by Holly Ice
Stop worrying.
I twisted my pillow in my lap and stared at the door. Screw it, I had better things to do than mope.
* * *
The second I walked into the headmaster’s office, he’d pick at my story. I twisted the doorknob, but I wasn’t pre-approved for access. I’d have to knock.
I rapped my knuckles on the wood and prayed this didn’t end in disaster.
A few seconds later, the door swung open. Kaylee ushered me in. ‘You came?’ She looked over her shoulder, to her friends.
‘Is that a problem?’ I asked.
‘No, no.’
McKee broke away from the Cognata he was talking to. ‘Bianca? Kaylee said you’re curious about your heritage, but we didn’t expect you tonight.’
I bet he didn’t.
He took a wine glass from his table and offered it to me.
Good. He was ignoring our wee incident. ’Last-minute decision,’ I said, sipping the red. Rich and fruity. I’d have to pace myself.
He smiled. I couldn’t see anything dark there, anything that said he’d put lives at risk.
Don’t let your guard down.
I choked on my wine and covered it with a light cough. ‘Sorry. Familiar humour,’ I lied.
I don’t trust him yet. Bad liars and honest people didn’t get powerful jobs. And McKee was doing a spectacular job of pretending he had no problem with me.
McKee nodded to his office chair, where his familiar lounged, half on and half off the seat. ‘I fully understand. Mine likes to embody boredom.’
‘Are you bored?’
‘No, I’m intrigued.’ He gestured to Kaylee, hovering halfway between us and her Cognata friends. ‘Kaylee felt finding your witch relatives might fill a hole?’
Trust Kaylee to put it like that. But sob stories got results. ‘Did the force say much about my situation before I came here?’
‘I know you had commitments, rent. The throwback fund covered that?’
‘Yes.’ I sipped more wine and stared into the glass. ‘The state took me from my mother when I was twelve, nearly thirteen. I was in foster care until eighteen. Mostly group homes.’
He blinked rapidly, a stumble in this overly polite conversation. ‘I’m sorry.’
People never knew what to say. That platitude was a common reaction. ‘It is what it is…’ I shook away the memories. ‘Maybe my witch side has a happier ending? It’d be wonderful to meet even distant family.’ God, I was laying it on thick.
McKee placed his empty wine glass on his desk. ‘Was anyone drawn to the supernatural?’
‘Only me. But I didnae ken my dad.’
He frowned. ‘It won’t be easy. Without a human familiar to look at, to see a resemblance…’ He spread his hands.
‘That can’t be the only method up your sleeve.’
‘Oh, but research can take years. We’d have to trawl through family books and personal diaries. And we don’t know the time period…’ He was leading into something.
‘Well, I’m here for three years.’
‘Yes, yes.’ He squinted at me. ‘Are you a natural blonde?’
‘I am.’
‘Well, that’s something. But you aren’t distinctive enough to easily place. Do you have a picture of your mother?’
I didn’t keep photos close. It was too easy to fall back into old habits and wonder about her, what she’s doing, if she missed me. ‘Probably. Back in Edinburgh.’ I had an album somewhere. ‘Why? Are they useful?’
‘If I compare her features and yours, I can guess what your father looked like.’
Ah. Logical. ‘Okay.’ I’d ask Finn to find them. ‘Did you need anything else?’
‘To get started? Your birthday, and where you were born.’
I looked past him, but the girls were fully focused on filling in papers. They weren’t listening. ‘Valentine’s day. In Edinburgh.’
He chuckled. ‘Sorry, I’m terrible at keeping the details straight. You’ll need to fill in the form.’ He topped up his drink and clinked my glass. ‘I hope I can help you. It’s a beautiful thing, reuniting witches with their families.’
And this time, I saw a crack in his veneer, a slight downturn to his smile. Was that distaste, a lie, something else? And was it because of our confrontation outside or something more?
‘What form?’
‘Oh! You missed the start. Detail forms and envelopes are on my desk. The girls have pens. Help yourself and slip the envelope under my door if I’m not in when you’re done.’
