by T J Kelly
The paper burst into flames, white smoke filling the surrounding space in an enclosed sphere I had made of thickened Air. Then the lack of oxygen caused by my air-tight shield snuffed the fire.
A small butterfly remained.
With a thought, I popped the little bubble I made. Tiny black bits of burned paper floated to the floor as the smoke dissipated. The butterfly fluttered over to Harris and landed on his shoulder.
The look on his face must have meant that I caught his attention after all.
“Almost ready?” I asked jauntily.
“Come on Lia,” Harris said. He stood frozen, still trying to focus on the butterfly slowly opening and closing its wings. “Seriously?”
Seth burst out laughing. “Dude, Lia doesn’t like to be ignored. You know that. Consider yourself lucky she didn’t make a roach to climb up your leg or have the chair kick you like last time. Besides, that was a sweet little trick. Learn to do it, and you’ll never have trouble getting a date.”
Groaning, I shook my head in exasperation. Sure, it was totally histrionic for me to turn paper into a butterfly, but it looked impressive, and Harris wouldn’t be able to ignore me. I didn’t expect them to consider it a good way to pick up girls. Men were so absurd.
Peter slugged me on the arm. I shrugged and winked at him. I imagined the butterfly back where I got it from somewhere halfway around the world in a field of flowers, and it disappeared.
“Let’s get a move on,” Peter said. “We’ll catch you up on a few things in the car.”
The Andersson brothers nodded their acknowledgment and finished packing. They had small bags, the kind you hung on your belt. They were compact, but like other magical carry-alls, they could hold anything that could be squeezed through the opening. They used it as a jump-bag like the rest of the Irregulars. I had one, too, but since I hadn’t been out in the field before, I didn’t have it on me when everything went down at the castle. It was in my workshop. Thankfully, I had thought to stuff my backpack with clothes when I had the chance so I had something to wear.
I unsealed the door, and we headed back down the hall. It was narrow and cramped, worse than before. We probably strained Kamini’s magic. I sucked in a breath, drawing in the surrounding Air, and used it to lean into the magic that created the bedrooms and corridor in between dimensions. Everything firmed up, expanded and brightened like the apartment was waking up and stretching. Kamini would be able to sense somebody was giving her magic a boost, but I didn’t want to embarrass her or think I didn’t respect the job she did by making a big deal out of helping her. I cloaked my identity so she wouldn’t know who it was and hid the trace from her. Some magicians could be super touchy.
“You guys heading out?” she asked when we reached the living room.
Peter took the lead. He was obviously the one she addressed. Harris and Seth shuffled their feet so they would remain with me, all of us aligned slightly behind Peter. It planted the subconscious idea that Peter was in charge and would speak for the group. Rank and position were critical in the magical world, and we all played along. Technically, Seth and Harris were higher ranked agents, then Peter, and I didn’t rate at all because I wasn’t officially sanctioned to go on a mission yet. But outsiders like Kamini wouldn’t know that. Irregulars were a group apart, and it wasn’t her business.
“Yes. Thank you so much for your hospitality.” Peter shook her hand. She looked up at him like he was the hero of the universe. I stifled a giggle. She didn’t seem so smooth when she was mooning after him. The few hours of sleep helped reset my equilibrium, and I relaxed. Peter was a great guy, and I didn’t blame Kamini for liking him. If they ended up dating, I would see her more often, and her unfortunate phrasing when we met was no reason for me to hold a grudge forever.
“You’re always welcome here, you know,” she said prettily. I stared hard at the ceiling.
“I do,” Peter replied. “I’ll make sure the Council knows your family is always prepared for any circumstance.”
“Thank you, that means so much to me.” She paused and smiled sweetly. “I’ve got the car keys here. It’s downstairs in front of the coffee shop and all gassed up, ready to go. Unless you’d like to stay for an early breakfast?”
I didn’t want to be rude, but time was wasting. Fortunately, before I had to say something to interrupt the dumbest flirtation I had ever seen, Peter cut her off.
