Zen and the Art of Major Magical Control

by Devin Harnois

  “I’m gonna beat the faggot out of you.”

  The words hit him like a knife. Aiden somehow found another burst of speed, feet carrying him across another yard, past houses with lights on. Did they see him sprinting past?

  Aiden made it two more blocks, barely missing a car on the last street, the headlights leaving spots in his vision.

  The growling got louder and something slammed into him. Aiden hit the ground hard, all the breath going out of him. Panic tried to shut him down, but he fought through it. His hands were deep in tall spring grass, and he pushed his magic into the ground, asking for help.

  The weight on his back disappeared and Aiden scrambled away. He made it to his feet and turned, casting another spell. The ground liquefied and Tiago’s father sank into it, crying out in surprise.

  Where was Tiago’s mother?

  A dark form leapt at him, and Aiden threw raw power at it. Greenish-gold magic danced in the air and a huge spotted cat hit the ground. She gained her feet in a second, tensing to jump again. Aiden turned the dirt into sucking mud and she fell into it, almost up to her head.

  He solidified the ground, trapping them both. Collapsing a few feet away, Aiden tried to catch his breath.

  “You’re not Santiago.”

  “No.” Aiden let the glamour drop.

  Tiago’s father struggled, but the ground held fast around him. It wouldn’t hold forever though. “You’re his little faggot friend. Where is my son?”

  Aiden got to his feet with a surge of anger. “He’s gone, and you’ll never hurt him again. Never!” He sent vines wrapping around both of them until he could barely see their glowing eyes.

  Then he ran past them, heading for the school.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Aiden stopped to lean against a tree and drew on the magic all around him. This was his time, spring heading into summer, warm and full of life. The energy fueled him, and he ran at full speed.

  He had to get there and warn Dylan. Warn everyone.

  He didn’t see the man standing at the front door of the annex building until he was almost on him.

  “Building’s closed. Prom is canceled.” The man held up his hands.

  Aiden skidded to a stop. “What?”

  He glanced around. There was nothing. No one else. No attack or explosions or any of the dozen other things he’d feared.

  “Sorry, they canceled prom. Some kid pulled a prank or something. Go home.”

  Had they really, or… was something going on inside?

  A dark shape came around the corner and rushed toward the man. Aiden tensed, ready to fling a spell. At the last second he recognized Tiago.

  His boyfriend grabbed the man and slammed him hard against the wall. The man crumpled as Aiden winced in sympathy.

  “Aiden,” Tiago breathed, pulling him into a fierce kiss.

  His knees went a little weak and he forced himself to focus. “What’s going on?”

  “Don’t know. But the parking lot is full of cars, so I doubt he was telling the truth.” Tiago’s expression shifted. “My parents?”

  “I left them trapped. We should have a little time at least.”

  Tiago sighed. “Okay. Come on.”

  He led the way inside cautiously, checking the hallway. It was creepy quiet. Aiden imagined the worst. What if they were all dead?

  Tiago went down to the far end, not making a sound. Aiden’s breathing seemed loud, but he was still winded from the run. They were almost at the last gym, and now he heard voices. Lots of voices.

  Was that Dylan?

  Tiago gripped him and whispered. “We have no idea what’s going on.” He seemed much more together now that his parents weren’t an immediate threat. “We have to be ready for anything.”

  “Okay.” Aiden didn’t know how that was possible.

  “Ready?” Tiago put his hands on the push bar of the door.

  Aiden wasn’t remotely ready, but he nodded.

  “One… two… three!” Tiago shoved the door open.

  The gym was almost pitch-dark, but Aiden could make out a large group of people. “Is everyone okay? What’s going on?”

  “Aiden!” A purple glow rippled out, and Aiden saw Dylan in the light.

  A man near him spun around, growling, yellow eyes bright in the dark. Fur and the chill of a moonlit night brushed against Aiden’s mind. The man lunged, but Tiago slammed into him, knocking him back. Magic lit the area again, and the man stopped as if hitting a wall. A barrier.

