by Lucia Ashta
A roar, like of a rushing tsunami, swept across the grounds. My friends screamed and fell. Sadie lunged for me, but one of the wily willows reached for her and wrapped her leg in its branches. With a swift tug, Sadie went flying up into the treetop and out of sight.
“Rina!”
Ky’s voice came at me as if from far away. “Rina!” he called again, but despite my wish to have his help, I found that I couldn’t connect to him. When there was this much going on inside me, it was a challenge to move outside of myself. My desire to interact with the outside world was nothing compared to the power roaring through me.
“My love, come back to me.” This was Leander, and I desperately wanted to accept his support.
But I couldn’t. My magic was too much for me to contain. I couldn’t risk letting it out any more. I might hurt Leander or Ky.
A stiff wind churned around us, whipping my waist-long hair in every direction, lashing against my face and arms.
“What’s she doing?” A garbled cry wafted through the howling wind. I recognized the shaky voice as belonging to Fianna. Which meant I was making a scene, the very last thing I wanted to do. Too bad I had no idea how to stop it.
Sir Lancelot’s voice called out: “Is it her mage power?”
“I think so,” Leander said, as I pushed myself to sitting, ignoring his offers to help me up, and scooting a few feet away from everyone, including him. The blades of grass released their hold long enough for me to move before tightening their grip again.
“It’s not just her mage power though,” Ky shouted, to be heard above the whistling wind.
A pair of high-pitched yelps preceded a flash of crimson and sapphire as the wind snatched Fianna and Nessa away. Sir Lancelot was perched on Professor Quickfoot, his talons digging into the gnome’s shoulder while the professor held on to the pygmy owl with both hands.
“I feel something similar to my mountain lion coming from her too,” Ky yelled. “I can’t be sure, but I think her mage magic might be mixing with her shifter magic.”
“But I thought she didn’t have any shifter magic anymore,” Leander said, sounding too close. I scooted another foot across the grass away from him. I couldn’t risk putting any of them in danger. It felt like an earthquake was building inside me, already shaking the foundations of my being.
“She didn’t,” Ky said, but he sounded as perplexed as I probably would have been if I could focus on anything beyond the fact that I was literally a ticking time bomb of some nature.
When I brought my hands to the tickling blades of grass on my legs, some of them rose, weaving along my fingers—but it wasn’t threatening. No, the grass seemed to be … playing with me. Engaging me and whatever wildness was birthing within me.
Placing my palms firmly on the ground beneath me, I pushed to stand, but not before the ground rumbled beneath me. My step faltered, and Ky and Leander snapped hands out to keep me from falling. When their fingers grazed my legs, a shock much like electricity erupted from me, zinging in tones of golden copper, causing them to yank their hands back as if they’d been burned.
“Leave me,” I managed to say around a thick, unwieldy tongue. “Don’t want to hurt you.” Each word required monumental effort, more than I had.
I stumbled away like a drunkard toward the main gate to the school and the large patch of open forest between it and the healing wing. Immediately, I sensed my friends, brother, Leander, and the staff begin to follow.
“No,” I slurred, waving a careless hand behind me.
A blast of copper golden light followed my wave, slamming into the ground behind me, rending the earth in two. A crater several feet deep and just as wide gaped between me and them, tearing apart the quad, carefully manicured with magic.
I blinked at the ravine I’d caused with nothing more than a flicker of my hand, pressing back tears. What the hell was wrong with me?
When I sensed a greater amount of my shifter magic pulling into me, melding with my already unstable and unpredictable mage magic, I did all I could think to do.
I turned on my heel and half stumbled, half ran toward the open forest concealed deep within Thunder Mountain. If I were isolated from everyone else, at least I wouldn’t hurt them.
All I focused on was the pounding of my Converse across the grass, becoming increasingly wild the farther I got from the main quad. I allowed the two different types of power within me to do whatever it was they wanted to do. They were entwining around each other, like a DNA strand, weaving themselves together into a workable whole.
