by Jody Morse
Magic User Race Questions (Witches, fairies, warlocks, etc.)
1). Are you able to perform magic?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
2). Do you have a known affinity for any of the elements?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
3). Do you have a familiar?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
4). Have you ever casted a spell to hurt someone?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
5). Have you ever helped someone with a spell?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
6). Have people always fallen in love with you easily?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
7). Have you been told you are stubborn or moody?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
8). Have you ever sprouted wings?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
9). Do you feel like you need a “recharge” after long days?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
10). Have you ever felt electrical or magnetic energy?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
11). Have you ever been able to control fire?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
12). Have you ever been able to control wind?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
13). Are you able to identify herbs easily?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
14). Do animals or mythical creatures naturally love you?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
15). Do you have red hair?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
16). Do you love nature?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
17). Have you ever been able to heal someone?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
18). Are you interested in tarot or astrology?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
19). Have your emotions caused magic to happen?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
20). Do you feel a close connection to the stars and moon?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
21). Do the things you say sometimes come true?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
I breathed a slight sigh of relief as I looked at how many questions I had marked on this section. It seemed pretty safe to say that Headmaster Crane was right—that I actually was a magic user. At least, I hoped.
Misc. Questions
*These questions can apply to multiple paranormal races.
1). Are you often told you look young for your age?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
2). Do you rarely get sick and/or heal better than most people?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
3). Do you have heightened senses, like hearing or smelling?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
4). Do you have very good nighttime vision?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
5). Do you consider yourself a night owl?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
6). Has a doctor ever told you your heart rate was too high?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
7). Has a doctor ever told you your heart rate was too low?
No(X)
Yes( )
Maybe( )
8). Do you have a strong intuition?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
9). Have you ever had a psychic dream or premonition?
No( )
Yes(X)
Maybe( )
10). Do you consider yourself to be an empath?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
11). Do you have a fascination with death and the afterlife?
No( )
Yes( )
Maybe(X)
Rising to my feet, I handed the placement test back to Margot. As she took it from me, she asked, “Do you have any questions?”
A million.
“Actually, I do,” I admitted. “On the test, it asked if my eyes are green or amber. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Certain paranormal races are more prone to certain eye colors,” she explained. “Werewolves tend to have amber eyes, while cat shifters and certain other shifters are more likely to be green-eyed.”
“Oh.” I paused. “And it asked if I have red hair?”
“Certain magic users—fairies, in particular—are more likely to have red hair. That being said, it’s possible for someone with your hair color and eye color to fall into any of the paranormal races. Eyes and hair don’t eliminate any of the possibilities,” she explained.
“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “Thank you.”
“You’ll want to head next door—in the room on the left—to complete the blood portion of your testing,” she explained.
I nodded, trying to ignore the queasiness that was forming in the pit of my stomach. Bloodwork. Yay.
As I walked into the next room, I found a guy with longish black hair standing next to a doctor’s examination table. He was attractive. I wondered what his paranormal race was.
His eyes locked on mine as I stepped into the room.
“Juliana?”
I nodded.
“I’m Karl. I’ll be drawing your blood,” he said. “Why don’t you have a seat?” He motioned to the table.
As I climbed onto the table, I said, “I should probably warn you that I hate blood. Just thinking about getting my blood drawn makes me feel sick. So, if I pass out…”
“I understand. So, um, I should probably warn you about our blood,” he explained. “Getting your blood drawn in this realm is much different from getting it drawn in the human realm.”
“Different how?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“In the human realm, everyone’s blood appears a shade of red or burgundy,” he explained. “But the truth is that no paranormal actually has red blood. It will appear red once air hits it, like if you’re injured, but when it’s drawn into a vial, it tends to have a different color. Certain paranormal races have different colors of blood. Mermaids are most likely to have blue blood, for example. Shifters tend to have blue blood. Magic users tend to have purple blood. Vampires—from the very small amount of blood we’re able to draw—are the only ones who have true crimson blood, which is mainly due to their diets.”
