by Olivia Ash
Deep breath in.
Drip… drip… drip.
Deep breath out.
Drip… drip… drip.
I repeat the process until a light flickers to life behind my eyes, and I can’t help but open them to see the circle glowing with a light blue aura. As my vision focuses, I realize it’s not just an aura, but tiny flames dancing along the edges of the circle, flowing through each line of the transmutation circle. The runes spark and burn with white flames, and the cauldron starts to smoke.
I smile to myself.
Man, I love magic.
Everyone else sits up on their knees and watches as the illuminated circle does what it does best… Magic.
I follow suit.
“Now we join hands.” Savannah lifts her arms, palms out, and touches Milo’s left hand and Gideon’s right. Gideon connects with Soren, who connects with me, and I connect with Jesse. The circle is complete as Jesse’s left hand connects with Milo’s right hand.
“It’s up to you now, Jesse.” Savannah sets her violet eyes on him.
He closes his eyes, lips pressed into a thin line of concentration. Energy flows around us like wind. It lifts my and Savannah’s hair, weaving through in a cool rush of magic.
The flames along the circle increase, but don’t emit any heat. I smile at how good and right this all feels, and I cherish the feeling like none other.
Through the light, the cauldron fades into nothing, disappearing as though it was never really there.
I frown.
Did it not work? Was all this effort for nothing? Nobody else seems bothered by this.
It dawns on me that this was the point. It’s the illusion that it’s not there. Further protection to keep me safe from those who are after my power. Safe from those who would accuse me of being dark. A shadow mage.
It will act as a shield to my meteorite.
And just like that, my smile is back. Wider this time.
The flames disappear, leaving the cauldron in the center of the floor and the circle nothing but charred dust.
We drop our hands back to our laps.
Milo heaves a heavy sigh. His shoulders slump as his face eases into an expression of relief. “That’s it.”
“The spell is complete.” Savannah smiles as she stands from her spot on the floor. She steps through the black ash and reaches into the cauldron, carefully pulling out the beautiful black pendant and brings it to me. She embellishes the motion with a regal bow that makes me giggle. “For you, my friend.”
I pluck it out of her hand. “Thank you so much. That’s very kind of you.”
I stand and take the sleek black stone, shiny and reflective almost like a mirror. Veins of silver and gold run throughout the surface. A band of silver with runes etched in a border decorates the top.
“And here is your chain.” Savannah’s voice pulls me from my admiration of the stone. She’s holding out a chain to me. “Go on, put it on.”
I take the chain and slide it through the clasp attached to the silver band, and then clip it behind my head. The stone dangles just between my breasts.
“You’ll want to hide that under your shirt,” Soren says.
I nod and tuck it in. As soon as it touches my skin, a burning sensation ripples through my chest. It’s not painful but irritating like a sunburn. Soon, the burning turns icy cold, tingling with a slight numbness. And then… nothing.
“How do you feel?” Gideon’s voice is pitched a little higher with worry.
I meet his gaze and smile. “Great.”
“How’s it working so far, Headmaster?” Savannah asks.
Gideon’s face becomes a stony expression of concentration as he focuses on me. It’s almost as if he can see right through me. Within moments, he sighs. “I can’t sense anything.”
“Good.” She smiles. “It worked.”
I take in each and every single face of my men and the resolve in their faces, each of them promising to defend me. And my friend, Savannah, the hope in her eyes and the smile on her face tells me that she is willing to see this through. It took time, preparation, and devotion to do something like this for me. I smile, with a look of appreciation at all of the members of my team, my family. “You guys will never know how much this means to me.”
“Well,” Jesse says, “I mean, we have an idea.”
“No, really.” I shake my head. “It means the world to me. Maybe a little more.”
“We’ll do anything to help keep you safe, Wren.” Milo’s words are full of love and truth. “Don’t you understand that yet?”
I nod my head in agreement. “Yeah. I guess I do.”
One thing becomes clearer with each passing day. Nothing will harm me. Not with my men. Even the firecracker Savannah has been proving herself to be a staunch ally and good friend. And I’ll never allow anything to happen to any of them. Ever.
I’m really starting to adore them all very deeply.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
After a wave of his hand, and the cleanup of all the ashes is magically done, Gideon announces that it’s time to train.
“That’s my cue,” Savannah says, coming in for a hug.
I wrap my arms tightly around her and whisper, “Thanks again.”
She pulls away and winks.
With a quick goodbye to everyone else, she leaves to get ready for her day. Jesse and Milo grab their stuff and file toward me. Milo shoves his glasses up on his nose. “See ya later?”
“Definitely.”
Jesse shoves Milo. “Sappy nerd.”
To my surprise, Milo chuckles. He runs a hand through his hair and shoves the other into his pocket. “Yeah, yeah. You’re the pot here, in this scenario, you know.”
Jesse shrugs it off and faces me. “Kick some ass today, hmm.” He places a hand on my arm, just above my elbow.
I quirk an eyebrow. “Sure. I’ll do that.”
“You’d better. I just might have to spank you later if you don’t.” He winks.
I playfully shove him away. “Get to class.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” He smiles as he saunters off.