  “I got him!” Tiago said as he dodged a swipe of claws. “Go.”

  Aiden’s heart clenched with fear, but he ran up to the gleaming silver line on the floor that marked the edge of the wards. They were supposed to protect people, not trap them. Dylan hurried to meet him, and Mr. Johnson joined them.

  “Aiden,” Mr. Johnson said. “You need to dispel the barrier.”

  Stay calm. His heart was going so fast it scared him. “How?” Aiden knew how to make and dissipate his own barriers, and he knew how to attack one, but he didn’t want to throw a bunch of spells and risk hurting the people on the other side.

  “Focus your magic. Feel the energy of the barrier.”

  Focus? With his boyfriend fighting a werewolf only a few feet away and God knew what else going on?

  “I need reinforcements at the school. Now!” the werewolf fighting Tiago said.

  Aiden turned.

  “Ignore them,” Mr. Johnson said. “Concentrate.”

  Aiden shut his eyes and held out a hand. The magic was different than anything he’d felt before. Not fae or wizard or witch. A hum like a machine or a tuning fork. No, words. A low, muttered chant in some unfamiliar language. “Okay.”

  “Now you have to break the spell. Imagine a knife of energy—”

  “Imagine the spell is a ripple in a pond,” Ms. Yang cut in. Aiden lost his concentration for a moment. “Take your hand and stop the ripple.”

  He saw the chanting as a circular pattern in otherwise still water. Slowly he brought his hand down, shimmering with green-gold magic. The ripples touched him, sending a vibration up his arm, and then the magic snapped.

  Cheering and exclamations of surprise came from the crowd. Aiden opened his eyes to see the last few purple sparkles of energy disappearing.

  “Yes!” A fireball bloomed in Dylan’s hand.

  Aiden looked over to see how Tiago was doing. Oh God, if he was hurt…

  Several other lights, magic in varying colors, burst to life all over, making it easy to see. Tiago looked fine, and the werewolf stood struggling in a faintly orange binding spell, Principal Nejem glaring at him.

  Aiden let out a breath.

  “Okay, we need to organize,” Mr. Johnson said, turning to Ms. Yang and some of the other adults. He looked pale and shaken. “Anyone who can fly needs to get out to the Galloway property ASAP to check on Bryn—”

  Was Dylan’s mom in trouble? Aiden opened his mouth to ask, but the door slammed open and several people rushed in.

  “Get down!” the principal yelled.

  Spells started flying.

  * * *

  Several kids screamed and ran for the far side of the gym. Dylan heard a table fall over. He stood his ground, the power inside him eager. God, it felt good to have it back. The tight fear in his chest was gone. Now he was only worried about keeping his friends safe.

  No question who the people rushing through the door were—the reinforcements Mr. Rhodes had called.

  With the wards down, the gym wasn’t protected, so more than a little fire would be a bad idea. Dylan sent a wave of energy at the attackers, knocking a few of them into each other. Spells went wild, hitting the walls. One zoomed over his head.

  A vampire rushed at Dylan. Summoning his claws, Dylan lashed out, grazing the man’s chest as he dodged.

  An orange-red spell hit the vampire and he flew into the wall, clothes smoking. Sakura stepped up next to Dylan and gave him a wink before unleashing more magic.

&
nbsp; Yeah, he was definitely asking her for a second date.

  Dylan turned and looked for Aiden, wondering if his friend was panicking. He found him several yards away, looking scared but fighting, with Mr. Johnson next to him. The warden looked like a total badass, a dark frown on his face and magic flying all around him.

  Not far from them, a group of kids huddled on the far side of the stage. A tengu—part human, part bird—leapt into the air and flew at them, claws at the ready. His birdlike face was twisted with anger.

  No matter how much Dylan hated the wardens and how much he’d agreed with the things Dalton’s parents said at the protest, he knew those people were on the wrong side. They were attacking kids.

  Dylan ran and jumped up on the stage, putting himself between the kids and the tengu. With a higher vantage point, he saw several small fires burning all over the gym. Well, so much for that. He summoned a whip of flame. The tengu screamed as the lash wrapped around him, smoke rising from his burning feathers.

