by Sarina Dorie
Thatch stood. “Don’t use this to spy on the Raven Queen again. She is powerful. I don’t doubt she could use this method of remote viewing to extract your soul from your body.”
“Maybe not just my soul, maybe my body as well. What if I can use this method to travel? If I practice this skill, I might be able use it to transport myself into the Raven Queen’s castle. I could get in to rescue my mom and then leave a copy of her in that place so the queen won’t know my mom is gone right away, and then we can escape.”
“What do you mean by a ‘copy’?” he asked.
I told him about Hailey’s idea for a final project, and how I might be able to use it for a practical application. “With your art skills and this glamour, we can make a hologram.” It was a Star Trek term, and I didn’t know if he would understand.
“It’s a mirage spell. One already exists, but it’s a superficial spell. It would be enough to fool a human, probably most Witchkin. However, it doesn’t capture the essence of a person needed to trick a Fae. They see things on a different plane than we do. They see through eyes that taste our energy first and see us visually second.”
I wanted this plan to succeed. I needed to help my fairy godmother. “What about my watercolors? Don’t they capture the essence of a person? Couldn’t I use that skill to infuse the feeling of someone’s energy into a mirage?”
“Indeed. It is a possibility.” He stared off into the distance, thinking it over. “There’s also this ability of clairvoyance through your art to consider. First, you must hone this skill to be able to do it at will. Second, you will need to understand the limitations. Your observation of the Raven Queen didn’t go undetected, which leads me to believe you aren’t simply watching, but part of you is there. You are projecting yourself out of your body. If you wish this plan to work, you will need to bring your body with you, a harder skill, I’d wager.”
He skewered me with his gaze as though he doubted I was up for the task. “Should you succeed in transporting through the Raven Queen’s wards, it doesn’t mean your presence will go unnoticed. You will need to be able to mask yourself or disable those wards. Next, you will need the ability to bring someone else with you.”
I nodded. I suspected he meant him.
He seated himself once again. “Last, you will need to be able to escape. Do not fool yourself into thinking that just because the Raven Queen permits you entry into her estate that it means she would allow you to leave.” He pulverized my hopes, showing no hint of emotion as he did so. He was as cool and calm as a Fae.
“Oh.” I swallowed the hard lump in my throat. “Then it won’t work.”
“It’s unlikely. However, I can see you are set on trying. Even if I should warn you against this, you won’t believe me until you’ve attempted to use this skill. I will train you in this ability, and you will be able to see for yourself how impossible this plan is.”
He was being agreeable? There had to be some catch. Thatch didn’t compromise on life-and-death matters. Then again, maybe he didn’t think he was compromising. He probably thought he was proving me wrong.
“So if I can do this, you’ll help me get in?”
There was a glint of cunning in his eyes. “Just so. If you agree you will transport both of us using this method, I will agree to train you to develop the skills you need.”
“Promise? You aren’t going to sabotage me?” Or distract me?
He flinched at that. “Why would I try to sabotage you?”
“To protect me. Or some other supposedly noble motivation.” Maybe this was a distraction. I still didn’t know if he really would help me so readily.
He snorted. “You truly don’t know me at all.”
I held out my hand. “Promise me. You’ll teach me and help me get better at this skill so I can rescue my mom?”
He hesitated for a moment, thinking it over. Finally, he nodded. He sandwiched my hand between his. “I agree to assist you, but only if you promise not to leave without me.”
A glow leaked out from between our hands, so bright I could see his bones through his hand. This was a magical oath. He waited for me to agree.
“Is this going to be like the other one? I’ll be too overcome by pain to move?”
“Worse.” A small smile tugged at his lips.
Lucky me. There was no undoing this. “In exchange for you helping me, I promise I won’t try to leave without you.”
“No.” His lips pressed into a line. “That wording is insufficient. You will not leave without me.”
I watched his neutral expression, looking for a hint there was a hidden meaning in his words, searching his eyes for treachery. “I won’t leave without you, but only if you agree to go with me when I say. You can’t put this off indefinitely.”
“I will not agree to go when you say. If that were the condition, I fear you would insist we leave right now. We will go when you have developed the correct skills.”
“That could be forever. You could claim I’ll never develop the right skills. I want you to give me a time line.”
His spine stiffened. I was fairly certain I had caught him. Had that been his plan?
“Summer,” he said.
I didn’t doubt he was being vague on purpose. “The first day of summer vacation. She won’t be safe after June twelfth.”
“That’s too soon. You won’t have the skills necessary in a couple of weeks.”
“You’d better get started on that potion to make me learn faster, then. My mom could be dead in a couple of weeks.” We’d already delayed for too long.
“I’ve already started brewing the potion. It will be ready in a few days.”
I waited for him to agree to my terms. He didn’t. I attempted to draw back my hand, but he held on. He wet his lips. “I will take you on the first day of summer vacation if I deem that you are ready. If not, we will need to renegotiate.”
“No.” I tried to draw away again. “You won’t agree because you don’t actually intend to take me at all.”
