The guy who saved her life. The blonde guy she’d bowled over at the park. Heat crept into her cheeks, but she pushed away thoughts of that hard body under hers and focused on the present.
“Magic.” She gave Eli her best no-bullshit look, the one she usually reserved for the Tae Kwon Do students she taught at the studio.
“That’s what healed you,” he said. “You must know people don’t heal from that kind of injury. If it wasn’t for Quill, you’d be dead right now. You said you remembered last night.”
“I do,” she said, trying to keep the defensive edge from her voice. She didn’t like being called a liar. She took a breath. She had no better explanation for why she had no marks from last night. “Magic. Okay. I’ll play along. Is that what that…fireball…was?”
“Exactly,” he said, his face lighting up now that they were on the same page. “That was Quill’s magic. Not everyone has enough to save someone from death like that. Not if they want to keep some for themselves.” His eyes shone with admiration. “Quill has some of the strongest magic the Majoris have ever seen. He’s amazing.”
“Majoris?”
“Those are our teachers,” he explained. “Quill is the highest-level student of magic even though he hasn’t been training as long as some others. He was born with an enormous capacity for magic. Some people have magic in their families, and it gets passed on to the next generation. But it’s been diluted through time. Quill is the most powerful guy here. We all look up to him. And he protects us in return.”
“But I’m not…magical,” Sagely said, unable to think of a better word. “Why would he protect me?”
“He gifted you some of his magic,” he said, lowering his voice. “You probably feel it right now. That tingling sensation you’re feeling? That’s the magic. It’s inside you now.”
So this feeling would never go away? She was stuck with internal pins-and-needles for the rest of her life, like a scar no one could see? She hadn’t asked for this. She hadn’t asked for any of this. She was a regular college student, independent and driven, ready to graduate college in a year. Not some crazy chick with magical…blood?
She didn’t even believe in magic. And now someone apparently wanted to kill her over it. Maybe more than one someone.
She started breathing hard. It didn’t make sense. Someone had tried to kill her the previous night, before she even had magic. How had she been dragged into this nightmare?
“Great,” she said. “Now I can’t leave because I’m in danger, because he gave me some of his special magic?”
“Would you rather be dead?”
“No,” she admitted after a pause.
“You’re lucky,” he said. “Magic is the most precious gift in the universe. The most precious energy. You should feel honored. Most witches are born with just a trace, or given just enough to feel a pull when someone else with magic is nearby. They spend most of their lives gathering it from the world around them and learning to harness it. To save your life like he did…depending on your condition and your capacity for magic, he could have given you a lot. You could have all kinds of powers. You might be even stronger than some of the witches here.”
Sagely blinked. “Witches?”
She pictured Halloween witches, the kind with green warty faces, hunched over cauldrons stirring bubbling brews with broomsticks. Or weird girls playing with Ouija boards and having seances. Or modern-day witches, the ones who worshipped nature and read Tarot cards and called themselves Wiccan. That wasn’t so bad. But it sure as hell wasn’t her.
I will not freak out, I will not freak out. I. Will. Not. Freak. Out.
“You don’t have to call yourself that,” Eli said quickly. “I know it’s overused. I don’t even call myself a warlock, though that’s what I am, I guess. Or I will be, one day. But since I’m only fifteen, and I’m still learning to use my magic… It doesn’t kick in until…” He broke off and turned a strange shade of magenta. “Puberty,” he finished, his voice cracking, like he’d reverted back to that awkward age.
“I’m Sagely,” she said, smiling to show him it didn’t embarrass her, hoping to ease his mind. “And I’m already twenty-one. Am I going to have to learn to use this magic stuff now? Does that mean I’ll have to start school with all the twelve-year-olds?”
He gave her a grateful smile, but quickly looked away, obviously not over his embarrassment. “We’ll have to ask the Majoris about that,” he said. “It might depend on how much magic you have. I don’t have much. But anyone with magic has to be trained in how to use it. Otherwise you could hurt yourself or someone else.”
