Midnight Magic, page 149
I noticed Otto was whispering to a blonde with thin streaks of sky blue in her long hair. Of course, Mr. Good-looking would be trying to pick up every newbie in the room. Yay me for not falling for it.
“But I can only teach those who are willing to set aside what they think they know. It is impossible to learn if you know everything, isn’t it, Mr. Grimes?”
Otto looked up, but rather than be embarrassed, he laughed along with everyone else. Charming and humble, I thought with a shake of my head.
“Turn on your tablets and open the ebook I’ve just sent you from my own mentor, Bending the Waves by Geoffrey Running, Water Wizard of the Third Order…”
For the next half hour, Professor Cannon paraphrased many of the passages of the massive, over one thousand page text her former teacher had written about our craft. Apparently, elementals practiced their own craft with their coven to get stronger.
I wondered if that was why most of them seemed to be in dorm rooms together. The witch and wizard sharing my table were brother and sister. I hadn’t realized that when I first looked at them, but after they mentioned it, I saw the resemblance in their tawny skin and light blue eyes.
“Our mother is a water witch,” Erik explained.
“Father is a fire witch,” Kira finished.
“She warned us about this task when she heard we finally got into Marine Casting,” Erik said, biting his lip in concentration.
“How long were you on the waitlist?” Kira asked me.
“Um, I wasn’t. I mean, I didn’t pick any of my classes,” I confessed.
The twins turned and stared at me with matching expressions. Like fish out of water, their mouths opened and closed several times before turning to each other and shrugging. At least they would not pester me about it.
They were not just siblings. They were twins. Both round-faced and shy, but as we moved on to the lab part of our class, they both exuded a happy kind of energy I did not mind being around.
“What are we supposed to do?” I asked Erik as he used a dropper to fill vials with samples from both tanks.
“We are supposed to fill up our pitchers using a compulsion cast. It’s something all elementals can do.”
“Why are you using a dropper, then?”
What can I say? I was curious. If we were supposed to use some kind of spell casting to move the water, I didn’t understand what he was doing with the vials. Any information I gathered would be helpful, since I was pretty sure I was the worst witch in the group.
I looked around and saw witches and wizards muttering spells and waving their hands to try and get the water to do what they wanted. I’d never seen or attempted anything like it. Biting my lip, I turned back toward Erik, who was concentrating on filling one vial at a time. Next, he lined up tiny test strips and dipped them in the vials, being sure to carefully place them by each corresponding sample.
“I am testing the water in both tanks for alkalinity, mineral content, and pH levels.”
I did not understand the science behind casting magic at all.
So I did the only thing I could think of, I asked.
“Why?”
He rolled his eyes, but it didn’t deter me. I mean, I knew I sounded like one of those annoying kids who always asked why whenever a parent or teacher answered a question, but I didn’t care.
Professor Cannon was walking around the class, giving advice and asking each student to try their spells in front of her.
Shit.
I didn’t know the first thing about casting a spell and I sure as fuck did not want to look like an idiot.
“He’s doing that cause he’s a total dork,” Kira snorted, teasing her brother, who blushed a deep ruddy shade.
“For your information,” Erik began. “Knowing these things can help me better connect with the contents of each tank, giving me a better chance at success when it comes to bending the water to my will.”
“Don’t listen to him, Rio. The best way to bend anything, especially water, to your will is to find the right rhythm when you cast.”
“Bending it to my will? Rhythm? I have no idea what either one of you is talking about.”
My head whipped back and forth between the twins.
“Seriously, how did you get into this class?’ Kira asked me.
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly.
Making friends wasn’t easy for me, but I needed some allies at Westwood. In this class, in particular. Lira and Erik were friendly, at least. I’d noticed some of the others glancing my way curiously. There was Otto, of course, but when he looked at me it was like he was measuring what he could get. I could save him the trouble of wondering about it now, if only he’d bother asking me.
“Okay, let’s start at the beginning. I’m a wizard. My sister here is a witch, like you. Also, like you, water is the element that calls to us.”
I leaned forward in my seat and listened to Erik explain what it meant to be a water witch. He was patient and thorough, and I immediately felt better for having asked.
“So I’m taking measure of both tanks because, Rio, when you are casting, knowledge is important. I am trying to find a way to connect to the water through my understanding of its chemical makeup. If I’m successful, hopefully I can bend it to my will.”
“But that’s his way, Rio. Yours might be totally different,” Kira took over explaining from her brother. “For me, I use words and rhyme to cast spells. If I can reach the right rhythm, I’ll be able to fill my pitcher with hardly any effort,” she finished.
Erik replied with a tsk and an exaggerated eye roll. To which Kira turned around and stuck out her tongue. The conversation grew playful, and I watched them work companionably for a little while. They made me smile with their typical snarky sibling antics and chatter. The twins were a refreshing change for me, actually. I’d been so serious most of my life and school was not exactly my happy place. I’d much rather be in Lelo’s shop.
Damn.
I was not ready for the sharp pang of homesickness that hit me all of a sudden. It was fierce and constricting, like a vise grip. I tried to shake it off, but now that it had me, it didn’t want to let me go. I stared into the tank full of sea water and my pulse started to race. An eerie voice began to whisper in my mind, creating doubt and fear, urging them to take root.