My stomach twisted. ‘Under your door?’
‘Yes. I prefer to keep personal files separate from my work.’
‘Right.’
Mel took and sorted his post. And he had pigeonholes outside his door. Was he worried someone might root through them and find out things they shouldn’t, or was he hiding this from the people he worked with? I’d have to have a good look at that form and see if anything was out of the ordinary.
Chapter 12
Daria gave us yet another group project for Elemental Strengths. And for once, I was grinning at the news. She wanted us to practice summoning fire in pairs.
Shane was already signalling to Dylan, an Animalis witch he was friends with, but I tapped his shoulder and kept tapping until he turned around.
He glanced at his well-poked shoulder, then me. ‘Work with someone else.’
‘We need to talk.’
He looked for Dylan, but the other guy shrugged and indicated he’d chosen another partner. Shane gritted his teeth. ‘I guess I can’t ignore you forever.’
‘Not least because I’m an anomaly you want to study.’ I also had news.
‘You’re still saying you’re a throwback?’
‘You still think I was planted here?’ I’d fit in more if I was. ‘The WMCF can investigate at me all they like. I had no idea I had magic. And I fought them from the street to the plane.’
‘That’s what a good actress does. Plant a good back story.’
‘A story nineteen years long?’
‘Fire, please, Shane, Bianca.’ Daria swept past us. ‘No, Dylan. Oh dear.’
I smelt burning wood and turned to see Dylan’s desk ablaze.
Daria waved her hands. A yellow glow encircled the fire. The flames dropped lower and lower, until they snuffed out. She’d suffocated them. Not terrifying at all. ‘Start small, please. Especially if you have an affinity for the element.’
‘Looks like you lucked out, partner,’ I said.
‘Let’s just get this done.’
‘I can help you.’
‘I don’t need help to summon fire. I doubt you do, either.’
‘Help with the other stuff, not that. This is new to me.’
‘Whatever, Bianca.’
I did understand. He was supposed to have a human familiar and me an animal guide. We’d switched places. Hiding Lyall’s form was a sucker punch even if we hadn’t kissed. But I didn’t choose this.
Let him be, Bianca.
Things might be simpler if I did, but I didn’t want him to think I’d betrayed him.
‘Could you meet me after class?’ I’d asked him to meet or talk dozens of times over the last week and a half. Eventually, I’d wear him down.
‘For what?’ Shane flicked Lyall’s beak. ‘We have nothing to discuss.’
‘But I have news.’ And I couldn’t tell him about my in with the head’s group in class. I should have told Cameron, or Justin, but if it’d convince Shane to hear me out…
‘Uh-huh. Summon fire already.’ He glanced at Daria, who was circling back round.
Fine. I’d give him a minute.
I closed my eyes, imagining the air in my open palm heating until it lit a spark. Imagining was half the battle. Then Lyall breathed life into my concept. See it, Lyall?
Already done.
I opened my eyes. A tiny ember warmed my hand. But as I watched, entranced with its movements, it grew, and grew, until it covered my entire palm. Stop,
Lyall. I didn’t want him to burn my desk. Stop!
Shane grabbed my hands. I jolted, but he held me still. ‘Steady, or you’ll lose control.’
A blue glow coated my hands. I wriggled my fingers. They were wet, and cold, like I’d plunged them into a stream. Shane blinked, and a splash of water extinguished the fire.
He watched me, hands still around mine as he dispersed the water into the air. ‘You’re shaking.’
‘I lost control.’
‘You got lost in the element.’ He glanced at Dylan’s desk and back. ‘It’s not unusual for a beginner.’
I wasn’t sure if he thought I’d copied the idea from Dylan, or if he believed me, but when he squeezed my hands, I couldn’t swallow.
‘It’s instinctive. You can’t fake it.’ He looked out the window and sighed. ‘I’ll hear you out.’
‘When?’
‘I’ll be outside the library at seven.’