“We’ll have to take a rain check. Thanks for your help.” He took the keys from her hand and gave her a side hug. I could tell she wanted it to be more, but we were in a hurry.
We headed downstairs and made our way through the coffee shop. Kamini released the spell on the door, and we stepped out into the pre-dawn, ready for the next leg of our trip.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A Younger Me
A pickup truck waited by the curb. Faded gray and older than my uncle, but large inside and would run well and safely even though there weren't any seatbelts. That kind of thing happened in old cars sometimes. Our carriages didn’t have them either. Since all or most of the occupants of the vehicles were magicians, somebody was sure to keep the passengers from harm. I hated feeling like I was about to fall out of the seat at any moment, so I always wore a seatbelt when one was available. But the truck would blend into the back road areas where we would be driving and was probably the best choice.
I kept listing all the good things about the stupid pickup in my mind. It was better than admitting I was a spoiled brat because I actually thought for just one moment a limo would be waiting for us. A brief flash of disappointment and anger had even burned through me.
“Shotgun!” Seth shouted. Harris had already swiped the keys and would drive. I climbed into backseat and sat next to Peter. I didn’t have my license yet, so I couldn’t offer to help.
We headed out-of-town driving southeast towards Cashmere where the airstrip was located. The airport was tiny, but that’s all we needed. I was glad Harris was driving so fast. I wanted to save my uncle, and we couldn’t get there soon enough for my peace of mind.
“So what was up this morning, anyway?” Seth asked.
“I saw our target.” I explained my nightmare in detail. Peter showed him the sketch, but neither Seth nor Harris recognized the man.
“Once we get to the airport, we’ll have the caretaker make copies and send them out to our contacts in Northern California. Maybe somebody will recognize him,” Peter said.
“Better have them send it wide,” Seth suggested. “That guy might be a stranger to the area, but he has to have lived somewhere.”
Peter and I nodded in agreement. Going international was a good idea.
“Tell me more about pushing your memory into Peter’s head,” Harris said. “Sounds handy.”
I laughed. Harris was always calling my little discoveries handy. It made me feel good, useful too, but I also felt a tiny bit annoyed. They were simple things. Obvious. What on earth had they been doing with their time if not experimenting with their magic? Why did so many magicians take their power for granted?
“It really helped. I wasn’t sure where to begin - I’ve never had to describe somebody to an artist before. Then I remembered how my uncle pushed those memories into my head when I was linked to him during the Blood-of-my-blood spell. I used a bit of Peter’s Light to hold the memory. Like I do with crystals to make them radiate light. Then I pushed it into his head.”
“Interesting,” Seth murmured. He was sitting with his arm hanging over the back of his seat, turned partially our way. He gave Peter an odd look, but before I could ask what that was all about, he continued. “Do you think you could try that with me? I’d love to see how that works.”
I had to hand it to them. Even if they seemed somewhat lazy about inventing spells and coming up with new ideas, they wanted to learn everything they could once they found out about it.
“Sure. Let me skim some of your Light,” I said. I reached out in my mind and imagined myself tugging a tiny sli
ver of the Light Seth had inside him. He grunted but said nothing, waiting patiently.
I integrated it into the rest of my magic, and my balance lightened infinitesimally. I wove it into myself until it was as much a part of me as it had been a part of Seth although I could still feel where his influence was and it was easy to keep track and isolate it.
“You got it okay?” Seth asked.
I nodded. I thought about what to send him and remembered how he looked when he and his brother were performing magic together. There was something both intimidating and inspiring about it, and for as long as I lived, I would always think of them that way. I froze that vision in my head - the brothers standing side by side, surrounded by bursts of light. I let my feelings of pride and admiration for them leak into the memory and then set it in the Light, just like I did before with Peter.
