by Devyn Jayse
"Okay," I said.
The pressure of her grip lessened as she slowly withdrew her clutch. I took a deep breath. Knowing there was another gargoyle below me to help if I needed it didn't really help to calm my nerves. I began climbing down slowly. I said hello to Thiago as I passed him. "You're nearly there," he said. "It won't matter if you fall now. You'll just break a bone or two."
Whatever expression was on my face made him laugh. Crazy gargoyle. I scrambled down to the ground. I was so thankful when my feet met the dirt that I almost bent down to kiss the ground. All in all, the entire incident had taken a little under ten minutes. Beatriz and Pol couldn't have travelled too far. I headed out on the street.
I saw them up ahead. "Hey, wait up," I called.
The two of them turned around. Beatriz gaped at me. She put her hands on her hips. "What are you doing here? I can't believe you left the Center. What if they went looking for you?"
Pol started laughing.
I caught up to them a little out of breath. Beatriz continued her chastising. Her face was flushed. "Don't be upset." I held up my hands in a signal of peace.
"You're already in trouble. If they caught us together, we'd get in trouble too. Didn't you think of that?"
"Actually, I didn't," I admitted.
Pol grinned. "It's okay. I'll say it's my fault."
Beatriz turned on him. "And what about me? You think they'll care who takes the blame for this? They'll punish us all."
"You don't want to get in trouble. I'll take the heat." Pol rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's not about that." She stamped her foot.
"I could go on ahead if you don't want to join me," I volunteered.
"Fine. Let's go." She turned her back to me and marched away.
I raised an eyebrow at Pol. He shook his head with a wry grin on his lips. Beatriz's overreaction made me wonder if I had interrupted anything between the two of them.
Twenty
We made our way through the streets of El Born until we reached the location of the magic store. A sign over the door displayed the words Magic Runes.
Pol ambled to the door and pushed it open. A bell jingled overhead. A pleasant combination of scents tickled my nose as we entered: cloves, cinnamon, and lavender. The store was spacious. I looked around and saw a couple of people seated in armchairs.
"Hello," Beatriz said by my side, greeting Carmen.
"Welcome back," Carmen said, giving us an easy smile.
Movement made us all turn to the window seat. A gargoyle peered at us. "Well, well, well. Look who's back."
"Hello, Mateu," I said. Beatriz and Pol echoed my greeting. We made our way to the seating area.
Carmen gestured to the woman sitting beside her. She had fair hair and held a cup of tea in her hands. "This is Natalie."
"It's so nice to finally meet you." Natalie beamed at us.
The three of us exchanged glances, and I wondered what Carmen had been saying about us to this woman.
As if reading my mind, Carmen shook her head. "No, it wasn't me. It's what she does."
"Natalie's a psychic," Mateu helped out.
"Really?" Beatriz gasped.
Natalie's smile grew wan. "Really."
The gargoyle laughed. "Don't ask her to tell you anything. She's notoriously tight-lipped."
"Then what's the point of being a psychic?" Beatriz asked. Her shoulders slumped.
"You can see the future?" Pol asked.
"From time to time," the psychic replied.
I desperately wanted to ask what she saw in my future. Did she know the answer to my questions? I hesitated to ask. Natalie's gaze hitched on mine. "You're interesting." She paused and chose her next words carefully. "You'll have a rough time, but it will eventually get better."
"She knows you're not supposed to be here," Beatriz hissed.
"Because you just told her," Pol murmured, his voice just above a whisper.
The gargoyle stretched his body and jumped off the window seat. He padded over to us and hopped onto the couch in between the two armchairs that Natalie and Carmen occupied. "Sit down, my neck's hurting from looking up at you."
The three of us sat in the couch across from him.
"Vanessa, will you help Carmen make some tea? This pot's gone cold." Natalie raised her cup of tea.
Carmen arched an eyebrow. "Has it?"
Natalie smiled benignly. I suspected that if I lifted the cover of the pot, steam would float out. Carmen got to her feet with a groan. Mateu smirked, "You're getting too old for adventures."
"Are you talking to yourself?" she shot back.
He smirked in reply.
Carmen led me to the backroom. I followed her in and she pushed the door closed behind us. "So what is it?" A wry grin spread across her face.
"I've been having weird dreams."
"Dreams are normal. They're your body's way of telling you something," she reassured me. "Have you talked to your mother?"
I started. "No!"
"Why not?"
"What if I'm crazy like her?"
"That would make us all crazy," Carmen mused. She filled a pot with water from the filter. She walked over to the cupboard and took out a canister. "But the answer is you're not crazy. You need to find out the truth. I'm pretty sure your mother knows it."
"How do you know all this?" I stared at her stunned. I came here to talk to her about it but it seemed like she already knew everything.
She grinned at me. "Natalie told me what to tell you earlier. I don't really know what's going on. Care to clarify it to me?"
I told her everything while she listened patiently. After I was done, she asked me, "Do you mind if I touch you?"
"No," I said.
She placed a hand on my forehead as I stood there in front of her. She closed her eyes in concentration. After some time, she frowned. I wondered what she was doing. She removed her hand. Her eyes appeared troubled. "You have great strength within you but it's locked. Stranger yet, I had to probe deeply to find it. Your power is very well hidden. Whoever locked it did a fine job."