You don’t belong here.
Go home.
You’ll fail.
The water is too powerful for the likes of you.
Go on, cry for me.
Weep hard.
You will be the next.
It is your fate.
The water started to spin in the tank until it developed a froth. Round and round, I couldn’t make it stop. In fact, I might have been the cause. The voice grew louder, the words harsh.
Your mother was not strong.
She did not last.
Are you strong, little witch?
Will you cry for me?
It won’t be long now.
I wanted to strike out against the darkness taking shape in my mind.
Or was it inside the tanks?
Angry now, I pulled against the tendrils trying to wrap around me like so much thread. One at a time, they were easily broken, but together their bonds would be too strong.
“No,” I muttered, breathing fast and heavy as I battled whatever this thing was.
Was it real or just inside my mind?
I had no idea. It felt real. I felt Erik and Kira’s eyes on me, heard the sounds of chairs sliding out from the others, and knew they were stopping and standing to watch.
Shit.
They should really move away.
I turned my attention back to the thing trying to steal me away. I heard someone scream and the tables and chairs rattling, but I was busy trying to stand my ground to pay it any more mind than that.
You are mine.
Give in!
The voice whispered louder. The sound was as inviting as nails on a chalkboard. I pulled with all of my might then and felt the water move with me.
“No!” I screamed before I pushed out with a great wave of energy.
The sound of dozens of glass tanks exploding and water splashing everywhere echoed in my ears as I fell to the ground. Then, I blacked out for a little while.
“Rio! I got you. Outta my way,” grunted a masculine voice that was a tad bit familiar.
The speaker was fierce, commanding, and I knew him from somewhere, if only I could think. Everything sounded as if I was underwater, and I felt like I was moving in slow motion.
“Look at me, Rio,” the same voice said.
It was growing clearer now, and as I blinked, a chiseled face with blond hair and stormy eyes hovered above me. I felt high and light, as if I was flying, but then I realized he’d picked me up off the floor and was carrying me. I didn’t know where, but it felt good.
He was warm, and I was so very cold. Chilled to the bone, as my Lelo had a habit of saying. My teeth chattered, and I snuggled closer to the large, sweet smelling man. He didn’t falter in his steps. If anything, he just held me tighter. I should’ve been embarrassed, but I was too cold to care.
“Put her down here, Mr. Knut.”
Professor Cannon’s spiky head popped up, checking on me, I supposed, if the concern on her face was anything to go by. I hadn’t realized she was so short. Then again, she was probably average height. It was Magnus who was enormous and incredibly tall. She pointed to a chair.
“Yes, professor,” he said.
Magnus set me down effortlessly. I thought he would simply walk away, but he stayed, crouching at my feet, and checking over my person with strong, deft hands.
“Is she hurt?” Professor Cannon asked.
“No broken bones,” he murmured and checked my pulse.
“Here!” Kira popped up behind him and thrust a towel toward me.
I was too weak to grab it, so Magnus did that for me. He took it and wrapped the soft cotton towel around my shoulders. It was only then, I realized I was soaking wet. Like, down to the underwear soaked.
I looked around and saw just about everyone else was too. The students were all whispering and pointing at me as they tried to clean the broken glass and mop up the water. Some were being treated by others for minor cuts and abrasions. One thing was obvious. Whatever this mess was, I had caused it.
“I got it from here. Return to your duties, sentinel,” another voice joined the cacophony of sound, and I wanted to protest.
But the look in Magnus’ eye stopped me. The concern I thought I’d seen and heard before was gone. Replaced by practiced indifference and a stony facade. I looked down, hurt by the sudden change, and too shocked to hide it. He squeezed my hand, forcing my gaze to meet his once more.
Understanding flowed through me. It was like I knew he was asking me to just go along with it. So strange. That feeling like I could hear his emotions and intent as opposed to his actual thoughts.
“Thank you, Mr. Knut,” I whispered.
“My pleasure,” he replied.
I cleared my throat, my voice sounded hoarse and felt scratchy as if I’d swallowed saltwater. Maybe I had. Magnus gave me one last long look before standing and stepping aside.
Kira and Erik were behind him. Both twins wore identical expressions of concern. Then there was Otto, and I knew he was the one who’d told Magnus to move. I was annoyed at him, but there was so much I didn’t understand about this place, I decided to reserve my comments.
“Well, now. That was quite the surprise, wasn’t it?” he asked.
“Octavius! Did you see that?’ Professor Cannon asked, sounding surprised.
“You must work with our new student here. Ms. Milagros, have you met our star water wizard, Octavius Grimes?”
“Yes, we’ve met.”
“Excellent. And you are feeling well?” she asked.
“Better, thank you.”
“Okay now, class! Class? Listen up, I believe it is best to call it a day and reassemble tomorrow. Please see to it your assignments are completed before we meet again. Dismissed!” she yelled and clapped her hands in the same manner as when class began.
“Well, then, Ms. Milagros,” Otto said, his usual grin in place. “Until tomorrow.”