  Dylan yanked and the man crashed hard into the ground.

  Light burst in Dylan’s vision and his body froze. For a second he thought it was a binding spell, but then the cold hit him. He was literally frozen, covered in ice.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Aiden’s breath came in shallow gasps. So much chaos. People screaming, spells flying everywhere. He couldn’t tell who the bad guys were until they attacked. What if he hurt someone by accident?

  Where was Tiago? Dylan?

  He stuck close to Mr. Johnson. The warden would protect him. But after a few moments, Aiden realized Mr. Johnson was a target. The bad guys were trying to kill all the wardens, which meant being next to him put Aiden in the line of fire.

  Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.

  And that was it. Full-on panic attack time. Aiden tried to stumble away, spots growing in his vision. I have to control myself, or I’ll die. But there was no stopping it.

  He made it to one of the huge speakers and leaned against it, slowly lowering himself to the floor. Aiden pushed himself behind the speaker, praying that somehow no one would notice him.

  Someone stepped close to him and Aiden looked up. A woman with sharp teeth glared down at him. “Why did you have to fight back?”

  Aiden tried to scramble away, but his body wouldn’t obey. The woman grabbed him around the neck and lifted him from the floor. He already had trouble breathing, and now he couldn’t get any air in at all. He kicked feebly, trying to gather his magic.

  Something blue and green hit the woman, knocking her sideways. Her grip eased and Aiden fell. Someone grabbed him, holding him up. Aiden tensed to fight but the person said, “I’ve got you,” in a gentle tone.

  The arms around him were cool. Aiden tried to blink away the dark spots in his vision as his ears rang. On the ground, someone in a green-and-blue dress was fighting with the sharp-toothed woman. The girl punched her hard and then slammed the woman’s head into the floor. The woman went still.

  The girl stood and turned, eyes wolf-yellow.

  “Hanna?” Aiden’s own voice sounded far away.

  She hurried up to him. “Are you okay?”

  “Panic attack.” He could breathe a little better now, but it wasn’t gone.

  “Help him sit down.” Hanna took one of his arms and guided him back behind the speaker.

  As they eased him to the floor, Aiden turned and recognized Carter. “Thanks.”

  Hanna squeezed his shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Just breathe.”

  It would be a lot easier if a battle wasn’t going on around them.

  Is Tiago okay? Dylan? Who else is here? Maggie?

  His friends were in danger and Aiden was just lying there, helpless.

  * * *

  Helpless. Dylan was helpless, stuck in a thick block of ice. He couldn’t hear anything, and all he could see were hazy shapes moving out there somewhere.

  The scent filling his nose was yuki-onna magic—bitter winter air and the dampness of snow. How many times had he been trapped inside snow or ice this year, losing match after match? Now he’d fail just like he’d failed all those other times, only this was for real.

  What good was his magic if he couldn’t protect himself? Couldn’t protect his friends? Those kids hiding by the stage, was someone hurting them right now? Killing them? And what about his mom? She was out in the woods being attacked by people strong enough to take on wardens.

  Dude, get ahold of yourself.

  He was inside a block of ice, but he was dragonkin. Dylan breathed in the last of the air left in his frozen prison and heated his body. The ice began to melt, hissing. His magic hadn’t failed him, he just needed to control it. Power filled him and he sent it out in a wave of fire.

  The ice encasing him shattered, sending bits flying. Steam filled the air around him for a moment. When it cleared, he looked around for the yuki-onna. He hadn’t seen her attack him, so he would only be able to find her by her magic.

  He spotted a woman standing by a small barrier, her hands out as she covered it with ice. Dylan could just make out a group of kids huddled inside.

  He flung a fireball and it hit her straight on. Dylan jumped off the stage and ran toward her, throwing another fireball. The yuki-onna dodged that one and spun to face him, hands coming up.

  He sent two streams of fire at her, curving and twisting. One blocked her freezing blast and dissolved in a cloud of fog. The other slashed at her legs. She cried out, stumbling, her pants on fire.