“So, what you’re saying is that the color of my blood alone will probably tell you what I am,” I said.
“Precisely,” he agreed as he examined my veins.
“So, why didn’t they just draw my blood and skip these other steps?” I asked.
“Well, sometimes it’s inconclusive. That’s very rare, however. We’ll most likely be able to tell what you are in just a few moments.” He pressed down on a vein in the crease of my arm. “This shouldn’t hurt, but you might want to look away if blood makes you that queasy.”
I nodded and then darted my eyes to the door.
I felt the needle as he inserted it into my vein.
I tried to focus on other things, aside from the fact that I was having my blood drawn. Other things, like the fact that we were about to find out, for sure, what I actually was.
Would my blood be blue or purple? Or would it be—shudd
er—crimson?
“Oh my,” Karl murmured.
My eyes drifted down at the vial that he held in his hands, and I blinked.
The blood in the vial—my blood—was lime green. “What does that color mean?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
I swallowed hard. I should have figured this would happen.
As always, I was a mystery.
Chapter 13
Once I was done, Melody came into the room again and told me it would take a few days, maybe a week, for her to determine what I was. I felt relieved that she was working on it, but I was frustrated and pretty disappointed, too. How could my blood have appeared so much different from everyone else’s? It didn’t make a lot of sense. Then again, nothing about me seemed to make sense.
By the time I was finished, Magical Animals and Creatures had already ended, so I headed to the cafeteria.
Ambur and Draia were already sitting at our cafeteria table, except we had a guest today.
Gavin was sitting next to Ambur. I hadn’t known her for very long, but I had never seen her smile so much before. He was smiling, too. Even from a distance, something about their energy felt so… electrifying. Magnetic. I could feel it from across the room.
My mind flashed back to the test question: Have you ever felt electrical or magnetic energy? Was this what that question had been referring to?
I headed to the buffet and grabbed a cafeteria tray. I grabbed two slices of pizza—a white slice with broccoli and a slice of Hawaiian pizza—and a bottle of Sprite and then made my way back to our table.
As I slid into my seat next to Draia, she turned to me. “Hey. So, what did the Headmaster want you for?”
“He brought in someone to try to figure out what I might be,” I explained. “I had to do some tests.”
“What type of tests?” she questioned.
“A bone density test, a placement test, and a blood test,” I replied, twisting open the lid on my Sprite. “We should have the results within a week.”
“The results of what?” Ambur asked, snapping to attention at that moment. She seemed to be pretty lost in Gavin-land.
“Of my paranormal race,” I explained.
“They don’t already know what you are?” Gavin questioned.
I shook my head.
“But how can that be? You’re a Montgomery.” He said it like it my paranormal race should have been a given based on my last name.
“If only it were that simple,” I murmured.
“I didn’t even get to introduce you guys, but clearly you already know who she is,” Ambur said, glancing over at Gavin.
“Everyone knows who she is.” He glanced over at me. “You’re the talk of the school.”
I suppressed an eye roll. “And the garden.”
“The garden?” Draia glanced over at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Yup, the flowers knew exactly who I was,” I replied, this time actually rolling my eyes. “They’ve heard that many students talking about me.”
“I heard about what you did in Professor Tate’s class yesterday,” Gavin told me. “Apparently, it was really incredible.”
“Incredible is one word for it,” I muttered.
“When are you supposed to have your one-on-one with Professor Tate, anyway?” Draia asked.
“This afternoon,” I replied as I took a bite of my pizza.
“That’s so exciting.” She looked like she was going to say something else, but before she got a chance, a guy came over and stood beside her, patiently waiting for her to notice him.
He was pretty tall with a muscular, yet thin, frame. Most notably were his bright green eyes, which popped against his dark skin.
Somehow, I just knew he was a cat shifter.
“Hey, Draia.”
“Marcus, what do you want?” Draia snapped at him.
“I was wondering if you’d want to go to the Halloween dance with me,” he replied.
