Impossible Magic (9 page)

A line of twenty straw dummies hanging up on poles is stuck in the snow, one straw man for each of us to perform on. Paige, decked out in a fur-trimmed black coat, strolls in front of the straw men. She looks severely beautiful, as usual, her expression serious and authoritative. I feel a little better when I see that all of the others are squirming from nerves, too.

“Your Professors have no doubt informed you of how the elemental exam will be conducted,” Paige begins, her voice booming. “You must show a grasp of the basics of each elemental skill on the dummies—catch the straw on fire, use wind to grow the flames, douse it with water and then with earth. Our fifth element, ether, will guide you the whole time. Once you have completed these tasks, you will have passed and can step to the side.”

She doesn’t mention what will happen if we fail. I know it’s because she won’t accept failure. One by one, the others perform their skill tests, and although a few struggle, everyone is able to at least channel each of the elements. Melody is right before me. She starts by accidentally sprinkling water onto the dummy. She glances nervously at the Headmistress, tugging at her hair. Then she reverses the steps and finishes successfully with a flourish of dust.

I’m the second to last, with Astrid beside me, as Paige comes up to me. “It’s your turn, dear. Show us what you’ve learned so far.”

I take a deep breath, letting it out through my nose and shake my head. I’ve never been so wired with nerves. The icy wind blows my hair around my face. I can feel the eyes of everyone else honing in on me.

I try to focus on the straw dummy, the expressionless head, the stumps for arms and legs, the red and white target on its chest. I feel for the prickling tug inside of me, digging deep, trying to force it through my hand. I manage a weak spray of sparks that hits the dummy and a few straw pieces sizzle before going out. I bite my bottom lip and squint at Paige, who is frowning at me thoughtfully. I know she’s disappointed now that she really sees my failure. No one makes a sound, and the embarrassed silence is worse than if they were laughing.

I try again, straining my fingers as I try to draw the magic up and out, but weakness overcomes my body. I feel like I’m trying to swim through tar.

“I can’t do it,” I whisper.

“Sebastian,” Paige calls. “Please come over here.”

Sebastian is a tall, sleek man who looks to be about thirty, and is the oldest of the wardens. I’ve never even spoken to him before. He’s intimidatingly attractive, just like the rest of Paige’s private male guard. Sebastian glides across the yard and stands in between me and the dummy. I glance at Luke for a moment, but his face is expressionless.

“Sebastian has excellent skills in elemental magic,” Paige informs me. She clasps her hands together and addresses him. “Iris hasn’t had as much experience with this as the others. I want you to help her out.”

I hear a wave of muttered complaints. Paige shoots a glare at them.

“We’re witches, we help each other. Divided we’re no good to anyone, that’s always been our creed.” She addresses the warden. “May we begin?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, and I notice he has a faint British accent like Paige’s. His tanned, stubbled skin complements his broad nose, clear eyes, and strong jaw. Where does she find these men? Even now, with every nerve in my body sizzling from anxiety, I can still appreciate Paige’s excellent taste. His hands clasped behind his back, he clicks his heels together and then steps around beside me.

“Try again,” he says, waiting. “Let me see your technique.”

I hold my shaking arm up again, and he gently takes hold of it, supporting my elbow. My nerves are making my hand wobble like crazy. I glance once more at Luke, and this time I can feel his jealousy crash into us like a heat wave. His eyes take in every movement.

I attempt to create water, even a drop, but the magic scatters into tingles along my arm.

“I can’t do this,” I whisper.

Sebastian speaks low in his honeyed accent, so I’m the only one who can hear him. “I can feel the magic inside of you. There’s no one here but you and that figure, and you can do this. You just have to channel it.”

Beads of sweat break out on my forehead, but I listen to his words, mentally blocking out Luke, the teachers, the other students. Everything other than the dummy falls away.

I picture the fire inside of my head, glowing brighter and brighter. I expel the fire out of my fingertips, shooting it at the dummy. I smile back at Sebastian excitedly. His lips begin to smile back, then drop into a frown, his eyes widening.

“You face just went pale. Are you feeling well?” he comments, his eyebrows drawing together.

All of the blood drains from my head and my knees go weak. My left hand feels like it’s been doused with acid and I paw at it feebly as my legs finally give way. Sebastian catches me and cradles my body as we both sink to the ground. I hear footsteps running toward us and I know it’s Luke as my vision goes dark.

CHAPTER 15

When I open my eyes, Luke is beside me. Sebastian props me up and Luke shifts so that he can check me out for injuries. His two fingers find the pulse in my neck and he frowns. Blood thunders in my ears.

“What’s going on?” Paige asks from above us. The others standing by make a wide berth, stepping back. My eyes roll back in my head for one frightening second and then focus.

“I-I don’t know,” Luke says, and I’ve never heard him sound so vulnerable. Sebastian’s arms press into my ribcage, supporting me as I struggle to remain alert.

“Something’s interfering and bottling up her magic,” Sebastian says. I can feel the rumble of his chest against my back as he speaks. “The temperature of her arm shot up just as she did the spell.”

Luke’s hand slides down my left arm and he lifts up my fingers, splaying them. He scowls, then tugs the ring off of my finger. Instantly it feels like the pressure has lifted off of me and I blink my eyes. Luke cups the offending piece of jewelry in the palm of his hand, inspecting the black opal interior. “Where did you get this ring, Iris? You never told me.”

I clear my throat, feeling like I’m coming to my senses, and I sit up on my own as the weakness dissipates.

“Astrid gave it to me, it’s supposed to be good luck to help me with my spells.” I glance over at Astrid, who is shooting looks around as she tries to slip in between the crowd.

Luke hands the ring over to the Headmistress. “This is cursed, I can feel it. The opal lining the inside is probably what’s been diffusing her magic.” He locks eyes with me again. “You’ve worn this for a while, haven’t you?”

