by John Conroe
“What do you mean?” Erika said around a mouthful of dark chocolate that made her white teeth black and blotchy.
“Who has ever felt that they spent time somewhere, sitting or waiting, and regretted it as time they would never get back?” I asked, raising my hand. Everyone in the class, including our two guests, raised their hands.
“So what would happen if Wade here was sitting in my circle, which, by the way, feeds power to that battery on Mack’s desk, and he felt like he was wasting his time here rather than being enthralled and secretly jealous of my teaching prowess?”
“If he felt it strongly enough, it might send a tiny, tiny erg of energy into the battery,” Tami said.
“What if I had a whole class of Wades, or better yet, one of Wade’s actual classes?” I said.
“Watch it, O’Carroll. My classes are legend,” Wade mock growled at me.
Tami’s eyes got wider. “A whole class of bored students would definitely generate a bit of power. Not huge, though,” she said.
“Right, but then the next class comes in, and the one after that, day after day?” I asked.
“Like a trapline or a fish weir,” Britta said. “It would always be working for you, the solar trickle charger of magic.”
“Both excellent analogies. More chocolate, Mack… er… all around,” I said. “Our circles are active magic generators, like Mack’s hand crank or Erika’s… whatever. These boredom circles, placed in the right locations, would be passive collectors, always working for us.”
“Holy shite, O’Carroll—that could be fecking brilliant,” Ryanne said, snagging a maple-filled candy from midair. “If it bleeding works.”
“Do you know if it works?” Paige asked.
“Our experimentation seems to bear it out, but your homework for the next week is to try it yourselves. We have two witch batteries for each of you, courtesy of Sutton-O’Carroll Fabrications, and an ultraviolet ink marker to lay down your circles. A photo of the proper circle is being texted to all your phones right now,” I said. “Now, ideas on areas where people feel they’re wasting their time?”
“College classes—most of mine, but especially econometrics,” Michelle said.
“Good. Others?” I asked.
“The Department of Motor Vehicles,” Paige said.
“Wedding ceremonies longer than a half hour,” Zuzanna said. “People want to get to the reception.”
“Everything to do with high school, especially for the senior class,” Britta said.
“Every graduation ceremony ever,” Erika said.
“All of those are very good. I’m sure there are more. So come get batteries and plan how you will go forth and conquer, but also not get caught,” I said.
Very quickly, the girls were swarming Mack, eagerly collecting batteries and pens while arguing over who got to spell what area and where. I pretended not to hear Tami claim rights to Gina Velasquez’s evening seminar.
“So, what’s up?” I asked Chris, pulling up a chair next to his as the class got their stuff and began to gather around the room in pairs and groups to strategize.
“First, that was really good, Declan. You have a knack for this stuff,” Chris said.
Wade turned from watching the mayhem around Mack, a frown on his face. “As much as it pains me to say it, I don’t get anywhere near that much participation in my class on supernatural mythology,” he said.
“That’s because they’re only in that class because you’re teaching it. Most of them probably know as much or more than you do,” I said. His frown got deeper but Chris spoke before Wade could protest.
“Where did you get the idea for the wasted time spell?”
“Because he’s always in the longest lines,” Mack said, turning away from a friendly argument between Zuzanna and Ryanne over a local church whose pastor wasn’t very enthralling.
“What do you mean?” Chris asked him.
“He always picks the longest or slowest line? It’s deliberate,” he said. The witches had stopped talking and were all listening now.
“Why?” Chris asked me.
“Yeah, why? You should never wait for lines,” Alice said, sincerely puzzled.
“Which is why I do,” I said, mildly peeved that Mack had offered up this tidbit.
“If you’re one of the strongest witches in existence, if not the strongest, with a super AI buddy, you can basically abuse any system anywhere. So he doesn’t. He makes himself wait, like an exercise in pain or anger management,” Mack said. “Keeps himself honest and off that slippery slope of magic abuse.”
Yeah, I was definitely annoyed with him, a fact he didn’t seem to pick up on despite my glare in his direction. Or maybe he did.
“Who you looking at? Wanna go? Wanna piece of this?” he asked, both fists up in mock seriousness before grinning at my annoyance. “See, he’s pissed I said something, but do I worry? Do I fear for my safety or the sanctity of my social media sites? No, because he forbids himself from that kind of thing. Might have to watch what he puts under my pillow or who he might text if I leave my phone open and lying around, though, but that’s what any normal roomie might do.”
“You police yourself that severely?” Wade asked. Chris didn’t say anything, just looked at me with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“I answer to a higher authority,” I said, turning away to gather up my notes and stuff.
“You mean Stacia,” Tami said, giving me an uncharacteristic grin. She almost never smiled. Now I knew why. It was more than a little creepy and I wished she would stop.