I shake my head while I turn to face Gideon and Soren. They stare at me with looks of amusement, and I suddenly feel like I was caught stealing a cookie from the kitchen. Heat burns through my cheeks. “What?”
“Captain?” Gideon asks.
I shrug. “I can’t control what that man says. You should know that by now.”
“Kick ass?” Soren’s eyebrows lift high on his head. “This, I have to see.”
“Then I suggest you hang around. You just might enjoy the show.” I stand with my head held high, a smile tugging on my lips despite how much I try to fight it.
Gideon and Soren break out in belly shaking laughter. That isn’t the response I was aiming for.
I give them a dirty look, wounded pride and all. “Hey! What’s so damn funny?”
“Nothing.” Soren gasps out the word between bouts of laughter.
Soren, I would expect to be an ass. But Gideon?
They can laugh all they want, but it’s time for me to wipe those smirks off their faces. I engulf my palm with heat and light, cradling a medium-sized fireball. I send it flying toward their feet while they lean against each other gasping for breath. As soon as the fireball crashes near their toes, they stumble backward a few steps—that sobered them up quickly.
Game on.
They stare at me with wide eyes. Soren’s anger ignites as his nostrils flare and his eyes level on me. I cross my arms and shrug. “Still wanna laugh?”
Gideon’s expression turns pensive, narrowing his eyes on me as though he’s trying to figure something out. He snaps his fingers and pats Soren on the arm with the back of his hand. “Watch out. I’ve got this.”
Oh really? This should be fun.
Soren moves out of the way as Gideon waves his hands through the air, moving them in wide arcs and then out in front of him in opposite directions.
The room shifts. T
he four walls sink, and medieval stone curtain walls rise to replace them. The ceiling folds away to reveal a bright blue sky with light fluffy white clouds and a bright yellow sun shining its warmth down on us. Even a few birds I don’t recognize fly overhead.
I’m in awe at the sight. But it’s not over yet.
The floor shuffles itself from the wood planks to reveal patches of grass, dirt, and gravel. In front of me, stuffed wooden dummies with red painted smiling faces and targets on their torsos pop up from the ground and stand in rows deeper than I can see. The first row of dummies holds only ten across. They each hold wooden weapons and shields.
I shift my gaze to Gideon. He smirks at me.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“You are actually doing this. Not me.” He nods toward the dummies. “Think fast.”
The first row of dummies rattle a bit in reaction to Gideon’s magic. They come to life and lurch forward in a swift charge.
They’re quick. But I’m faster.
I conjure fire in both of my hands. As soon as they are close enough for me to disintegrate them, I release a torrent of flames. The smell of burnt wood fills the air, and black smoke rises into the sky, but they don’t stop charging.
Damn it.
Okay, so it’s going to take a lot more than fire to take them down.
They’re close enough for me to feel the heat pour off them, making sweat bead along my forehead. With some quick thinking, I take down the first two with a front kick and a round house kick. The other eight surround me.
I toss strikes of lightning at another two, shattering them and sending splinters and pieces of cloth and straw stuffing into the air.
Four down, six more to go.
For this round, anyway.
I lower to the ground and kick out another one. It crashes to the ground, lying still as though it never held life. I continue with the spin, raising to my feet and punching the next one, kicking my leg behind me to knock another back. It falls over and the flames instantly douse. I—wait…
I double take the dummy on the ground, and I almost can’t believe what I see. The face on it went from a smile to a frown.
I giggle. Cute.
I quickly turn around and block an incoming wooden sword attack with my left arm. I grunt in response to the strike, but thankfully it’s only wood. I punch the face of the burning dummy, knocking it back a few feet. It, and the remaining four others surround me, pointing their sword tips at my throat. A much more delicate body part than my arm.
I’m surrounded.
Digging deep into my magic, I let it cover my skin in burning flames with little pink electric currents sparking along my arms.
I send a side kick to my right, punch to my left, and spin. I take out the dummy in front of me by double punching it in the chest while electricity sparks from my fists, and a thunderous boom ricochets throughout the room. A gaping, burning hole is left in the center. I spin to face the two behind me, ducking and dodging their wooden swords. Sliding under them, I push out powerful electrical arcs, shattering their stands. My slide ends and I quickly hop to my feet to face the last one. A ball of burning white light forms in my right hand.
Holding the ball up for a pitch, the face on the dummy shifts to a worried expression, with its mouth in the shape of an “O”. My lips quirk as I toss the ball into its face. It hits, exploding the head on contact.
The first ten are down. I move to face down the next ten when a hand claps my shoulder.
I spin, ready to take on whoever is interrupting me in my zone.
Gideon’s blue-green eyes meet mine, and I drop my guard.
“Sorry.”
He smiles lovingly at me. “Stand back and let me show you how it’s done.”
I scoff. “Yes, Headmaster Storm.”
He quirks an eyebrow as he levels his gaze on me. There’s a seriousness to them.
I stick out my tongue.
He laughs and shakes his head as he approaches the charging second row, while I join Soren at his side.
“Hey.” I bump him with my elbow.
He shifts his eyes to mine without turning his head. “You did good. But you should watch how pros work.”