Magic sparked in my palms and flashed along my entire body, visible along my forearms where I’d folded up the sleeves. The scent of burning fabric assaulted my nose, but my uniform was merely singed.
I let loose and ran as far and as fast as I could, as if I were truly my mountain lion already. I didn’t stop until I spotted a familiar face that had no business being this deep in the forest.
18
“D-dad?” I stuttered and skidded to a stop, sliding across the thick grass covering the forest floor. “What are you doing here?”
I’d lost track of how long or how far I’d run, but I did know that I’d long passed the logical limits of Thunder Mountain. Whatever magic concealed the Magical Creatures Academy within the mountain also apparently extended the perimeter of the academy substantially beyond the mountain’s natural borders. I couldn’t even make out an end to the dense forest; it was possible that it might continue as long as I wanted it to.
“I came to see you,” Dad said, taking several steps toward me.
I held up my hands in warning. “Don’t touch me.”
“Why ever not? I haven’t seen you in a while. I want to give you a hug. I’ve missed you so much.”
“Well, you can’t. I don’t know what’s going on with me, Dad. My power, my magic, it’s totally out of control.” I started growing agitated again, and worked to regulate my breathing, heavy already from all the running.
“Oh? Tell me about it. Maybe I can help.” Dad smiled encouragingly, his chestnut eyes, which matched his hair, gentle and warm.
Focusing on dragging in ragged breaths in an effort to calm the melding magic inside me, I scanned our surroundings, sensing something was off, but not sure what. The forest here was much thicker than at the academy proper, but it wasn’t particularly unusual.
When I peered up at the trees, the thick, tall pines bowed toward me, their trunks and limbs groaning and creaking loudly at the unnatural movement. The wild grasses, nothing like the manicured lawn of the quad, leaned toward me as well, starting the trek up my pant legs, weaving and tugging.
It’s probably just me. I’m the one who’s off—monumentally off.
The wind picked up, launching a biting gust straight at us. It moaned and whined, but still I somehow found it soothing, as if discovering something as wild as I was inside made me less of a freak.
“Rina,” Dad said. “What’s going on?”
My hair whipped around my face, and I struggled to gather every one of its strands, even those that rebelled and lashed at my face, sticking to my mouth. Hastily, I gathered my hair into a high ponytail. “I really don’t know, but you definitely shouldn’t touch me. My magic has gone bonkers.” Though the truth was that it had settled some since I’d begun running. As if it benefited from having an outlet for the excess energy pulsing through me, it simmered, erupting in the occasional boiling bubble.
Dad took a few hesitant steps toward me, and stopped when he noticed my narrowed eyes. There was no way I was going to hurt him after all he’d suffered when losing Mom. Her death was another terrible event I was indirectly responsible for.
With his hands up as if I were a wild animal, he spoke in gentle, soothing tones: “Tell me, Rina. You know I’m an expert in the magic of supernaturals. Explain what’s going on, and maybe I’ll be able to help.”
My shoulders relaxed by a fraction as I realized he was right. That was the exact reason why Sir Lancelot had invi
ted him to the academy. With how crazy everything at the school was, we needed his expertise, none more than I.
“Come. Sit with me,” he said. “Take it easy and let’s talk things through.”
I nodded, feeling more in control of myself at the thought that help might be minutes away. “All right, but I can’t sit. The energy streaming through me won’t let me stay still. I’ll pace while we talk. If not … well, if not it might blast you or tear stuff up again.”
Dad raised both eyebrows at that.
“I told you, I’m not in control right now. I don’t … I don’t know what’s going on, Dad.” I gulped the anguish and desperation rolling through my throat.
“Why is the grass climbing up your pants?”
Flinging my hands in the air, I huffed. “I have no idea! All of the plants seem to be acting strange around me.” The blades of grass, again extending in otherworldly ways, tickled the back of my knees, chittering softly as if they were my pets or something equally bizarre.