‘Thank you.’
* * *
I paced in front of the library doors. Where was he? It was quarter past already.
Bianca?
What now? Lyall had spent the last twenty minutes trying to persuade me not to turn up to this meeting.
Lyall huffed, and on my next turn I walked straight into Shane as he came out of the library. Damn it. No doubt Lyall was smirking behind his feathers.
‘You were waiting inside the whole time?’ He could’ve told me.
‘I had to check something.’
‘What?’
‘Your reading choices.’
That wasn’t invasive at all. ‘You can do that?’ Was just as well I read my more risqué reads on my phone.
‘Strictly, no. But the WMCF approved it.’
‘They hacked the system?’ It didn’t surprise me in the slightest that the WMCF crossed that boundary. But what could I be reading in a school library that was worth so much effort?
‘No. I traced what you’d touched. I can only see about a month back, but you were concentrated in the family tree section.’ He cracked a grin. ‘The librarians had a good laugh at your expense, I imagine?’
‘Yes.’
‘It’s an old joke. Those books were how our great- and great-great-grandparents found an appropriate suitor.’
‘You mean someone who’s not your second cousin.’
‘Exactly!’
I eyed him. ‘You’re in a better mood.’
‘A bit, maybe.’ His smile dropped, and I regretted mentioning it. ‘But you know searching through those books is a bad idea, if it’s relatives you’re after?’
‘Oh?’
‘Those stuffy old portraits aren’t accurate. They wanted to look glamorous and dashing to attract the best proposals. I think my third great-grandmother told them to paint her with red hair. Hers was dark brown. And only the last one to two hundred years has complete portraits or photos for all known descendants. They didn’t bother earlier on. You’d be lucky to get a full name.’
‘What changed?’
The latter years were so well documented, names neat rather than scrawled, misspelled, and crossed out to be written again. But I’d put it down to photos and painters becoming more accessible. And a new scribe.
‘We were getting fewer and fewer Cognatas. They weren’t sure if it was the number of generations since we had full fae blood, or the mixing with humans, but most families demanded arranged marriages. They didn’t want their children’s magic to become more specialised.’
‘Ah, so everyone was catalogued and partnered for the best bairns.’
‘For the most powerful, yes.’
Now I got the joke. ‘Library order spouse?’
‘Quite.’
‘So what’s next on the list? Are you going to interrogate the kids I went to primary school with?’ They’d had eleven days. If they hadn’t cleared me yet, they never would.
‘The library was our last check.’ Shane smirked. ‘You’d have to be a dedicated spy to search the ancestry section that thoroughly.’
‘Then you believe me?’
‘Mostly. But how did your familiar get around that spell without help?’
Lyall? Can you explain?
No.
Shane quirked an eyebrow. ‘What did he say?’
I sighed. ‘Not much. He claims aether won’t let him tell me how he did it.’
‘Hiding his form doesn’t help you. Aether should have blocked it.’
‘Well, that’s what happened.’
His phone chirped.
I grabbed his arm before he could get to it. ‘I really do have news.’
He eyed my hand. ‘Your familiar isn’t something else entirely, is he?’
‘No. Nothing like that.’
‘And you are a throwback?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh. Is it about the mission? Because that text will probably clear you. Officially.’
‘Will. You. Let. Me. Speak?’ I poked his chest with each word. Sparks flew from my fingers.
Shane tapped his shirt, smothering the smoke. ‘You don’t need to burn me.’
‘Kaylee told me about a special club meeting the day you yelled at me about Lyall.’
‘Which one? The girl has like twenty.’
‘Shut up.’
‘Right. Sorry.’
An apology! I smirked and caught the answering smile from Shane. ‘Anyway. It was a meeting for the familiar support group.’
‘The one my uncle founded?’
‘Yes, that. Your uncle was hosting one of their meetings, so I went.’
Shane’s eyes widened. ‘Does he know about…?’ He gestured to my familiar.
‘No. I gave him a sob story about growing up in foster care.’