He held on to my hand more tightly. “Clarissa, please consider this from my standpoint. I have experience with how dangerous the Raven Queen is. You do not. I cannot allow you to endanger yourself. If you are not ready to go on the first day of summer vacation, I will go without you. I will strike a bargain with her and ensure your fairy godmother returns to you.”
“Will you return to me?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” He released my hand and enveloped me in his embrace. “I don’t want to lose you. Please. Not again. My heart can only break so many times in one life.”
My throat tightened, and I found I couldn’t answer. I leaned my head against his chest. I didn’t know whether it was his touch or his words that snuffed out my determination.
“Promise me you won’t leave without me.” He squeezed me, the hug bordering on painful.
At least I knew it wasn’t his touch that influenced me now. “I promise.”
“You will allow me to train you and trust in my judgment.”
I nodded.
“Say it.” Light shimmered around us. I had a feeling this would be more intense an oath than him just holding my hand.
I forced myself to say the words. “If you promise to train me to make me stronger and help me face the Raven Queen, I will wait for you until the first day of summer vacation. And if I’m still not ready, I will renegotiate with you.”
The spell glowed more strongly, blindingly bright so that I had to squeeze my eyes closed. Every place our flesh touched tingled.
He released me. He held himself taller, as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. His cheeks were flushed with pink, a side effect of the magic.
“When can we get started on my lessons?” I asked.
“Immediately.” He gestured to my sketchbook. “Show me this skill.”
I seated myself behind my desk and picked up my pencil. I continued to sketch my mom’s face.
Thatch placed h
is hand on mine, stopping me. “Start a new sketch every time you wish to use this skill. The energy is spent in the last drawing.”
Already I was learning. I turned the page in my book.
Thatch placed his hand on mine, stopping me from starting my first line. “Draw someone else this time. Someone not in the presence of the Raven Queen.”
I wasn’t sure who else I could spy on without invading his or her privacy. Josie? What if she was doing something kinky with Pinky? Vega would murder me if she caught me spying on her. Maybe Elric wouldn’t mind.
I set my pencil to the paper and sketched the lines of symmetry and guidelines where the details of his face would be placed.
If I allowed myself into the flow of the moment, I would be able to sink just a little farther into the drawing, to travel through space as I had before. I tried to grasp at the feeling I’d had before, but I couldn’t recall how I’d done it. I pushed, but that hadn’t been what I’d done previously. I’d had to allow the magic to come to me.
It wasn’t working. I glanced at the friendship bracelet Josie had made me. It was too soon to use it again.
I set down my pencil. “I don’t think I can divine this way again for a while because I just did it.”
“Indeed. You would have burned through a reserve of energy.” He stood. “It’s time to teach you more difficult magic.”
“Really? I’ve earned it?” I was so excited. He’d never been willing to teach me anything he considered to be “superior” or “mastery level.”
“No, you haven’t earned it, but it’s necessary. You need to learn to store more energy without releasing it so you can save it for . . . a rainy day.” He extended a hand to me. “Come along.”
I placed my hand in his. “Where are we going?”
He took me to the back stairwell that led past the closet. His expression was grim as we descended. “To find electricity, which requires an excursion outside the school. I’m one of the few staff who are currently permitted to travel from the school directly to the Morty Realm. I’ve been asked to limit my comings and goings for occasions in which it is necessary for recruiting students and . . . for emergencies. I trust Mr. Khaba will not inquire about the nature of this excursion, but I will need to examine the wards when I am done to ensure there is no damage.”
I followed him down to the dungeon.
He headed straight for his office. “This is the one place Mr. Khaba has deemed it appropriate for me to travel from in order to fulfill my duties recruiting for the school. I am fortunate he has seen the practicality of this compromise. Previously when the Princess of Lies and Truth was pestering us, it was nearly impossible to arrive upon a scene of magic in time.”
Pestering? More like attempting to murder us.
He guided me into the supply closet behind his desk. It was big enough for me to walk inside and him to join me. He tugged me into his arms.
Black fog twisted around us. My breath was sucked from my lungs. I squeezed my eyes closed against the vertigo taking hold of me. My stomach somersaulted even after the world stopped spinning. I clung to Thatch, panting for air. As I blinked my eyes open, I found we were in a shadowy corner next to a stairwell in a parking garage. The windowless concrete fortress around us was lit with orange bulbs. The stairwell stank of urine and vomit. Water dripped nearby.
Because the light nearest to us was burned out, I almost missed the homeless man turned away urinating against the wall. A startled squeak escaped my throat. He turned, jumping. His stream of urine splattered onto my shoes. I tried to jump back, but the solid wall of Thatch’s body behind me barred my quick exit.
Thatch sighed. He lifted his hand, not even needing a wand. Purple stars sparkled from his fingertips. The man turned the other direction and resumed urinating. I stared down at the black leather of my Mary Jane shoes, wrinkling up my nose in disgust.
Thatch took me by the elbow, drawing me out of the shadows. “If only you would exercise a little more discretion, you would be unlikely to draw so much attention.”