The pine trees stopped bending once they formed an odd, closed canopy around me. Dad eyed them warily, craning his neck to take them in, but I didn’t feel threatened. The only one who posed a real danger here was me.
“What’s causing this reaction, do you think?” he asked, not removing his gaze from the plant life around us.
“I don’t know, I really … ah, don’t. Dammit.” I squinched my eyes closed for a moment against the discomfort of telling a comfortable lie. The messenger flowers had condemned my friends and I to telling the truth, even when the lies we told were only those we were used to telling ourselves. And the flower’s truth spell hadn’t worn off, not even a little bit.
“Okay, so I know,” I snapped at the invisible spell forcing me to face myself when I didn’t want to. “I’m pretty sure what’s going on is that my mage magic is clashing with…” I grimaced again. “Okay, okay! So it’s not clashing. My mage magic is melding with my shifter magic.”
I patted gently at my pant legs. “Come on, you have to let me move,” I said to the blades of grass growing like Rapunzel’s hair, inching up my body. “If not, I’m going to seriously lose my shit.”
It was almost guaranteed that I’d already lost my shit, but whatever. The blades of grass retreated down my legs with a whispered whimpering.
Remembering Dad was there with a start, I looked up at him, waiting for the reprimand at my “foul” language, but it never came. Dad’s eyes were wider than I’d ever seen them, though when he noticed me looking he quickly blinked the evidence of his shock away. “Right. Okay. So you’re a mage and a shifter.”
“Yeah, but you know that already.” Ky had told me he’d updated Dad on my latest nutso developments while I was in the fae’s Golden Forest with Leander.
“Of course I know. For sure. It’s just pretty crazy, considering that I don’t know of any mages who are also shifters. It’s always one or the other.”
“I know,” I said, deadpan. I really did get how odd I was, and how much danger I exposed everyone around me to thanks to my unique, freakish nature.
“So…” Dad started, “how is this happening? I thought your shifter magic had been funneled into Fury.”
“It was. He stole it from me. But now it seems to be coming back, all of a sudden. I was just making my way to breakfast and then, bam, my power blew up inside me, and I discovered some of my shifter magic when I hadn’t felt it since Fury took it.”
Since I’d momentarily stopped pacing to stare at him, I didn’t miss the shock that whisked across his face. The moment he noticed I was studying him, he smiled. “I’m wondering if your mage magic might be powering your shifter magic.”
My eyes widened. “Is that possible?”
“Maybe. It’s new territory, but it’s the only thing that makes any kind of sense. What else could it be?”
“I don’t know. You’re the expert.”
“True. I am,” he said, and something about how he said it bothered me, but I didn’t pinpoint what before he was approaching me again.
I hurried to back up. “You can’t come close to me. I already told you that.” What was up with him?
“You seem like you’re in control of your powers now.”
I scoffed. “It only looks that way. Trust me, I nearly blew up half the school just a little while ago.”
“How fascinating.”
“Uh, no, Dad, not fascinating. Terrifying. I almost hurt my friends, and other creatures too.” There was no way I was going to tell him about Leander. “Ky was also there. What if I’d hurt Ky? I’d never be able to forgive myself.”
“Oh, yes, I see. You can’t hurt your brother.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. He noticed.
“I should go see your brother too,” he added.
“I’m sure he’d appreciate that,” I said tentatively. Something was definitely off. Trailing my eyes along the length of his frame, I took in his dark hair, in need of a cut. His eyes were alert and alive; absent was the usual heaviness in them, which I’d always attributed to his missing Mom. His cheeks were flushed pink with good health, and his step had a spring in it.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Is something going on, Dad?”
He laughed, and its pitch was wrong. Dad’s laugh was low, as if he had to go really deep within to give himself permission to enjoy life after his beloved wife was gone from it. But this time, Dad’s laugh was high-pitched and jovial, and if it had made any kind of sense, I’d even say a tinge of cruelty rounded out this new laugh.