Interesting enough, I could feel Seth’s connection to Harris in the Light I had skimmed. There was a link between the two of them that ran deeper than an ordinary partnership. Almost symbiotic. It was probably part of the reason they were Irregulars. I shelved that thought so I could discuss the nuanced nature of magic with my aunt and uncle about it someday when things finally went back to normal. Or what passed as normal for us.
I used the link between brothers to send the memory not only to Seth but also to Harris.
“Whoa,” Harris said. He kept driving steadily, but shook his head. “Is that your memory? How did I see that, too?”
Seth sighed, a bemused smile on his face. “Lia, that’s awesome. Is that how you really see us?” He looked at me in such a way that I squirmed. Maybe I put a little too much admiration into that memory. I didn’t want them to get the wrong idea.
“Yeah, you guys are a trip. See how it worked, though? It was like I filled your Light the way I would a crystal and then put a trace on who it came from and sent it back. You have something that links you to your brother, too, so I used it to send it to him as well.”
Harris let out a low whistle. “Man, that’s top secret stuff about my brother and me, you know.”
I didn’t. But I figured it out on my own so nobody needed to know I learned one of their classified secrets. “I won’t tell, I promise. Now, do you want to send me a memory?”
Seth nodded, his mouth quirked into a crooked smile. He glanced at his brother, and Harris gave him a nod. After a short pause, I felt Seth tugging on the Light inside me.
I couldn’t help it, and it wasn't my intention, but my shields went up and I kind of thrust Seth away.
“Ouch! What the hell, Rector?”
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to Give me a sec, let me relax, and you can try again.” I cringed. What I had done was as rude as could be. I tried to settle down. My entire body was trembling, and it occurred to me that I was on the verge of a panic attack. Again.
Peter slid his hand over the seat until it rested on mine. The Light inside him practically leaped out and surrounded me, filling me with positive energy and calm. My breathing, which had sped up without me realizing it, slowed and the pounding of my heart grew quieter.
I took a deep breath, then blew it out. “Okay, I’m ready. Just go slow.”
Seth nodded. He closed his eyes, and I felt the lightest of pressures in the center of my chest as he leaned into the magic inside me. The shield was still up, but I concentrated with fierce determination and practically tore out a chunk of Light and shoved it at Seth. His magic surrounded it, and like when I was learning to throw fireballs, I released the connection the Light had with me.
“Dang, girl, chill. You’re going to kill me with all that giddy happiness,” Seth said.
I thought he was joking until I saw the grin on his face. Okay. I may have sent him more Light than I originally intended. “Um, you’re welcome?” I shook my head, not sure how to respond.
“It’s hard to decide what memory to share, isn’t it?” he mused. “Oh, I got one.”
I felt pressure again, and reaching out, identified the crystalline shard of Light with my trace waiting for me. I scooped it up and brought it home through my natural shield.
Instantly, I was in Seth’s memory. Before me was the old dorm building from a school I had attended in Switzerland for a semester. My parents sent me there because they had a top-notch magic development program and they hoped it would help me. Harris was standing next to me, and we had been laughing about a prank we pulled on our cousins.
Their cousins, I reminded myself. I was seeing through Seth’s eyes, so Harris was standing next to Seth, and they were the ones who had pulled the prank, not me.
The door of the dorm flew open, and a younger version of me ran out. I was a mess. Somebody had pulled a prank of their own and drenched me in red paint. An older girl, shortly before her ascension and who had accessed her magic before she was even thirteen, liked to lob paint balls at the students who couldn’t fight back. The cream of magical society attended that school. People like me, those without magic, were always the lowest on the totem pole. My family name had bought me entrance into any academy or social club on the planet, but it couldn’t make anyone be nice. Until I could prove I was one of them, I was a target just like anyone else.
Jennifer. That was her name. The memory that played before my eyes reminded me of that. A stray thought of my own overlapped the memory from Seth. I was surprised that I had forgotten the incident had ever happened. At the time, I thought I would never get over it. My frustration and pain were very real, and the way our class-system worked didn’t help magical neuters like me. But I did forget it, and I forgot about Jennifer until I saw her through Seth’s eyes as she chased me out of the dorm with globs of paint swirling in the air around her, ready to throw. I watched as I slipped and fell to my knees, adding to my humiliation. She raised her hand to launch another volley of paint, but instead of soaking me, she froze.