“How long does training take?” she asked, already calculating how long summer break lasted. She could double up on classes, call it summer school, and be back by fall at the latest. She was nothing if not ambitious.
“Again, that depends on the person,” Eli said. “It sounds like I’ve answered all the easy questions. You’re probably ready to meet the others and ask the Majoris anything you still need to know.”
“In this?” she asked, pulling her tank top, stiff with dried blood, away from her body.
“Oh, right,” he said, jumping to his feet. “I’ll get one of the girls to help you with that. I’ll be right back.” He seemed relieved at the excuse to leave.
Damn. Way to screw up your first introduction, she thought as Eli slipped out the door. She jumped up and paced the room. Outside the window, she saw a small yard, and beyond that, a forest of lush green trees. Eli hadn’t told her where they were, but it didn’t look much different from Fayetteville. Maybe they weren’t too far. She could go back to teach classes and continue training for her fourth-degree black belt, and come here to train in magic a few days a week.
It couldn’t be harder than Tae Kwon Do. She’d work her way up and graduate by the end of summer, a master of her newfound abilities. As excitement began to build inside her, the buzzing intensified. This time, she relished it. Her magic. Who wouldn’t want magical powers?
She wondered what she could do.
She’d start by tracking down the asshole who attacked her and punching his teeth down his throat.
Four
A few minutes later, Eli returned with a stack of folded clothes. Sagely wriggled out of her tank top, glad to dump it in the trash can in the corner. She’d just about kill for a shower, but there was no bathroom off the bedroom, so she made a mental note to ask about that when she got a chance. After pulling on a pair of skin-tight jeans and a hot pink t-shirt and her boots, she stepped out of the bedroom to where Eli was waiting.
The house was furnished more like a cozy cottage than a dorm. It was small but clean, with wooden floorboards, and walls, and crowded but homey furniture. In the main room, three fat, comfy sofas sat facing each other like three sides of a square. The front door stood open, the entrance covered by a screen door. Through it, Sagely could see more familiar forest swaying gently in the midday sun. Before she had time to wonder too much about the oddity of this cute little house having one cinderblock room, Eli opened the door to a basement.
“Oh, hell no,” Sagely said, stepping back. “I’m not going down in your basement. I’ve read Stephen King. I watch the news. I’m not stupid.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “I promise.”
“Um…yeah, no. That’s not making me feel better. First off, no one knows where I am. I don’t even know where I am. And even if there was a cop standing by to protect me, I wouldn’t do it.”
“We’re right by Boxley Valley,” Eli said.
Not too far from home, as she suspected. She’d never been to Boxley Valley, but she’d heard of the historic cabins there. The Buffalo National River ran nearby, and tourists came to canoe, hike, and camp. But no matter how idyllic the setting, she was still not going into a basement with a stranger.
Suddenly, the wall beyond the doorway began to emit an eerie glow, and the buzzing in her blood intensified. A deep, resonate voice commanded, “Come.”
Sh
e gasped, struggling against the urge to shoot off a rude answer. Did the walls just speak to her? She was losing her freaking mind.
“It’s okay, really,” Eli said again, touching her elbow. “You share the magic of the coven now. Quill would die before he’d let anything hurt you.”
Sagely herself was dying of curiosity about how they got the wall to speak. After a second, she stepped forward. She knew how to defend herself. She could probably take down a dozen of them before they hurt her. If they had weapons, she knew how to get one and turn it back on her attacker.
She quelled the tiny voice asking why she wasn’t able to overpower her would-be murderer. Stepping forward, she passed through the door. The walls continued to glow, as if not made of regular sandstone but a giant, flat, phosphorescent pearl. She couldn’t help herself. She reached out and touched the wall. As her skin tingled with magic, the hairs stood up all along her arm. The swirling glow immediately began to move towards her fingers, which rested against the cool, smooth surface. It collected under her hand until a bright spot rested under her palm. When she moved her hand, it followed, as if magnetized.