“Asshole.”
“Love you too.”
I shake my head and turn my attention to Gideon. He’s already dismantled four of the dummies. And I missed it.
Dang it.
I kick myself. That would’ve been really cool to watch.
He moves with such fluidity and speed, he’s almost a blur. He controls himself, using magic only when necessary to incapacitate his foes, rather than coming out with it at first. He punches, kicks, and uses the dummies against themselves to take them out.
In moments—mere seconds, really—Gideon has defeated all ten dummies. He spins on his heels and approaches us. He sets his eyes on Soren. “Your turn.”
Gideon leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he leans into me. “Well, what did you think?”
I don’t look away from Soren as I answer. “Impressive.”
“Thank you.”
His shoulder brushes against mine as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, and my skin is ignited. I suck in a breath and break away from Soren’s fighting to cast a glance at Gideon. His face is relatively stoic, but there’s a slight upward curve of his lips and a glistening in his eyes that tells me he most definitely knows what his touch does to me.
I take a slow, steady breath out and return to watching Soren. He burns everything in his path. He uses his magic coupled with brute force. A slightly different tactic than mine, but it still works. He manages to make it look beautiful as he moves brutally with sharp turns and quick jabs and kicks.
For the last dummy, he jumps into the air, performing a spinning kick, knocking the head off with an astounding amount of force. With a loud bang, the stuffed ball hits the stone wall on the other side of the room.
I count the remaining rows and see that there are thirty dummies left.
He turns to face us and waves us over.
Gideon chuckles. “Time to play.”
“What?” I stare bewildered at the back of his head as he joins Soren.
He stops mid-way and speaks over his shoulder. “Let’s go, Wren.”
I take the first step as the remaining three rows charge forward. I smile to myself.
Oh, this is going to be fun.
I run to close the space and start taking out dummies left and right as Soren and Gideon do the same.
We work together to destroy the forces attacking us. Soren and Gideon move with each other as though they know each step they are going to take next, and I try to keep up. It’s beautiful, amazing, and the feel of sparring with them is addicting.
“Stop!” Gideon’s voice booms through the room and everything around us freezes like a still frame of a movie, only this is 3-D like none other. I look around and take in the attacks that are in mid-strike and some of the magic is frozen in the air.
“Whoa-ho-ho!” I prop my hands on my hips, unable to stop smiling at how cool this is.
Gideon chuckles. “Take off your conduit.”
I snap my head toward him. “What? Why?”
Soren steps forward. A flash of concern crosses through his eyes that makes a lump form in my throat.
Gideon gives me an affirming nod. “Trust me. You’ll be safe here.”
I take in the depth of his blue-green eyes. There’s so much trust and faith in me brewing within them. My fingers slightly tremble as I slip off the cuff. He holds out his hand for it. I press it into his palm. With a nod to himself, he tucks it into his pocket.
He faces the frozen scene in front of us.
“Use your magic. Control it instead of letting it control you.”
“Okay.”
I trust he knows what he’s doing. However, I still feel vulnerable without my conduit. I don’t understand the purpose of this exercise, because I doubt if I’m ever really go
ing to use my powers without a conduit.
Not outside of this room, anyway. Afterall, no one else can know what I can do.
“Resume.” Gideon’s voice is stern with a level of calm that I wish I had.
All at once, everything comes to life, and it’s like the battle never paused.
I use balls of light, magic, and lightning to take out dummy after dummy, and I move quickly through them. Surprisingly, it’s a lot easier to use my magic conduit-free, and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. Still, I move through the onslaught of wooden, stuffed foes as if I’m slicing a hot knife through butter.
And it feels powerful.
I feel strong, capable, unstoppable.
Before long, I notice I’m the only one fighting. But I’m able to keep up with that little distraction, as I continue taking down the obstacles standing in my way.
And once the last dummy has fallen, I stand up straighter and face Soren and Gideon who are staring at me with wide eyes and full of emotions I can only guess at. I’m not sure if I’ve shown them too much or impressed them, or… hell, maybe I scared them.
The smoking heaps of burning dummies cover the entire length of the scene. I take it all in, then I look at my hands with an eerie calm. I don’t feel dark. I don’t feel out of control. I feel… almost whole.
Gideon snaps his fingers and the room starts to change to its normal shape. He and Soren turn and walk toward the door. I follow them, not wanting to be swallowed by the room, if that is even possible.
Once we are through the door, Gideon makes his way to his high-back chair behind his desk. Soren takes the chair on the left, in front of the desk, while I sit in the empty one to the right.
It’s an intense moment of silence. It’s uncomfortable as I flash back to that moment in the woods after I disintegrated the lamia that had stalked the little boy and girl. Before I remembered the meteorite and the power it gifted me. My heart flutters in my chest as anxiety takes over. I start to feel like I made a mistake as Gideon pulls my wrist cuff out of his pocket and hands it to me. His fingers brush along the skin of my wrist as I pull my hand away and I close my eyes against the erotic sensation.
Such a small thing with such a big impact.
“Thanks.” I put my conduit back on and silently vow to never take it off again unless I absolutely have to.