"How can I unlock it?"
Carmen shrugged. "Take Natalie's advice. Talk to your mother."
"I know what you're saying makes sense, but the thought of calling my mother and asking her about magic makes me anxious," I admitted.
Carmen grabbed my shoulder and squeezed gently. "It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay."
"What if the dragons find out?" I voiced my fear aloud.
"I won't let the dragons do anything to you," Carmen said fiercely. "If you need me to talk to Diego, I will."
"No," I said, panicked. "Don't tell him!"
"I won't until you let me. Until then, stay out of trouble." Carmen let go of me and leaned back against the counter.
"It's too late for that," I admitted.
"Oh?" Her arched eyebrow invited me to continue.
"I'm technically not supposed to be here." I stared at my toes.
"Where are you supposed to be?"
"My room," I admitted.
"Hmm."
I glanced up. Carmen was looking around the place.
"What is it?"
"I'm wondering if I could spell this to resemble your room so that technically you're not in violation, but I suspect it won't go over too well with the dragons."
A surprised laugh burst out of me.
"That's more like it. No need to be so morose all the time. Things will look up. I'm in touch with people and I'll keep asking around, but at some point, you may have to meet someone so that they can examine you the way I did."
"You really can't tell what type of magic I have?" Disappointment leeched into my voice.
"No. I sense a great power inside you, but it's blocked and I can't tell how to unblock it. I don't know the source of the blockage and I'd rather not experiment on you. It may make things worse."
"Thanks," I said.
The water heater clicked, letting us know it was done.
Carmen started pouring the water out into a fresh pot. She steeped some tea leaves in the steaming liquid.
Carmen grinned. "Grab the pot and let's get back out there. I'm sure Mateu and Natalie are bickering by now. I'll have to separate them."
We returned to the living section. A familiar face sat among my friends. "Hi, Dina," Carmen greeted her. "I wasn't expecting to see you today."
Dina smiled at Carmen. "I had some free time and thought I'd pass by. Imagine my surprise when I saw my previous clients here." She beamed.
Beatriz looked ecstatic. She loved her ring.
"Hello, Vanessa," Dina said. Her eyes slid to my neck and a tiny furrow appeared between her eyebrows. "Where's your pendant?"
Twenty-One
My hand clutched at my neck, but I didn't find the smooth gold chain. A rush of panic flooded my body. My charmstone. Where was it?
Beatriz's mouth dropped open. With a sinking realization I recalled where it was. Before I could reply, Beatriz pointed at me. "You took it off in the living room." Her eyes wide, she looked at Carmen, Dina, and finally her shocked gaze landed on me. "How did you see the store if you weren't wearing your charmstone?"
"That means..." Pol's voice trailed off. He looked at the door.
Beatriz looked at the two witches, the psychic, and the gargoyle. "How can she see you all if she doesn't have her charmstone?"
My face flushed as the realization dawned on my friends. A heavy silence fell over us.
A snort broke the tension. We all looked at the source. The gargoyle looked amused. "Now I see why you called her interesting," he told Natalie.
She made a hushing motion with her hand. "This isn't the time."
Mateu scratched his ear. "I'd say this is exactly the time. Truths are being revealed. I only wish I had some popcorn." He gazed at Carmen. She shook her head with a frown.
"What's going on?" Beatriz asked.
A thoughtful expression replaced Pol's startled one. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head.
"You're one of them?" Beatriz asked hysterically.
"I don't know!" I blurted out. "I have no idea."
"What do you mean you don't know?!"
"What are you?" Pol asked.
I flinched at his words. The pressure was building up and I wanted to escape Beatriz's accusatory stare and Pol's suspicious one. A hand touched my shoulder. Carmen said, "It will be okay. Won't it?" She looked at Natalie.
We all turned to the psychic. She wrinkled her nose. "You know I can't answer that."
"Natalie," hissed Carmen.
"You could say something reassuring right now," Dina murmured. She looked upset that she had started the whole thing.
"Things will happen," Natalie said finally.
"What does that mean?" Beatriz asked.
Mateu laughed.
"What are you?" Beatriz demanded, turning to me once more.
"I don't know. That's what I'm trying to figure out," I said beseechingly.
"Did you know this whole time that you weren't human?" She crossed her arms.
I flinched again. "No. I found out..."
"When?"
"During our first week," I finished.
"That was over a month ago. You knew this whole time?" Tears filled her eyes.
"Even Carmen doesn't know what I am," I said.
"But you're a witch, how can you not know?" Beatriz turned on Carmen.
"It doesn't mean I know everything," Carmen said.
"Most witches don't know anything," Mateu added. Dina and Carmen glared at him. He shrugged. "What? It's true."
Mateu looked at Natalie. She continued to ignore him. I understood what he meant. She had all the answers. If she would just tell me what she saw, I'd know what I was. At the same time, I sympathized with her. It couldn't be easy to have all the answers and choose to be quiet.
"You'll discover who you are when it's time," Carmen reassured me.