“No, of course not,” he said, waving away my concerns with two hands hanging on floppy wrists. Dad never waved like that.
“Are you … on something?”
“On something? Whatever do you mean?”
“I don’t know, Dad, you tell me. Are you on drugs or something?” I had worried how he’d react after Ky and I both left the family home. Without us there, he was all alone—with his thoughts and his prolonged grief. “Are you popping pills now?”
“Absolutely not. You don’t need to worry about me.”
I wasn’t buying it. If it wasn’t this, then it was definitely something. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
He laughed again, the high-pitched ring of it sending a shiver through me. “Don’t be silly, Rina. I’m just worried about you is all.”
He didn’t sound worried. In fact, he sounded positively giddy. In my entire life, I’d never once seen him giddy. Not even close.
“Look,” he said, “I think you’re just unsettled with whatever is going on with you right now. Why don’t you let me take you to my hotel room? I’ve booked a suite at a nearby inn. You can relax while I figure out what’s happening and how to help you resolve it.”
I scowled, though it was a decent idea. Away from the school, I wouldn’t risk hurting anyone I cared about, or anyone at all. Though I didn’t particularly like Stacy, I still wasn’t happy I’d made her yip like a dog, apparently pretty permanently for the time being. And that had been from a silly little spell meant to stun someone. What would happen if my powers ramped up even more? What would I destroy next?
“I’m an expert at this kind of stuff, remember?” he said, a friendly crinkle turning up the sides of his eyes while he took another step toward me. “I wrote the entire Compendium of Supernatural Creatures.”
I allowed a small smile to tilt my mouth. “I finally read all of it. All seven volumes.” I waited for the beam of pride to spread across his face, but it didn’t come. He simply nodded as if he hadn’t been hinting that I read the authoritative collection on the supernatural races for many years.
“So what do you say?” He took another step toward me. “Shall we get out of here so I can help you?”
Biting my lip, I watched him take another step closer. He was only a few feet away now.
“Maybe it’d be better just to head back to the school,” I finally said. “I’m sure my friends and Ky are worried about me, and Sir Lancelot will definitely be int
erested in whatever you have to say about my, uh, condition or whatever.”
“We can get word to everyone that you’re fine once I’ve settled you into the suite.” When I visibly hesitated, he added, “You don’t want to delay addressing this dual power situation any longer, Rina. Father knows best. If your mage magic is sending energy to your shifter magic and powering it, things could get worse, and fast. There is such a thing as hybrid shifters, but I’ve never heard of a shifter whose powers are combined with those of a mage—or at least not until you. What comes next for you is unpredictable and dangerous. You don’t want to be around students at a school while we figure this out, trust me.”
My power surged within me, making me take a huge leap to get out of Dad’s reach. “Oh no,” I said. “It’s happening again.”
“Then let me help you.”
I shook my head frantically, stepping back hurriedly without looking. I tripped over the root of one of the pines that had taken so much interest in me and landed on my butt.
Immediately, Dad reached a hand for me. Without thinking, I took it and let him pull me back to my feet.
That’s when I realized what had been bugging me so much about him. His grip was weak, his hands cold. His scent up close was off. My dad smelled like cedar and musty books, not expensive cologne. Mostly, his energy just felt … off.
But he was my dad.
“Rina!”
The frantic cry had me whipping my head back in the direction of the school. I blinked in shock as Professor Hapblomb, in her usual perfectly pressed, tidy suit, ran toward me at a sprint. Her gray-streaked hair had almost entirely fallen out of its habitual stern bun. But what most impacted me was her face. She no longer looked at me like I was a foul odor better avoided.
She weaved amid the dense foliage while Dad reached for me. Taking a few hurried steps backward to avoid his touch, I looked back to Professor Hapblomb. The woman was surprisingly fast for a witch who appeared to be in her sixties.
“Don’t let him touch you!” she yelled. “He’s not—”
But before she could finish her frantic warning, Dad lunged for me, and despite my panicked retreat, he latched both hands around my wrists.