So, he’ll live again, as a real live cat, once I get to be a powerful, um, witch?”

  “Yes. His affinity to your magick will restore him to full life, albeit as a familiar. You’ll have a feedback loop sort of thing going on. You’ll feed him, and he’ll boost your connection to the magick,” Mr. Joel explained.

  “But, he can still die?”

  “When you do, he will, yes. But do be careful to not put him in harm’s way. He might not die, but he could suffer needlessly in terrible ways.”

  Aunt Lisanne patted my cheek. “The color’s come back into your face.” She stood up. “How much do we owe you?”

  He waved the thought away. “He wasn’t mine to sell, he chose freely. It is my sincere pleasure to have been of some small assistance to you both. Just one last thing before you go. She needs to accept him.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “I can’t believe I nearly forgot that,” Aunt Lissane looked at me.”Honey, you need to give your familiar a name, to stake your claim on him as he has on you.”

  “Though I’m not sure the cat is a boy,” Mr. Joel interjected. “I never checked, and it was a stray.”

  A cat of my own, that I could almost feel and definitely could still hold and maybe even hug. I knew just the name.

  “Your name is George,” I told the cat and watched in amazement as the cat became less wispy in appearance.

  “You can’t change it if it turns out to be a girl,” my aunt said.

  I shrugged. “That’s fine. George can be a girl’s name.” It was true. It could be short for Georgina, for example. My mind raced, trying to think of examples. “Like that one girl in Nancy Drew, who was her friend!”

  “As long as you’re happy with it, dear,” Aunt Lisanne replied.

  “You like it, too, don’t you?” I asked George. George chirped in the affirmative and jumped down. “See?”

  “Right, well, we still have things to buy. We’ll no doubt be back as they send lists for more supplies as she advances. Thank you so much.”

  I stood up and smiled my own thanks at Mr. Joel, then followed my aunt out the door, George trotting along at my side.

  The rest of the shopping excursion was not nearly as exciting, though still amazing. There was a stop at a homewares shop to buy a laundry bag with a box of scent sachets containing my choice of floral or fruit scents, all-natural, of course, and I was able to mix or match. The exciting thing about the bag is all I had
to do was pop in a sachet, toss in my laundry, seal the bag, and wait ten minutes. Then, tada! Clean laundry. My aunt bought me the bag with the stain remover charm woven into the fabric, too, so no need to buy or use stain removal charms to toss into the bag. The same shop sold hangers that once you hung your clothes on them, immediately got rid of any wrinkles.

  After that, we stopped by a market stall and bought a warm meat and potato pie, then went looking for a shoe shop. A few streets over, at the start of the more modern buildings, we spotted one, and I simply had to go inside. They had the most luscious wedge heeled sneakers I’d ever seen in the window.

  “Oh, please! Can’t I have them?” I begged.

  Aunt Lisanne looked amused. “Well, it’s not against the dress code from what I read,” she allowed. “But we need to get you some flats and a pair of tennis shoes you can run in, as well.”

  Luckily they had my size in styles of footwear that I liked. The sneakers would look bitchin’ with my uniform, I just knew it. I was going to have to make do with my old tennis shoes, though.

  The next stop was the stationery and books store. “Pens, pencils, and notebooks only,” my aunt told me. “No need to waste precious money on books we already have. They haven’t changed texts since I attended, so you can use mine as I still have them.”

  That was fine with me. I knew textbooks were often ridiculously expensive, at least, in the human world they were. I went to peruse the stationary section, startled when I almost bumped into a girl.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  “Mmmhmm,” was all she said, looking me up and down. Her eyes widened in surprise as she caught sight of George winding between my legs, purring.

  I hurried away, taking my time to whittle down my choices as they had a fantastic array of fluffy topped pens and pencils that I simply adored. I chose five of each as well as some ordinary pencils and a couple of erasers for good measure, then picked up a soft fuzzy pencil case and pen holder I could sit on my bedroom windowsill. Having made my choices, I went to go find Aunt Lisanne. She was waiting for me by a large gold cash register, the kind you pressed metal keys on. A book bag with the name of my school was on the counter next to it.

  “Oh, good. Put them with your bag, and we can check out and go home.”

  I was glad to hear that as I was worn out, and there was still my birthday dinner with Aunt Tille and Uncle Joe. I wondered what Marla had said to Aunt Tillie when she heard I was gone.

  I remained preoccupied with that thought all the way to the train station and during our ride home. I found myself dragging my feet once we reached the village station, both eager to hear Marla’s reaction and dreading it in equal measure. Then we were there, and Aunt Tille and Uncle Joe’s car was already parked outside.

  “How did they get in?” I asked, spotting my uncle looking at us from the living room window.

  “They know the charm to unlock my door,” Aunt Lisanne said as if that was a perfectly normal thing. Which I guess it was, here in the realm.

  Uncle Joe opened the door and relieved us of some of our burdens, cocking an eyebrow at the sight of George.

  “A familiar?” he asked. “I am impressed!”

  “I frosted the cake and warmed the casserole I brought,” Aunt Tilly called over my uncle’s shoulder. “What’s this about a-oh!” she stopped short at the sight of George.”My, my, you will be powerful. Best check the wardings before unbinding her in case there’s a shockwave.”

  “I already did that, dear,” Uncle Joe assured her, “While you made the cake. Can’t be too sure with these things, you know.”

  “Quite right,” Aunt Lisanne concurred, following George and me into the house.”Mr. Joel ascertained that she’s part Fae, so her powers will be broad as well as deep. We think that’s how her father came through the ring so easily.”

  Aunt Tillie nodded. “That makes perfect sense. It must have slipped his generation, so the powers of the Fae went undetected. Otherwise, her family would not have shunned them both.”