I felt his eyes boring into my back and instinctively knew he stood watching me as I walked away. Relentlessly studying me as I tried to make my exit with my pride intact.
My head ached, and I clutched the towel tightly to me, hoping I wasn’t leaving a wet trail in my wake. Hard to look dignified when your sneakers squeaked with every step, but I managed it. Head high, shoulders straight, I made my way back to the dorm.
As I took a warm shower and put on fresh clothes, I had one thought running through my head.
Why would the professor pair me up with the most powerful water wizard attending Westwood Academy?
I was nobody, and I certainly hadn’t proved myself capable of anything other than making a mess.
“Hey, I heard that sleazeball, Otto, is your new lab partner.”
Startled, I jumped and clutched my hand to my chest. It was only Tana, who seemed pleased with herself for surprising me.
“Where’d you hear that?”
“Never mind. Aren’t you late for lunch with little miss happy pants?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m on my way now. You know, you could just come join us,” I said for some reason.
To my surprise. She did.
CHAPTER 8
Never in a million years would I have ever thought I’d be sitting in a classroom for witches and wizards next to a guy who spent more money on hairspray than I had on my entire outfit. But there I was, day after day, week after week on this adventure at Westwood Academy, seated beside Otto Grimes.
My first month seemed to fly by as I caught up on histories and current events in the witching world. Jade’s subscription to Council of Covens Daily News showed up on my school registered tablet every morning, and I’d recently started looking forward to it. The Council of Covens was involved in everything that went on in the supernatural world. Not just between witches and wizards.
I’d learned a lot. Read a lot. Was getting along with my dormmates.
So, why did I feel like a damn failure, then?
Maybe it was because of the whispers of those sitting around me. Or maybe it was because I knew Otto wasn’t really interested in me, despite the purposeful glances in my direction. He had some other game plan, but fuck if I knew what it was.
I didn’t sleep around, and I wasn’t about to start here. In this strange place where my magic seemed to pulse and writhe beneath my skin, growing stronger by the day. Professor Cannon did her usual fifteen minute lecture, then she told us to continue to work in groups.
The class was still trying to bend the water in their tanks to fill pitchers and other tubes and vessels at will. It was more difficult than I could have imagined, and I was reluctant to try. That was why she’d paired me with Otto, I supposed. He was the most powerful wizard in our class and a lot of students looked up to him.
Still, I’d felt better with my first two partners. Speaking of which, I turned and waved at Kira and Erik, who were at the table beside us. They returned the gesture then went back to testing the alkalinity or whatever of the two water filled tanks on their table.
Everything in the room had been replaced, or magically fixed, or whatever since I’d destroyed it back on that first day. It looked perfect. Exactly the way it always had, though no one else had seemed impressed by that fact.
For a few days after the incident, everyone had appeared to be waiting for me to do something else. They all wanted to see what else the new girl would break.
What. Fucking. Ever.
“Freak.”
I snapped my head around to try to discern who’d spat the ugly word at me, but Otto beat me to it. Every time I thought I had him pegged, he surprised me. Right then, his handsome face was twisted in an ugly sneer as he growled at the other wizard.
“Shut up, Manny. Or you will regret it,” he said with a finality that made me shiver.
I had the feeling Otto Grimes had a massive cruel streak. And for that reason, I did not want him defending me.
“It’s fine,” I said.
“No. It is not, and he will stop. Right, Manny? You know better than to cross me, don’t you? Now, come on,” he said, and that last bit was directed at me.
Otto stood up from our usual table, offering his hand. I ignored it and gestured to the tanks in front of us.
“Don’t we have an assignment?”
“Moving water from tanks to cups is child’s play. And you don’t look like a child to me,” he said with a pointed stare.
I just rolled my eyes. There was nothing going on between me and Otto Grimes. He wasn’t my type. Hell, I wasn’t sure I even had a type. Dating never was very high on my list of priorities. I was more concerned with staying alive and not succumbing to the Milagros curse.
The weeping woman was a creature damned for all time. I didn’t want to be the next la Llorona. Not in the least. Far as I was concerned, Westwood Academy was my chance to master my powers, not to hook up with some over-privileged pompous ass. Even if he was kinda cute.
“Well? Come on, Rio. You and I are working on something else today.”
He winked and strode ahead. Cocksure and as full of himself as ever. If I thought he was actually into me, this behavior would truly get on my nerves. But he wasn’t. Something in my gut told me that, despite all his posturing and leering at me.
His minions, that strange group of witches and wizards he’d been with the first time I saw him, followed us with their eyes as we walked to what resembled an enormous touch tank at the back of the classroom. Professor Cannon was busy with a couple of students who’d somehow turned their water green. This process of learning to connect with and manipulate the element we were associated with was not as easy as it appeared.
“Ever see one of these?” Otto asked.
The large, hip high table looked like any old touch tank that a children’s zoo or small aquarium might have on site. The kind where little kids leaned down to run their chubby little fingers along the ridges of conch shells and the spines of starfish. I recalled one I had visited when I was much younger, where you could even feed stingrays and pet baby sharks. I’d loved it. The aquarium was a real treat when I was a kid.