I nod. “Every day. I never even questioned it.”

“That’s probably part of its charm.”

“But it has the five-leaf clover,” I point out.

He smirks without humor, inspecting the clover. “Five-leaf clovers are
bad
luck, unlike their four-leaf counterparts.”

Sebastian helps me to my feet as I try to process this revelation. It’s is a trick I would have expected from Melody, not sweet Astrid. I take long strides over to her and grab her arm before she can get away.

“Why would you do that to me? What did I do to you to deserve such a thing?”

She bites her bottom lip, her chin trembling. “I hated how cocky you were the first week, like you knew everything there was to know about magic. You didn’t take it seriously.”

“I know that, but I learned,” I protest.

She clenches her fists by the sides of her skirt. “But by then it was too late. I couldn’t tell you there was something wrong with the ring, or I would have gotten in trouble. I was hoping you would just take it off.”

“I wore it off because I thought it was a kind gift from someone who cared. I thought you were my friend.”

“I am,” she insists, her dark skin flushing. “I just didn’t understand you at first. I’ve never seen someone join this school who wasn’t prepared to be a witch. I didn’t think you belonged here.”

“That’s not your place to judge, Astrid,” Paige says sternly, stepping beside me. She puts her hand on Astrid’s slumped shoulder and the younger girl stares up at her with a mix of fear and apprehension. “You need to come with me to my quarters so that we can discuss the proper punishment.”

They walk swiftly back up to the school as the rest of us look on. Luke exchanges a glance with me, his face carefully free from judgment. He’s perfected his poker face.

“Should I try the test again?” I ask. After a moment of hesitation, he nods and guides me back to my mark across from the dummy.

“I don’t know exactly the effect that ring was having on you, so don’t expect your powers to be back completely,” he warns.

I still can’t believe Astrid’s betrayal, or that I yet again put my trust in someone who didn’t deserve it. I step towards my mark in front of the dummy, whose shadow seems to loom ominously above me. I steady myself and plant my feet in the ground, my nerves taking over my stomach.

I feel the magic start to grow inside of me, making my hands tremble. But what if Luke was wrong? What if the cursed band was only part of it?

I push away my self doubts, lift up my hand, and aim it for the dummy. Time seems to slow down for everyone else and yet I move faster and my clarity is sharper. A sphere of fire surges out of my fingers and smacks the dummy in the center of the target. I swallow hard as adrenaline pummels my body.

I don’t dare look at anyone else, although I feel their eyes on me. Riding the wave of adrenaline, I concentrate on building wind and flex my fingers as it blows out onto the fire. The flames grow and dance up toward the sky. I lick my dry lips, feeling like I’m out of my body as I douse the dummy in water and then finish by dusting it with dirt. The ruined dummy sags forward, breaks off the stick, and plummets to the ground.

I’m completely stunned and I can’t move. Applause thunders around me, and I swing my head in an arc, taking in the excited onlookers. The others are smiling at me and they pat me on the back, lobbing a few ‘good jobs’ my way. I glance over at Luke, and although he’s carefully smoothing out his expression, his eyes are blazing.

CHAPTER 16

“What’s going to happen to Astrid?” I ask Luke the next day as we’re strolling outside toward the frozen gardens. As promised, he’s going to help me with my necromancy. My magic hasn’t gone away, and now with excitement and relief, I want to know more.

Tomorrow is the day we’re supposed to consummate our deal, but neither of us has brought up that subject yet. Wild thoughts have been racing through my head all day.

“The Headmistress says she will be confined to her room for everything but classes,” he informs me. “There is more to her punishment but it’s strictly confidential.”

“I don’t know whether I should forgive her or not,” I admit.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.”

“That’s one of the many differences between you and me,” I say, keeping pace with him and jamming my hands into my pockets. “I’ve been carrying around too many grudges. I have to be able to trust people eventually. I believe her reasons. I’m not going to totally trust her, but I’m willing to forgive.”

He eyes me, and I can tell he’s trying to read my thoughts. “You’re a better person than I am. I wouldn’t.”

He leads me along a stone wall and around to a square, walled-off area with a series of empty, snow-coated beds. He nonchalantly waves his hand, and the snow disappears, leaving clean, soft dirt.

“Kneel down next to me,” he says, and I follow his lead as he crouches down.

“Where do we start?”

“With what you already know. Necromancy isn’t about the body left behind as much as pulling the soul out of death’s grip. You can’t be afraid of death, but you have to respect it.”

I scramble to understand. Death has loomed over me ever since my parents died. The stark finality of a person’s final breath and a stopped heart. I spent years thinking about what it would be like to die before I went to sleep, and then battling through nightmares until dawn.

“You’re not afraid to die?” I ask.

His dark eyes glance upward toward the sky. “No, I’m not afraid. I just resent it. I resent that life has to stop, to surrender to the masters of decay and rot.”

I chew on my lower lip, wondering if my next question is too personal. “Is that why you don’t want to get attached to anyone?”

I can tell I’ve struck a nerve, although he remains stoic. “I just don’t think there’s no point in loving anything when it’s going to cease to exist.”

He quiets, looking thoughtful as he bites the inside of his lip. I sense that he’s thinking about something he won’t tell me.

“But you could bring anything back, couldn’t you?” I ask.

“Not anything.” He brings out his box that I’ve seen him use in class, and slides off the top. Two dead bodies of birds are lying inside, their wings stiff and gray, their small legs poking upward. A small spade is tucked against one side.

“You collect really creepy shit, you know that right?” I cringe as he digs two small holes a foot apart, and lays one bird in each.

“Comes with the territory.” He scoops dirt together and covers the birds, their tiny feet the only remaining part showing.