He nodded. He probably knew that from his research. ‘Go on.’
‘He’d printed forms to fill in with birthdates, photos, professions, locations, family illness. Normal stuff, but he didn’t want them in his pigeonhole or with the admin department. He wanted them slid under the door to his office.’
‘Did he say why?’
‘He said it was a privacy thing, but…’ Every time I thought about the way he’d said it, my gut squirmed.
Shane’s phone dinged again. He checked it and put it back into his pocket. ‘You’re cleared.’ He searched my face. ‘So this is what you’ve been trying to tell me – that you have a way into McKee’s group?’
‘Yes.’
He made it sound like a gift.
‘Okay.’ His eyes had that distant look they got when he thought about his uncle, but when he looked at me he was all business. ‘We’ve got your back.’
God, seeing him so defensive was sexy. I kissed his cheek. ‘Thank you.’
He softened, enough to let me ken he’d missed me. And then he pulled away.
Chapter 13
Studying for mid-term exams had my eyes so shot I was seeing text between blinks. So Kaylee bursting through the door and spinning in front of me was a relief.
Her grin was blinding, and her hair was all over the place. Like she’d run here.
‘Everything okay?’
She clapped. ‘Perfect.’ She threw her arms out. ‘McKee found my family!’
‘He did? He just told you this?’ I didn’t think it’d make her so happy.
‘He called me into his office. Another guy was there. An old man. And they told me I was a member of the McKee family.’
‘You’re related to the head?’
‘I know. I didn’t expect it, with my ethnicity, but…’ She shrugged. ‘They have family all over.’
Wow, so Kaylee was the first person directly connected to the head. I needed to tell Justin.
‘How are they so sure?’
‘The older man said he recognised my nose and chin. Their third great-grandparent on their mother’s side resembles me. They’ll do DNA next to confirm.’
‘They don’t have a magical equivalent?’
She shrugged. ‘I did the cheek swabs today.’ Her sm
ile wilted. ‘It will be odd, having two families.’
I understood all too well. I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere after foster care. But perhaps it’d be different for Kaylee. She had the magic world, and the human world. That put a different spin on things. ‘Are they talking to anyone else?’
‘They want you next.’
Was that why she’d run here? Bless her, that was sweet. ‘Did they find my family?’ I hadn’t expected anything yet.
‘They didn’t say.’
‘But they want me to come down?’
‘Yes!’ She hugged me. ‘I hope your family is everything you’re looking for.’
‘Thanks.’ If they’d found my family… that meant something. I grabbed my things. ‘Do I go to his office?’
She nodded. ‘Hurry back.’
I should have messaged Shane, Justin, or Cameron, but my head was stuck on repeat. I couldn’t hope for too much. I’d been let down too many times by people who were lovely to my face but rejected me around the corner. But, somehow, I’d already made it to McKee’s office. I knocked.
McKee opened the door. ‘Bianca, welcome.’
Books covered his table and the floor around it. I recognised a few from the library. But I’d expected that. I hadn’t been sure the ‘old man’ would still be here. He had white hair, more wispy than coarse, and he hadn’t left his seat to greet me. I’d place him in his seventies.
‘There’s someone I want you to meet. Please, take your seat.’ McKee indicated the chair beside this stranger.
My gut squirmed. Maybe it was the downturn to the older man’s lips, or the scratches on the back of his hands, but he didn’t fit McKee’s circle. His skin was wrinkled but tough. The type to work his way up from the bottom.
‘Bianca Nash.’ His dark eyes looked at me like I was a worm on his plate. He didn’t offer his hand. ‘The first Animalis witch to ask for this society’s help.’
I glanced at McKee.
‘Bianca, this is my uncle, Russell McKee.’
‘Charmed… Kaylee says you might have found something?’ I peered at the open books.
‘No.’
My shoulders slumped. Every time, I tried not to care, and every time, I still felt like I’d had the air sucked out of me. This wasn’t supposed to be personal.