She noticed Eli grinning, proud to show off his awesome home. Pulling her hand back, she continued down the stairs, her fears forgotten in the face of such wonder. She couldn’t wait to see what else they had down there. Turned out, magic was pretty cool.
At the bottom of the stairs, they stepped into a chamber made of ordinary brown sandstone, with wall sconces set around the cavernous room. Stalactites and stalagmites lined the cavern, with a few randomly placed in the center of the chamber. Around the base of a stalagmite towards the back of the cavern, a tiny trickle of water flowed, lit up with a flickering golden glow, a reflection of the light from the sconces. The trickle continued towards the back of the chamber, where it disappeared into darkness.
In the chamber, a group of teens and a few adults stood facing her. Waiting. Here was her chance to make an entrance, and hopefully a better impression than she’d made on Eli. But she was overwhelmed with the sudden intensity of the magic buzzing in her blood. It was deafening, drowning her in waves of goosebumps.
She surveyed the group, desperate for relief. Not a single hooded black robe among them, no one holding a broomstick or wearing a pointy hat. No one in ripped fishnets with black lipstick, either, and hardly a hippie skirt among them.
They didn’t look like witches at all. They were just wearing regular clothes like her. She started to relax. Then she spotted Quill standing at the edge of the group, his hands clasped in front of him, his broad shoulders square and his chin tilted up just slightly, a hint of a smile on his wide, dark lips.
Damn, I just want to bite those lips!
As if he had read her mind, his smile turned into a smirk. A jolt went through her when his eyes locked on hers, and she gasped at the exquisite sensation of it, almost painful, like an invisible bolt of electricity was dancing along their connected gazes. She tore her eyes from his and staggered forward a step before recovering her dignity.
What the hell, Sagely? Total airhead is not the impression you want to make.
She straightened up and stepped forward with more purpose, letting her eyes move over the others while she ignored the vibration of magic inside her. It was as if someone was holding an electric razor to the nape of her neck. How the hell did anyone concentrate enough to learn anything with this feeling running through them all the time?
Unsure how to proceed, she faltered again when she was a few paces from the group. She didn’t know who to greet. No one stepped forward to extend a hand, and she didn’t know who the leader was. She knew Quill was powerful, but it seemed so forward, so obvious, to choose him first.
So she thrust out her hand towards the group in general, avoiding his eyes. That was when she noticed all the others’ expressions. Most looked curious, but some looked wary, or excited, and one blonde girl was glaring at Sagely like she’d rather set her on fire than shake her hand. Weirdly, the magic inside her began to vibrate at a higher frequency when their eyes met. She pulled her gaze away and addressed the group as a whole.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m Sagely. I’m told that I’m now in possession of some magic, and I need to learn how to use it before I go home.”
A couple kids who looked about Eli’s age exchanged glances. An older man took her hand and gave it a polite, quick squeeze before letting go. When no one else reached to shake her outstretched hand, she decided that wasn’t a custom they embraced, so she dropped her hand. Before things got awkward, Quill stepped away from the group and stood beside her, facing the others.
“Winslow Witches, this is your new sister,” he said, addressing the group. He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She went rigid as that simple gesture made her magic explode like he’d thrown a lit match into a warehouse full of fireworks. The magic sparkled and popped and spun inside her until she was breathless, nearly choking on it. Was he feeling this? If so, how did he continue to speak?
“We’re each anxious to know if you’ll be joining our class, so maybe we should go ahead and measure your capacity for magic before anyone gets too attached.”
Too attached? Um, no. She was leaving. No one should be getting attached to her.
Quill dropped his arm from her shoulder and threw it over Eli’s. “Did you answer all her questions?”
“I did my best,” Eli said, smiling up at Quill with reverence. It was obvious he worshipped him.
“You did good,” Quill said, squeezing Eli’s shoulder before turning to Sagely. He grinned, excitement flickering in his eyes as if challenging her to a sparring match. “Ready to measure your magic against ours?”