  Control. As much as he wanted to kill her, there was another option. Dylan reached out and cast the binding spell his mom had taught him. Orange bands wrapped around the yuki-onna, and she gave a frustrated cry.

  Dylan kept running, and when he reached her, he punched the woman in the head for good measure. The binding spell held tight as she crumpled to the ground.

  The ice had half covered the little dome of the barrier. When the barrier dropped, the ice stayed suspended in the air and a few cautious heads peeked out around it.

  One of them was Maggie. “Thanks. I don’t know how much longer I could’ve held that.” She wore a bright pink puffy dress. It was torn in several places.

  Dylan looked for the next fight, but things were winding down. The last few attackers were being cornered and adults hurried around, binding or knocking them out and going to help the injured.

  “Barricade the door,” Principal Nejem shouted. “Make sure no one else can get in.” Just as a few adults started working the spell, someone pushed against the doors.

  Crap, not again.

  “Hurry!”

  Then the doors exploded, flaming bits raining down. Dylan ran to join several others near the door, ready to fight. A figure stepped through, eyes blazing green.

  “Mom.” Dylan sagged with relief.

  * * *

  Dylan endured a hug while his mom got a quick version of events from the principal and Mr. Johnson.

  “We were able to stop them in the woods near my house,” Mom said. Her head dropped. “One of the wardens was killed. The attack was just so fast.”

  Mr. Johnson looked ready to set the world on fire. “We need to get to the station and help them. And we need to find any other wardens or police out there if we can.” He looked around at the destruction of the gym. “I need anybody willing and able to fight.”

  Several people shouted to volunteer, including Dylan’s mom.

  Saving wardens and cops. The same people who treated him like shit and wanted him locked up.

  “I’ll go.” Aiden walked up with Tiago. He looked pale and shaken but didn’t seem to be hurt.

  “Are you sure?” Tiago asked, squeezing his shoulder.

  Aiden stood a little taller. “I can fight.”

  Damn it. If Aiden was going… “I’ll come too,” Dylan said.

  Mom patted his back and smiled at him.

  “Okay,” Mr. Johnson said. “Bryn, Dylan, Aiden, and Farida”—he must mean the principal—“come with me to the statio
n.”

  “I’m coming too,” Tiago said.

  “And us.” Sakura and Izume pushed through the crowd to join them.

  Mr. Johnson frowned, then sighed. “Fine.”

  He quickly formed other groups and assigned them to search along the borders. Several of the attackers had walkie-talkies, and he handed out the ones that still worked, switching to a different channel. A few people were left behind to guard the prisoners and look after the injured.

  The rest hurried out.

  Dylan ended up in Mr. Johnson’s car with his mom and Aiden. The others went with the principal.

  Mr. Johnson turned on his police radio, and it wasn’t pretty. Several people were calling for help. He picked up the handheld mic. “Dispatch, if anyone can hear me, help is on the way.”

  Then he floored it.

  “I can’t believe I’m going to rescue wardens,” Dylan muttered.

  “It’s the right thing to do,” Aiden said. They were both in the backseat.

  “You sure you’re okay?” Dylan asked. Aiden still didn’t look good, and his heart beat loud and fast.

  “I can help and I… I need to.” He set his jaw.

  Dylan patted his friend’s shoulder. “You know I got your back, right?”

  “Yeah.” Aiden gave him a weak smile.

  “And I’m watching out for both of you,” Mom said.

  Maybe it was babyish, but Dylan really did feel better knowing Mom was with him.

  Even blocks away they could see something bad was going down at the cop station. Fire lit the night sky, and occasional streaks of magic shot through it. Mr. Johnson gripped the steering wheel tight, the scent of candle wax and old books even stronger than Aiden’s fear.

  “Get ready.” He screeched around a turn, and there stood the police station and city hall. It looked like a war zone.

  City hall was on fire. Cars were smashed, broken glass everywhere. One had been turned on its side. Dylan thought he saw a body near the front door. A few people were fighting in front of the cop station, magic flying.