“Bingo!” Mack said, enjoying himself way, way too much.
“So back to the questions you had for me?” I asked Chris, trying to change the subject.
“Are any of ya really shocked? I mean, do ya know the lad at all?” Ryanne asked. Damn, not working.
“What are you so worried about?” Wade asked.
“Oh, I don’t know—entitlement issues, overdeveloped ego, self-inflicted isolation, imbalance,” I said.
“Hah! That last one is the biggie isn’t it?” Erika asked. “You’re concerned about natural balance.”
“What’s that mean?” Wade asked.
“We, that is pretty much all witches, believe in balance in all things. Erika’s guessed that Declan is concerned that his excessive skill and power places him out of balance and that the universe will find a way to bring him back, possibly violently,” Zuzanna said.
“Oh, well if that’s the case, no worries,” Chris said.
“Why would you say that?” I asked, unable to stop myself.
“Because Tanya and myself suffer from the same condition. Why are we here and why do we have so much power? The answer just revealed itself less than a month ago.”
“The Vorsook?” Britta guessed.
“Exactly. A race that has conquered who knows how many worlds,” Chris said.
“Over seven thousand, four hundred and twenty-eight, according to the glimpse of their history I received during my… grapple with their AI,” Omega interjected over the room’s speakers.
“Never get tired of that,” Wade said, a look of mild awe on his face.
“So you think the reason we’re all here on Earth in this time is because of the Vorsook?” I asked Chris.
“Yeah, but more importantly, Tanya, Lydia, Senka, Galina, and most of the Coven feel that way,” he said. “The older vampires have a pretty long-term perspective that’s hard to come by.”
“Hmm, a space-going race of slave takers against little ole Earth,” Paige mused.
“With just you and him and your vampire to take them on?” Alice asked.
“And Omega and all of us, and Arcane and Oracle, and the other countries’ supernaturals,” Erika said.
“Wait, are you training us in portals in order to fight?” Alice asked, looking worried.
“You will likely have to fight whether you want to or not. Being able to open portals to move people or stuff across the planet in the
blink of an eye is a pretty huge asset,” I said.
“Or, say, open a portal to the Vorsook and drop a tactical nuke on their asses,” Mack said.
“My very thoughts exactly, Mack Sutton,” Omega said. “And Father is correct. Moving troops and equipment in minutes is an enormous strategic advantage.”
Alice looked panicked and I remembered that she hadn’t been in China with the others.
“The stronger all of us are, the better,” Chris said, patting her arm a little awkwardly.
“Drop a nuke?” she asked.
“Cross-dimensional and cross-interstellar space stuff is graduate level. You guys are in grade school,” I said.
“And you’re the professor?” Britta asked.
“More like graduate student-slash-TA,” I said. You could almost hear them thinking about that.
But my comment was enough to distract Alice’s momentary panic. Additional support came from an unexpected direction.
“Easy there, Morloft. Don’t get your undies in a bunch. We’ll get you up to speed,” Erika said. “Yo, Macky, you might want to get making up a bunch more of these battery shells. We’re gonna want to charge up all we can.”
“Hey Declan, can you open a gate by yourself?” Tami asked suddenly.
“I just did. I know you were here because I saw you throw Erika’s lipstick through it,” I said.
“No, I mean without the batteries. Could you gather enough power on your own?” she asked. The whole class was listening for my answer.
I thought about it for a moment or two. Could I?
“If I was near enough to a large amount of energy, like a factory foundry or a nuclear power plant. Or like thirty minutes on Fairie,” I said. “It may get easier with practice, though. I feel like there are more efficiencies to be had.”
“Fairie would be the easy way to charge these things,” Mack said, handing a battery to Wade.
“Wow, it’s getting late,” Chris said suddenly, looking up at the clock on the wall.
“Oh, that’s our time, everyone. Go forth and charge your batteries,” I said. Immediately, the girls started to gather their stuff and filter out of the room.
Wade was quizzing Mack on the batteries and Chris was looking at his phone as I cleaned up my teaching gear.
“So you make these? And they work?” Wade asked.
“Sure. It’s like putting a machine together. Declan optimized the first few but now I’ve got the feel for it,” Mack said.
“Feel for it?” Chris asked, suddenly interested.
“Yeah, which component goes best with the others, how to align each part within the whole, that kind of thing,” Mack said, a slight grin on his face.
Chris turned to me, eyebrows raised. “Yes. He’s learning to feel magic and he can use it with constructs and shaped spells if he uses a device to power the spell,” I said.
“You learned how to feel magic?” Wade asked, incredulous.
“Yes,” Mack said.
