The Fairer Hex
A Witch Among Warlocks Book One
Lidiya Foxglove
Copyright © 2018 by Lidiya Foxglove
Cover art © 2018 by https://www.deviantart.com/moonchild-ljilja
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
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About the Author
Chapter One
Charlotte
“Charlotte!” Dad screamed my name from downstairs, interrupting a pretty important fight with a dragon in my favorite MMORPG.
“Just a sec!” I screamed back.
“Charlotte! I need an explanation right now!” He was getting that high-pitched voice he gets when the raccoons are in our trash.
I had absolutely no clue what he could need an explanation about, seeing as I had no life and had not done anything out of the ordinary, but it sounded important.
“Charlotte!”
omg, I hastily wrote. i have to go. i’m so sorry. emergency unfolding in-house. brb.
The rest of my fellow adventurers freaked out on me, but my sexy elf warrior girlfriend/boyfriend Firia said, You’d better talk to him. The rest of us can handle it.
uhh…how did you know it was ‘him’?
I just assumed it was your dad.
oh yeah well you’re right. thx.
It was a weird moment because I was pretty sure I’d never told Firia that my Mom was gone and I wondered how he guessed the emergency wasn’t burnt toast or something, but I didn’t have time to fully ponder it. I had to check on Dad. Anyway, Firia was awesome for not getting upset at me for ditching on the dragon fight, seeing as my brooding mage character Larius had the pivotal dark spells for defeating said dragon. Firia was also the closest thing I had to a boyfriend. We’d been playing Fortune’s Favor for years. I met him on Christmas when Dad gifted me a year’s subscription, and we’d stuck together through a lot of fights. Before long, we were flirting. A couple months in we figured out that we had each chosen avatars of the opposite gender, but we were having fun anyway, so I called him “my girlfriend” in the game.
Of course, I was fully aware Firia could be lying and was not really an eighteen year old guy but was actually like…a fifty year old guy, or whatever. We’d never taken it off the game. Whenever I tried, he got cagey. Which was probably a warning sign, and his hot babe elf avatar might not be a good sign either, but maybe he was just a self-conscious nerd boy. At least he took all my hassling about sexism in the gaming industry without getting upset.
I padded down the stairs. Dad was standing at the dining room table, staring at an envelope that sat in the middle of the wooden surface, looking at it like it was poisoned.
“Dad? What’s wrong?” I stood on the first step, shoving my hands in my pockets. “Something came in the mail?”
“Is there something you aren’t telling me about?” he cried.
“Um…no? I don’t think so. I’m eighteen. I guess there might be something.” I laughed, but then I realized this was going beyond my dad’s usual level of overreaction. “Hey, what’s up? Just tell me.”
My dad and I had a thing going. We were opposite in a lot of ways. He was fun and also had a tendency to overreact. I was stubborn but chill. He liked loud music, barbecuing, tattoos. I liked magical-sounding soundtracks, gaming, pajama pants. It wasn’t unheard of for him to freak out over nothing. I went to look at the letter. Maybe the bill from our annual checkup was more than he expected or something.
“I don’t know how to explain all of this,” he said. “Shit. I wish y—”
I shot him a look. It seemed like, for all the world, he was going to say that he wished my mom was here. I could hear the ghost of the “your” when he cut himself off.
He never talked about Mom.
I saw the return address on the envelope.
Merlin College
P. O. Box 332
Small Hollow, NC
“You’re freaking out about ‘Merlin College’? What is that? Sounds like spam.” I started opening it.
He grabbed it from my hand and slammed it on the table. “No. It’s not spam. It’s a reckoning, that’s what it is. I thought you were safe from all this. I thought your mom—like—sealed that stuff up. Were you talking to your elf friend online?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Maybe I should make him explain it. Nah, you’re my daughter.”
“Him? Firia? What does he have to do with it?”
He took a deep breath. “Your mother had magical blood. I believe this letter is from a witches’ college. That’s why it’s so nondescript.”
“Well, I’m already going to college, so…” I’m not sure why I said that first. Like, when you get your Hogwarts letter do you go, oh dang, but I already sent in my paperwork to the Montessori school? “Magical blood? What do you mean?”
“Your mom’s mother was an Ethereal witch from a very old witch family. Her father was a Sinistral demon who could turn into a wolf. So a werewolf, basically. I mean—let me back up. Magic is real. You know that, right? Deep down, I’m sure you know that.”