Staring at the betrayal in my friends' eyes, I didn't think that was the right answer.
Twenty-Two
You'll discover who you are when it's time.
Carmen's words seemed to have been on a loop in my head for the past two days and I grew more frustrated the more I thought about them. It was reassuring to know that I would get the answers to my questions, but it was absolutely infuriating not knowing when. When would it be time?
"Mind if I sit here?" a voice interrupted my thoughts.
I glanced up and saw Quentin. He didn't wait for my answer and slipped into the chair beside me. I looked around the cafeteria and noticed that there were plenty of other seats to choose from. Maribel sat across from me, but the seats on my right and left had been unoccupied. Beatriz and Pol were nowhere to be seen.
"How's your day going?"
"It's alright," I muttered. I shoved the green beans on my plate. It had been a terrible day actually. It had been two days since my secret came out at Carmen's store and things had grown painfully awkward with Beatriz and Pol. It seemed worse with Beatriz who seemed hurt and angry. Pol simply seemed shocked, but he hadn't said a word to me either. He didn't seem to know what to say to me. We went to class as usual, but we didn't share in banter. I was sure Maribel and Quentin had noticed. Maribel had been extra nice to me. Quentin usually sat with Oliver and Franco during lunch, but yesterday he started sitting with me. I forced a smile on my face. "How's your day going?"
"It's okay." He shrugged. "It's strange how quickly the magic's worn off, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
"We went from not knowing this world existed to suddenly being surrounded by magic and it's become so ordinary." He turned to the table full of dragon shifters. I recognized a few of them.
"Yes, I know what you mean. It's funny how the extraordinary becomes ordinary." I turned back to the untouched food on my plate.
"Are you still grounded?" Maribel asked across from me.
I nodded.
"No chance of making up with Leire?" she asked.
I glanced down the table at Leire. She sat next to Kevin and was gesturing with her hands, a snooty expression on her face. Our eyes locked, and she paused. Her companions noticed and followed her gaze. Her eyes narrowed, but she raised her chin and resumed her story or lecture. Kevin glared at me. He was her biggest fan and sycophant. I stared at him until he looked away.
"Guess that answers my question," Maribel mused. "What did they punish you with? I never asked."
"I'm on mopping duty. I have to go do it after the last class today."
"Thank you for recommending Shaima," Maribel said, changing the subject.
"You're enjoying her self-defense classes?"
"Yeah, she's amazing. I'm learning all these awesome tricks. You should take lessons with her," Maribel told Quentin.
"What for?" he said. His words were a bit muffled due to the food he'd just shoved into his mouth.
"You never know," Maribel shrugged. "We may be targets because we know about this world. It never hurts to be prepared, don't you think?"
"Yeah, you never know what surprise might come your way," I said.
Maribel looked over my shoulder. "Head's up. Your friend's coming your way."
I twisted my neck around to see who she was talking about. Christopher. His face broke into a smile when he saw me staring at him. He approached the table and stood beaming at all of us. "Hi, I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been hiding?"
I grimaced. "I've been with the Dungeons."
His smile widened. "Gotten into trouble again? What did you do this time?"
"Same thing I did last time."
He chuckled. "You don't learn from your mistakes?"
"Sometimes I enjoy repeating them."
Christopher laughed outright. I couldn't help but sneak a glance at Leire. She was too far to hear us, but the sight of a dragon shifter laughing with me had turned her face purple.
"Join us," I gestured at the empty seat beside me.
He pul
led back the chair and sat. He gave Quentin a nod.
"I love your hair," he told Maribel who had a lock of blue-purple hair wrapped around her finger. She froze, stunned at the compliment and then beamed. "Thanks." She lowered her head as her cheeks flushed.
Christopher grinned. He had the appearance of a teenager even though I knew he was much older, but that grin made him look younger yet.
"How are classes going?" He included the others in the question.
I made a face. Quentin and Maribel murmured answers.
A couple of dragon shifters walked past us. I recognized one of them as my savior from my creepy encounter at a vampire lounge. "Be careful of that one," he pointed a finger at Christopher.
"Seriously?" Christopher pretended to be offended.
The blue-eyed dragon shifter threw his head back and laughed. He ambled away from us.
I looked at his back. "I like him."
"Naser? Yes, he's a good man," Christopher confirmed. "You don't know many of the dragon shifters, do you? Just the instructors, yes?"
We all nodded.
Christopher appeared thoughtful. "Maybe it's time to change that."
I felt a thrill at his words.
"Would we meet Diego?" Quentin asked, echoing my thoughts.
Christopher grinned. "We'll see."
The three of us exchanged glances of delight.
"But maybe first you'd better be done with your punishment so that others won't question why you got the privilege," Christopher pointed at me.
I made a face. "Guillen's never going to end it."
"Then I guess I won't have a chance to introduce my knight to Diego."
I lowered my head to the table and sighed. Christopher laughed, and Quentin and Maribel joined in.
Maybe things were going to be okay.
Twenty-Three
I stared at the mop and the bucket in front of me. I was getting sick of them. With a heavy sigh, I lifted the mop, splashing water onto the stone floor. I wouldn't be able to make it shine, but I would do my best to scrub it clean.