I never knew why she didn’t keep going. It had been vitally important to me that nobody would see me cry and the younger me ran away. But now I had a new perspective. Seth’s memory showed me why she stopped tormenting me.
It was Seth and Harris. They worked together to throw a magical shield of Air and dust around her, nearly invisible but strong. They tied her arms to her side with a spell and the swirling paint globs she had magically levitated brushed the inside the standard fishbowl shaped Air-sphere they had used to trap her. It forced her to let the paint drop when the spell tightened. Then she realized it would get all over her if she continued to levitate the paint.
Harris and Seth squeezed the sphere tighter, and paint got on her, anyway. She was staring at the Andersson brothers in horror, and I could feel by the movement of his face that Seth smirked back at her. My own face lit with a grin, taking pleasure as I took part in the memory of stopping a bully. Seth and Harris were seniors. I had been in the eighth grade. Jennifer was a junior, and they knew she didn’t want to rock the boat too much with a couple of well-placed, good-looking guys.
The part of me that was still me giggled out loud in the truck. Of course Seth knew he was attractive. He teemed with confidence. It was one of the things I admired about him and was maybe a little jealous. I wasn’t sure if I would ever feel that way about myself, not after all the mistakes I had made.
The memory ended when Seth snapped off the spell, and Jennifer ran inside the dorm, leaving red paint footprints.
“I didn’t know you had seen me before,” I said, fully myself again and back in the truck. The memory was still there, a new memory that formed by my viewing Seth’s, the same way I remembered television shows or movies I had watched. The Light that carried the memory was already spent, burned into nothingness once it played out.
“We weren’t sure who Jennifer went after, so we asked around. We wanted to let you know she wouldn’t do that to you again, but you left school by then.”
“Wow. You're awesome. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Honestly? Neither of us remembered.” Seth chuckled. “We had no idea we had seen you b
efore until you tripped on the path in the Air on the escape route Ged made for us. It looked so familiar that I kept thinking about why. I meditated on it for Recall, and there you were. Gosh, you were so cute when you were young.” Recall was a useful spell that helped magicians remember things they had heard or seen only once and had forgotten. It was used a lot by our police forces, and the Irregulars were associated with them in a round-about way. Agents used Recall all the time.
“Yeah, yeah. I used to be so cute, what happened?” I finished the joke for him.
“No way. You’re gorgeous. Your uncle made us promise to stay away, but if he didn’t, we’d be acting like fools trying to get you to date one of us.”
Well, then. That was definitely interesting news. I felt a flash of annoyance at my uncle’s interference, but I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. It’s not every day a girl gets a compliment like that. “Ah, sure. Thanks. Now tell me, did the memory I sent you fade with the Light?” I had assumed it did, but I wanted to change the subject and take the attention off myself.
“No, it’s still here. Did mine fade?” Seth’s forehead wrinkled. “Interesting. We should figure out why,” he suggested.
I nodded my agreement. Although I brought it up as a distraction, experimenting with magic was becoming a hobby of mine. I loved to see what we could do, and the Andersson brothers were fun to work with. But even more important, they were willing participants.
“Your memory of the man from your nightmare is still here, too,” Peter said quietly. I frowned. I didn’t think about that when I sent it to Peter. I had no idea it would stick around so clearly. I showed Harris and Seth a great memory, and all I did was send my best friend the face of an enemy. Guilt filled me.
“Let me think of something else, and we’ll try it again. I’ll send you a good one this time,” I promised. Peter huffed a laugh and told me not to worry about it, but I did.
I spent the next several minutes of our trip trying to decide which memory to send him. Even though I had only known him for six months, we had a million shared experiences. I saw him every day, and he had been there for me when I needed him the most.