Admittedly, I believed in magic longer than other kids, because my dad played along with all my childhood games, built fairy houses with me and was very insistent about offerings for Santa Claus. And yet… “Did the neighbors sell you drugs or something?”
“I wish. Your mother was supposed to protect you from this shit!” He grabbed a stuffed cat that I had seated at the dining room table because I was a dork, and threw it on the floor.
My heart was beating pretty fast at this point. “Be nice to Jiji! Calm down.” I grabbed the letter and ripped it open.
Dear Mr. Char Byrne,
Your application has been accepted. You will attend Merlin College, the elite school for warlocks, with a starting date of September 12th. We were stunned by your test results and are thrilled to have you with us.
Please be packed and prepared on that day, as we will send a vehicle for you. Please refer to the attached list of items that are not acceptable at Merlin College and familiarize yourself with the rules of conduct.
We look forward to meeting you,
Ignatius Blair
Dean of Merlin College
“God, the list of stuff I can’t take to Merlin College is ten times longer than the acceptance letter. What the hell? Warlocks? Why do they think I’m a boy? They think my name is ‘Char Byrne’.” I laughed. “I mean, whatever, I just won’t go.”
“Warlocks?” He looked at the letter. “Oh—okay. This must be a mistake. They got you mixed up with someone else. We’ll write and tell them you’re a girl and that you’re not going to any magic schools.”
“Wait. Let’s start with, why did you not tell me this sooner and why am I not going to magic school? Magic school sounds awesome.”
“It isn’t. At least, that’s what they tell me. But I don’t want you having anything to do with that. It can get you killed. There are all these other planes, and magical creatures in conflict with each other, and…it’s bad news. It didn’t do my relationship with your mom any favors, that’s for sure. When we were growing up, she was never interested in magic. But then…when you were a baby…she got sucked in. Like a cult. Power is addictive and she’d never known what it was like. That was what we fought over. But she had bound your magic, so you wouldn’t suffer the same fate.”
“She bound my magic so I wouldn’t be powerful?”
“So you would be a normal girl,” he said. “Who doesn’t get killed by some demon or something.”
“And you just figured you’d lie to me about all of this?”
“Yeah—see—she could explain it better.”
“I don’t know about that. This is ridiculous.”
“It’s not ridiculous. It’s to protect you. The magical life is bad fucking news, Charlotte. Remember how you used to be afraid there was a shadow monster in the closet? And you’d scream in the middle of the night? ‘Daddy! Check the closet!’ I spent hours telling you there was no monster. But if I let you become a witch, there might really be a monster in there. And I wouldn’t be able to protect you. Witches and warlocks and all the other magical creatures in this world are battling for power, and you do not need to be in the middle of that. I want you to sleep soundly at night.”
“Oh…”
“So, you’re right, we’ll just write them back and tell them they’ve got you confused with someone else. It just shook me up. Sometimes I get scared that they’re going to try to suck you in, like they did to your mom.” He grabbed an envelope and some stamps from the desk, and then a legal pad with a grocery list on it.
“Maybe you should use stationery?” I asked. “Just a thought?”
“Like I have stationery. Who writes letters anymore?”
“I have some! I’ve never used it! Wait right here.” I ran upstairs. My computer was still on but I’d been logged out of the game.
I wonder why Dad mentioned Firia? That was weird.
I logged back in while I dug around for some decorative paper I’d had since I was a kid. I was pretty sure it had like, a Sanrio dog on it or something, but that was still better than a legal pad.
When I logged back in, I was back in the town. I’d missed out on the whole dragon thing. It looked like Firia was still on.
I sent a private message.
hey, Firia, have you ever spoken to my dad?
There was a pause and then she/he said, So…did he reveal my secret identity or something?
Hard to say if he was joking or not. no…what is it?
Did he reveal all the secrets of the universe?
a few…do you believe that magic is real?
I’m coming over.
wait, what?
He didn’t say anything else. I dug out the stationery and then I heard the doorbell ring.
“Charlotte!” Dad yelled. “I thought you were just grabbing paper! You went and talked to him.”
“‘Him’?”
“Just come downstairs. I guess it’s time you met.”
Chapter Two
Charlotte
Sure enough…there was a guy at the door.
But I had never seen him before. Ever.
Well, I didn’t think I’d seen him anyway. Admittedly, I didn’t look at the neighbors much, so if he was wearing a hat, maybe I wouldn’t notice if one of them was this attractive.