Five
Was she? She wasn’t sure if she even wanted this magical “gift.” It seemed as much curse as gift. Maybe she could fake it, lose on purpose, so they’d think she didn’t get enough to be a danger to anyone. Then they wouldn’t have any reason to keep her there.
“Don’t be scared,” Quill said in a low voice, so only she could hear.
“I’m not scared.”
She wasn’t. Uncertain, yes. If she gave it her all, and turned out to have only a tiny sliver of magic, would she be disappointed? Would they let her leave, or make her stay anyway? If she wasn’t very powerful, would they look down on her? If she was super magical, would they be jealous? And more importantly, would it take years to learn to control it enough to go home?
Quill looked doubtful, but he stepped away from her without arguing. The man who shook her hand stepped forward. “Welcome. I’m Ory. I’m the Majori for the entry level, when people are just coming into their magic. I’ll be the proctor for your first magical exam. Call it a pop quiz, if you like.”
She answered his smile with her own. Though the magic was still buzzing inside her, he had a calming presence, and she was immediately at ease with him. She hoped she’d get him for a teacher, even if it meant she didn’t have enough magic to do anything cool. He was a short guy with a little pot belly, skinny legs, and a head as bald as a cue-ball. He wore black shoes and slacks, and a pale blue striped shirt with suspenders and a bow tie. Compared to the Majori standing behind him, a tree of a man who was glaring with thunderous eyebrows drawn together, he was about as unimposing as a person could be.
“Come along,” Ory said, holding out an arm in a grand gesture, ushering her towards the back of the cave. She expected to step into the tunnel that the water trickled into, and she wondered if the walls there would light up, too. But Ory stopped about halfway across the cavern. A grove of stalagmites had been cut off at stool level and polished to a smooth surface.
The stools were clustered around a large, flat stone table in the center of the cut stalagmites. Ory gestured for her to sit on one of them, and he took his place on the one across from her.
“Are you the leader of the witches?” she asked. “Or how do you decide who tests me?”
“No,” he said with a smile. “We don’t hav
e a leader. We govern ourselves according to the laws of magic. Within that, we’re allowed anything.”
She wondered what “allowed anything” entailed, but he went on before she could ask.
“As to your other question, we all test you.” He set his hands on the table, and as she watched, the surface began to glow gently, with a slight concentration around the ring he wore. “Think of this as an entrance exam where we test what you already know. Except today, we’re not measuring how much magic you possess, but how much you are capable of containing at once. Your magical capacity tells us what training you need. You may not have much now, but if your capacity is high, you’ll need to learn to control not only what you currently possess, but also your magic when it’s at full capacity.”
“So I could get more than I have now?” Sagely asked, trying to ignore the buzzing in her hands.
“Magic, like any energy, varies. Depending on a witch’s activities, and even her latest exercises in class, her magic will fluctuate daily. Just as your energy level varies daily, so does your magic. What we want to measure is less variable, though your current magic does show up in the test as well.”
“So it’s not like a magical arm-wrestling match?”
Ory smiled. “No, it’s not a competition against the others. No one here has any more authority or status than anyone else. We are all equals. Everyone is allowed to follow his or her own interests and passions. The Majoris don’t make rules. We are here to instruct only. We offer guidance, having practiced magic longer than someone whose magic has only just awakened.”
As he spoke, the glow became brighter and brighter, until it was swirling and pulsing across the table, like a video she’d once seen of the surface of the sun, except this table was glowing blue instead of orange.
“If I have Quill’s magic, shouldn’t it already be awakened?”
It sure felt plenty lively and awake.
“It’s been a long time since I trained gifted magic,” Ory said. “Usually, witches are born with all the magic they are capable of containing at once. But it stays dormant throughout childhood. When it awakens, we train them to control their abilities. A witch who is gifted magic, and is able to retain it, is rare.”
Magic of the Void: A Reverse Harem Witch Series (Winslow Witch Chronicles Book 1) Page 2