  People only interested in power and prestige pissed me off. My mother’s family could fuck right off.

  “Go put your things in your room, Tuesday, and wash your hands. I’ll set the table so we can eat.”

  I wasn’t sure what I expected, but dinner was pretty ordinary. It was the same chicken casserole that Aunt Tilly got the recipe from out of the PTA fundraiser cookbook when I was in the third grade and which she made at least once a week. The homemade cake was delicious, chocolate with chocolate buttercream frosting, and marshmallow fluff between the layers. I blew out the candles, wishing for everything to be alright. The lights flickered, then came on. I felt a buzzing under my skin. The light bulbs popped, and a few books fell off the shelves in the living room. The dishes on the table rattled, then I felt a strange sense of calm and rightness.

  George jumped on the table, but no one scolded him. I blinked. He was still a bit see-through, but I could now tell he was definitely a black cat with black tuxedo markings and bright gold eyes. A gold collar the same shade of his eyes graced his neck, with blue stones and pink stones set into it.

  “And it’s done,” Aunt Tillie murmured.

  “It is?” I didn’t feel magick bubbling inside, at least, I didn’t think I did.

  “Yup, that’s why all that,” Uncle Joe waved his hand to encompass the room, “happened.”

  “And your magick finalized your partnership with George, putting that on him.”

  “Miaowwwww,” George said.

  “She’s ready for school tomorrow,” Aunt Tillie said, looking proud.

  Tomorrow?

  I must have said that out loud as Aunt Lisanne answered. “Remember, we don’t have seasons the way you do, and not everything runs according to human convention.”

  “Yeah, I’m really getting to understand just how true that is.” Speaking of humans, that reminded me. “Did you get through to Marla okay?” I asked Aunt Tillie.

  “I sure did. She was excited to hear you were on ‘off on an adventure’ as she put it. She recorded a voice message for you on my phone, in fact, when I stopped by her house instead of just calling.”

  Aunt Tillie really was ace.

  “Pass me my purse, honey,” she addressed uncle Joe. He reached over to the sideboard closest to him, scooting back his chair to reach it, then handed it to her as requested. She unzipped it, pulling out her phone, then sitting her purse down on the floor next to her. She unlocked her phone, finding the voice message she’d recorded using her app.

  “Hey, there, Tuesday! I’m so stoked to hear you got such an awesome graduation present! I bet meeting more of your family and getting to spend time in England is awesome! A real adventure. Look, I have something I’ve wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how. It’s kinda why I’ve been dragging my feet about borrowing my dad’s old car and going to apply for jobs we could get to with the car. The thing is, well, remember when the Air Force recruiter came to the school? I kinda signed up for delayed entry, really liking the idea of serving our country, ya know? Doing something positive and making a career out of it. Come July when it’s my birthday, I’ll be going off to boot camp. I hope you’re not mad at me. I had thought maybe I could get around to telling you, and you could join and do the same thing as me, maybe, but I think things happened the way they have for a reason. Your aunt says she’ll give my mom your new address so I can write to you and then you’ll get mine. Love you, girl, and you’ll be my best friend forever. I don’t know if you can make it, but when I graduate boot camp, I’ll have my mom ask if she can bring you if you’re able to come.”

  I blinked away tears. Well, hell yeah, I’d have probably heard that and gone and joined up with her, though never in a million years would I have thought she would have to start with. But sitting here now, I knew the reality was we likely would not have been stationed together and would have drifted apart, talking only by phone or letter. I don’t think I’d have liked being sent to war, either, not that I am hap
py about the idea of Marla getting shot at, either. I was proud of her, though. She’d unexpectedly found her calling, and mine found me.

  “If they say you can see her graduate boot camp as her parents’ guests, I’ll make sure it’s an excused absence,” Aunt Lisanne said softly.

  I nodded, grateful I didn’t have to ask.

  Chapter 4

  George woke me up, purring and kneading my face with the kiss of cold phantom paws on my cheek.

  “Mmph,” I grunted. “Alright already!” I rolled over and glared at him.

  He chirped at me then jumped onto the window sill. I squinted at the wind-up alarm clock Aunt Lisanne had given me before I went to bed last night. I had ten minutes before the alarm was set to go off.

  “Not cool, dude,” I told him. “I had ten more minutes. I know you’re not hungry because you’re still a ghost.”

  George swished his tail at me, looking smug.

  I sighed.

  “Fine, I’ll get up now.”

  George jumped down looking triumphant, and stalked over to the door. It was closed, but being a ghost, that didn’t stop him. He strolled on through it. I shook my head in disbelief. I couldn’t believe this was my life now. One day I’m plain old Tuesday Adamski, an orphaned kid living with her aunt and uncle in their old Victorian house. The kid who was the butt of a lot of jokes, with people snapping their fingers at my name and asking if my aunt was really named Mortilicia. I mean, come on, how stupid is that? One best friend, Marla, also the butt of jokes for no other reason than she was my friend and kids could be assholes. The next day, I’m living in a fantasy story, in a realm of magick where it is always summer, discover I’m part fairy and part witch, and that after blowing out my birthday candles, I have access to my own magick powers. Oh, and I have a ghost cat for a familiar and am about to put on a schoolgirl uniform to attend some magick school. Yep, today was the first day of my brand new, topsy-turvy life.

  I stumbled downstairs to relieve my bladder, then washed my face and hands. Next came breakfast, and I was not unsurprised to see my two aunts and my uncle sitting at the breakfast table already, with a stack of warm pancakes and a gravy boat full of purple syrup on the table. I honestly don’t know how they time the meals just so, but I am beginning to have more than an inkling that it somehow relates to magick.