Stupid me.
His golden eyes froze me in place. They felt like eyes I knew, even as they had some unfathomable wild quality, but I had no idea why. I would’ve remembered him.
“Well, well,” he said. “You finally get to lay eyes on me. What a day. Something must have happened.”
“Yes,” Dad said. “Come in. It was a letter from a magic school. I think it’s all a big mistake, though.”
This unfamiliar guy, whom my dad seemed to know suspiciously well, walked in and gave me a brief smile like he knew me. I was trying very hard not to stare.
He was tall, slender, and somewhat ethereal looking, tawny hair tinged with a rusty red. His skin was pale, but not in a sickly way, or even a “too much time playing video games” way. It had an inner glow, like he had an intense and expensive skincare regimen imported from South Korea.
Pretty sure he didn’t, though. He was just naturally gorgeous.
He also had really good posture. So…like, no way was this the guy that spent hours playing MMORPGs with me.
His eyes and smile had sort of a sly twinkle. He exuded confidence, even wearing a rumpled t-shirt and sweatpants. It’s like when you see mega celebrities caught by the paparazzi like, being normal, but even then you’re like, nuh-uh, no one is that hot in real life.
“I’m Firia,” he said, offering a hand. “Or, properly, Firian. I am your familiar.”
“Muh wut?” I asked. I mean, that was how it came out. His beauty was distracting. “I thought you’d be more of a…”
“Female elf in armor?” he asked. “Well, then I wonder why you don’t have long white hair and an eyepatch.”
Actually, I thought you’d be more of a slobby geek. I didn’t say that. Especially since that meant that I was now the slobby geek. My dark hair was pulled back in a ratty ponytail and I was wearing faded, pilling leggings and a shirt that said “Reach for the Stars! Read-A-Thon 2008 Central Library”. And then, a huge cardigan because Dad blasted the air conditioning. I didn’t have a skincare regimen from South Korea either, that was for sure.
“Let me see the letter,” Firian said.
“Here.” I gave it to him. Anything to get him to stop looking at me.
“Hmm,” he said. “Merlin? That’s very strange. Merlin College is the crème de la crème of warlock schools. It doesn’t even accept applications. You have to be recommended and tested by an alumni of the school. Who do they think you are?”
“I don’t know…”
“Well, anyone can mess up paperwork, huh?” Dad said. “I’ll just—is this the stationery you wanted me to use? With this bear on it?”
“It’s a dog. Yes. It’s better than what you were using! But I can write it, Dad. It’s girly stationery. The letter is to me so I’ll answer.”
“I’d feel better writing it myself,” he said. “I don’t really want you having any contact with them.”
“He’s paranoid,” Firian said.
“Well, while he’s writing I guess you can explain yourself. My familiar? What does that mean? Did you find me in the game and get close to me on purpose?”
“Of course I did,” he said. “It was the perfect way to keep some connection to your life without exposing you to magic. I am your bridge to the magical world. I can take the form of a human or an animal, and I can travel to the magical world freely. I am here to protect you. And so I have.”
“You’re my age?”
“Yes. Exactly your age. As all familiars are. I was born because you were born.�
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“You’re my brother?”
“No, no, no. Just your familiar.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Well, I don’t have parents,” he said. “And I don’t need them. You can do magic, and I am magic. You’re from this plane, and I’m from Etherium. The other plane. One of them, anyway.”
“Are we…supposed to…what are we supposed to do with each other?”
“Magic,” he said. “But your magic was bound.” He shrugged. “I understand. The witch world is somewhat troubled in this past century.”
“So you guys are just going to throw all this at me now, but I still can’t become a witch. What do I do with this information? I’m supposed to be going to frickin’ normal college in a few weeks. Now that just sounds…”
“Great,” Dad said. “It sounds great. I’m so proud of you. I never went to college.”
“And now everyone goes to college. And gets stuck with student loans and dumb degrees.”
He looked crushed. “What is this? You were so excited when you got in.”
“Well, times have changed.”
He started writing. ‘Dear Mr. Blair’. “Do I address him as Dean Blair?” he said. “Never mind. He should never have sent you this letter anyway so I’m not going to get fancy.”
“You’re deflecting.”
The Fairer Hex: A Paranormal Academy Series (A Witch Among Warlocks Book 1) Page 1