“I think we all have some latent genetic ability for it. Almost everyone has some weird happenstance like thinking of a friend or loved one and getting a call or text from them the next minute,” I said. “Witches are bred for it, so we’ve got huge advantages, but I think most folks have a touch of it. Mack and Jetta have both been exposed to it here at Arcane, and I think their feelers are coming online. Jetta helps us make these things too.”
“You’re saying magic is teachable?” Wade asked.
“Yes, within limits. But with a source of power and a basic feel for the Craft, anyone could work some spells,” I said. “Smaller stuff.”
“Holy shit!” Wade said. “Holy shit. I want to learn.”
I nodded. “We can teach you. Mack and Jetta could start, as they both have firsthand experience in learning to sense something I was born aware of.”
Chris was frowning. “This is potentially good and bad,” he said.
“Like any technology. It’s also not easy. Being submerged in a whole group of witches who are constantly practicing magic really helped me and Jet,” Mack said. “Like language immersion. And I have to constantly work within my limits. The least witch here can do things I never will, but I can now do things I never thought possible.”
“Mack, could you possibly talk to Wade about that? I have some things to go over with Declan,” Chris said. I wasn’t surprised. There was no way he’d flown up here on a Demidova plane just to look me over.
“Here, come with me,” he said, heading out the door.
“Let’s grab a bite,” he said, leading me into the dining room, which was just down the hall.
There was always something available in Arcane’s dining room because weres burn calories like crazy and hungry weres are nothing to trifle with.
Sure enough, there were boxes of cereal, with milk, yogurt, and cheeses in a little glass-fronted fridge, as well as all kinds of fruit, different breads and bagels along with a selection of almond, sunflower, hazelnut, and peanut butters. And jelly. Lots of jelly.
Chris helped himself to a bowl of Cheerios, looking at me quizzically as he made it.
“Nope, I’m good. Tonight was taco night and I filled up,” I said, patting my still-full stomach.
Nobody else was in the room so we grabbed the first table nearby. “So, yes I was sent to check up on you and also to look into the Red Caps. Omega observed the autopsy of the dried one and is studying the live one that the Bureau has. He feels strongly they are the product of Fairie and specifically the Summer Queen,” he said.
I nodded.
“Right, of course he filled you in. Here’s the thing—only some of them came for you. The others, which all appear to have been sleeper agents, killed, soaked their heads in blood and headed for several different venues,” he said.
“Like Roswell, Area 51, and some odd warehouses in Florida and California,” I said.
“Yes. So the UFO connection is there, except the odd warehouses. We’ve been looking into them. The ownership trails are confusing to the point where Omega needed ground investigators to track some of the leads. We think they end up with the Vorsook,” he said.
That was something Omega hadn’t gotten around to telling me.
Chris read my expression. “I just got some of the details while you were teaching. The Red Caps, who Doc Singh thinks draw their speed and strength from blood that soaks into non-human cellular structures on their scalp tissue, have been mostly attacking what might be Vorsook intelligence cells here on Earth. You seem to have been a half-hearted afterthought, although there were two that got killed in shootouts with police in New York State. They might have been headed this way.”
“So what’s the feeling? The queens are pissed that the Vorsook are attempting to take Earth and striking back? And the shots at me are what? Bait?” I asked.
“What happens to Middle Fairie if you die?” Chris asked.
“I don’t know. It might calm back down or it might just explode,” I said.
“Let’s face it. The Red Cap this morning got in a lucky shot. If I had just got my ass kicked by you, along with my sister and my dragon ally, I sure as shit wouldn’t send two piddling fairy killers to take you out. The second one couldn’t take Caeco from ambush; how was it expected to handle you when your defenses were up?” he asked. “We don’t think your death was the object, maybe a happy bonus, but we think they’re trying to lure you back to Fairie.”
“Right. Makes sense. Lure me back and kill me or take my power or something,” I said. “Not gonna happen. I’m staying right here,” I promised him.
“Here’s the thing. We think you should go back,” he said.
Chapter 5
I think my mouth hung open a bit. Chris actually looked at it and chuckled, then held up his hand, closing fingers and thumb like an alligator mouth. I shut my mouth.
“Crazy, right?” he asked. “But here’s what we’re thinking. First, that black diamond skin technology comes from Fairie, right? And so does the counteragen
t to it. Second, the Vorsook have conquered thousands of planets, yet not Fairie. Why? What is it about that planet that keeps them from attacking it? They have trillions of bodies to throw at it, yet they don’t. What’s the queens’ secret to keeping them away?”
I nodded with his words but inside my head all I could think about was going back. The thrill of that much magic, the connection to the Middle Realm, the danger of losing myself. It must have showed. Stupid face.
He pulled back and studied me. “That idea worry you?” he asked. I knew he meant the idea of going back, not the Vorsook ideas.