“You were? And what makes you think I would want to go with you?” Draia asked him.
Damn. I had never seen her be so… mean… to anyone.
“Oh, come on, Draia. You know me and you always have a good time together.” He leaned in closer to her and whispered something in her ear.
Whatever he said, it made her giggle. “Let me think it over.”
“Alright, I’ll take it. Get at me when you decide.” Then, without saying another word, he walked away from the table.
Once he was out of earshot, I said, “So, who is Marcus?”
“Marcus is her boyfriend,” Ambur informed me.
“Ex-boyfriend,” Draia corrected her.
“Oh, whatever. Those two are more on and off than the weather,” Ambur told me. “It’s only a matter of time before they get back together.”
“I don’t know about that,” Draia replied. “Last time was supposed to be the last time.”
“It won’t be,” Ambur said confidently. “They’ll be going to the Halloween dance together and then break up a week or two later. That’s how it goes every year.”
“I don’t even know if I want to go to the dance. Remember?” Draia reminded her.
“You said that last year. You’ll go. With Marcus.” Ambur rolled her eyes.
“I don’t get it. Why keep going back to the same guy you end up breaking up with anyway?” I asked.
“Exactly,” Draia said, glancing over at Ambur. “Why do I?”
Ambur shrugged. “You just love cat shifters.”
“No, I love that cat shifter,” Draia corrected. “Not all cat shifters.”
“See. You admit you love him,” Ambur pointed out. “You’re totally going to go with him.”
Draia rolled her eyes. “Like I said, I’m thinking it over.” She glanced over at me. “As for why I keep taking him back…” She paused, trying to put it into words. “Marcus and I just have this… energy. Chemistry, I guess. I haven’t felt it with anyone else. But he also gets on my nerves.”
“So, what you guys are telling me is that I’m going to be the only one who doesn’t have a date to this Halloween dance,” I said with a sigh.
“I’m sure you can find someone to go with you,” Draia said.
“Want me to see if any of the fairy guys would want to go with you?” Gavin asked me.
“No, that’s okay.” The last thing I needed was to go to the dance with a fairy, knowing how moody they could be. But it was more than just that.
There was only one guy who I would have wanted to go to the dance with and that was Kaden. I just wondered if he would actually ask me to go with him.
Glancing around the room, I spotted him in a corner, next to the windows on the left-hand side of the room. He was sitting with a girl with chin-length, silvery blonde hair. They were leaning in close to one another, whispering.
Well, there went the idea of me and him going to the Halloween dance together. Judging from how close they appeared to be, I figured she must have been his girlfriend or something. Apparently, I must have completely misread the vibes I’d thought he’d been giving me.
“Are you sure you don’t want help finding a date?” Gavin pressed.
“I’m positive,” I replied, glancing back over at him. Even if Kaden wasn’t an option, the truth was that I would have rather gone alone than with someone he set me up with for sympathy reasons.
“Leave the girl alone,” Ambur told Gavin. “She’s perfectly capable of finding her own date.” She glanced back over at me. “Though her taste in pizza could use some improvement. Sorry, Juliana, but pineapple does not belong on pizza.”
I laughed. It was sort of nice to feel like I was back in the human world again, where the biggest worry was whether or not pineapple belonged on pizza.
***
Elemental Magic class was nowhere near as exciting as it had been the first day, but I was okay with that. I was glad I hadn’t been asked to volunteer to nearly burn down the stage agai
n. Today was mostly note-taking on the science behind the elements and why some people were more predisposed to affinities for the elements.
We learned that affinities often ran in families, which made me wonder if my grandmother had an affinity for fire or any of the other elements that she’d never told me about. It wouldn’t have surprised me, considering there seemed to be a lot of things she’d never told me about.
After class ended, Professor Tate reminded me that we were going to be meeting this afternoon. He asked me to come to his classroom around four o’clock.
When I arrived in Spells and Charms, I sat in the same seat I’d sat in the day before. Kaden wasn’t there yet, which I felt sort of… well, relieved… about.