I hated it when he chastised me like I was a teenager. “Why is someone urinating on my shoes my fault? The least you could do is use some magic to clean them.”
“You may do so yourself. You know a spell for cleaning.”
I couldn’t concentrate with him pulling me along past a row of empty parking places.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Seattle. I have come to this spot in the past. It’s a place I frequent for . . . recharging.” He strode past an old Volkswagen bus, and a few spots down we passed a new Prius. “The lights go out in that corner when I arrive to camouflage my arrival. Rarely do I have to use a spell to make a Morty forget what he or she has seen.” He cast a sidelong glance at me.
“Isn’t that unethical? Erasing someone’s memories?” I knew he’d done it before to Morties. Back when I’d been student teaching, he’d erased the memories of students, staff, and family who had witnessed the kraken open up a school gym.
He cast a withering look in my direction. “Morties aren’t permitted to know about our realm or magic. Unethical as it might be by your standards, it would be against the law not to cover our tracks.”
“So that means I need to learn how to erase people’s memories if I’m to learn to travel like you do in case someone accidentally sees me?”
“No. I have had a lifetime to train and perfect this skill. You have not.” He strode closer to a concrete wall. “You would do better to ensure you aren’t spotted. Have you ever met someone who was in an accident and suffered from brain damage? Or heard of someone who woke up one day with complete amnesia, and doctors couldn’t explain it? Not everyone who suffers from memory loss and contusions that result in mental impairment are the result of natural ailments or accidents. Some of those Morties are the victims of inferior spell work done by a Witchkin to hide his or her magic. Only a highly qualified professional should attempt to alter another’s memories.”
I could see the logic of what he was saying. I had only started learning magic a few years ago. It would take years before I knew how to do this kind of magic.
He pointed to the orange light above us. The scent of sulfur and birthday cake momentarily filled my nostrils before the light flickered out. We were left in shadows. That spell had been undetectable other than the scent.
He stepped closer to an electric-car charging station. “What I’m about to show you is dangerous for a Witchkin of any other affinity. It’s even dangerous for an untrained Red affinity. However, done properly, this source of electricity can be used to fuel your affinity without altering it to make it more digestible, as you might do with pain magic. Nor is it as likely to distract you as much as pleasure magic. Regulating the quantity of magic does take skill, which you are about to learn.”
“Right. Don’t try this at home, kids.”
He removed his jacket and draped it over his arm before removing his wand from the breast pocket of his vest. He shoved it into the socket. I expected blue arcs of electricity to dance over him and his hair to frizz like in a cartoon of someone being electrocuted, but nothing so dramatic occurred. His cheeks grew rosy.
“I am reducing the amount of electrical current that goes into my body, similar to the process you use when you push energy into your mobile phone when the battery needs to be recharged. The only difference is that I’m not monitoring my outgoing energy, I’m monitoring the incoming energy.”
He held out a hand to me. I took it, at once noticing the tingle where our flesh met. Slowly he increased the amount of electricity he gave me. It tasted delicious, like drinking in a strawberry milkshake through my fingertips, so rich and sweet I wanted more.
“When it grows too intense, ween the amount you’re given,” he said.
He ramped up the electricity slowly. The power was still like the most delicious dessert, but I felt like I was drinking a milkshake from a firehose. I sent some of it back to him.
I refocused. It took me several more attempts before I got it.
“Next, we need you to learn how to save that energy for later so that you don’t have to recharge as frequently for performing magic. Should you succeed at this task, you will be able to perform larger spells, like your method of drawing divination, at will.”
It took me hours to accomplish what he made look so simple. I was like a baby learning to eat with a spoon. When I had reached my fill, magic swelled inside near to bursting. Rainbows wanted to explode out of me. My insides ached. My nerves danced like someone who had ingested too much coffee.
“It’s time for you to use some magic.” Thatch sniffed at the air, his scornful gaze drifting down. He waved a hand at my dusty shoes. “Use your cleaning spell.”
I had forgotten about the urine on my shoes.
I held my hands over feet. I didn’t even need to say the words to the cleaning spell. I embraced the scent of lemon and projected it at the shoes. The air glowed yellow, and the scuffed and dirty leather shone. My striped leggings felt fresh, as though I’d just gotten them out of the drier. Even the cement underneath was visibly cleaner. The line of white paint marking the parking spot had disappeared in a circle around me.
Maybe that part wasn’t so great. I’d overdone it a bit. On the plus side, I didn’t feel like I was about to explode with an abundance of power.
He nodded. “With practice, you will be able to increase your skill as well as your tolerance for the amount you can hold inside you. This will be essential if you are to protect yourself from Fae.”
From the Raven Court, he meant.
I could see the use in this skill. We practiced at this each evening after dinner. Afterward, he observed my ability in drawing divination. I only needed to use my competency-charm bracelet once for developing the clairvoyance skill and twice for processing raw electricity.
I used the charm bracelet five times for remembering the ingredients and steps to make the spell Vega wouldn’t help me with in order to try to cure Maddy.