by Nika Gray
I had to find out what happened to Cole. My father trusted me so far, but that didn't make me any less nervous about what I was stepping into. I could still see Sadie's frightened face looking up at me, pleading with me to figure out what was going on.
I wished she was by my side and Declan, too. Alone, I was vulnerable.
Declan was a shapeshifter and because of Sadie, he now had the Fae fire too. I imagined they could withstand anything my father could throw. But Leonora? I’d heard all the rumors about the experiments she'd been doing on the less savory magical creatures in our community. Now she’d hexed her own son.
My heart jumped into my throat as I caught sight of the purple confection Gregory was living in. My mouth felt as if cotton was stuffed in it and I could barely swallow past the lump.
I took a deep breath and steeled myself for whatever would come my way. I had the element of surprise because I had the Fae fire. No one but Sadie and Declan knew about that. If my father came after me, I’d use it against him. Having decided that, I opened the door and went searching for Gregory.
When I’d left, Gregory was making coffee in the kitchen. He wasn’t there now. I searched the first floor and the second floor, but no daddy dearest. I finally found my father in his bedroom on the third floor, putting on his best robes, a dashing suit underneath.
He looked ready to go to court, I thought sourly. I leaned against the doorway and asked, “What's with the fancy dress?”
“Leonora is sending me to preside over an emergency Magic Council meeting,” he said, his smile reminding me of a cat swallowing a canary.
“What do you know about Cole Trahern?” I asked.
There was no love lost between him and Cole, so there was no worry I was asking about Cole as an ally. I hoped Gregory's malicious nature would present itself in gleefully telling me how Leonora had destroyed her own son.
Gregory scrunched his face. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“Rumor mill says Cole seems just a shadow of his former self. You know what kind of a jackass he was before, right?”
Gregory nodded and guffawed. “His mother is one thing, but Cole Trahern is no gift to the magic world. He always thought he was better than everybody. Not anymore.”
There was the father I knew.
“Do tell,” I said. “Something finally happen between him and Leonora?”
“If you can believe it, he found out where we were keeping Alexis Schoenberg and broke her out,” Gregory said. “Imagine his going against his mother like that. Stupid. And reckless.”
“He got punished in the end, didn’t he?” I asked.
“Leonora is a powerful spellcaster. She prefers her psychological hexes that affect the brain and the kind of magic someone can wield,” he said.
He came closer to me and I fought the urge to run away. “I heard she used a very powerful spell on him.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Leonora’s secretary, Margaret Marie. We talk. It's always a good thing to know what your boss is up to. She told me Cole had the Extraction Spell put on him.”
“The Extraction Spell?” I asked. “What’s that?” I’d never heard of it.
“Very rare. Extremely powerful,” Gregory said. “It extracts all your magic out. Maybe your memory, too.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I shook my head and whistled.
“Exactly. Anyway, I'm glad you're not the kind of son that would go against his family like Cole has. Now, I must go. I don't want to be late. This is the first time Leonora has asked me to stand in her place,” he said as he turned back to the mirror, smoothing his hair, and admiring himself.
I walked away in disgust. I’d gotten whatever I would from him. I went back downstairs trying to think who I could ask about the Extraction Spell.
I could go to Headmaster Hotchkiss. He was the only real Senior Mage I knew I could trust. But would he tell me about a spell that was so closely guarded by the Leonora Trahern?
If there was a spell, then there had to be a reversal. All spells had reversals, didn't they? I left Gregory's house and started up the narrow lane heading towards Headmaster Hotchkiss’s place.
He was the oldest mage I knew, and he’d played an active part in the years after the Fae War. If the Extraction Spell had been used by the Magic Council on dissenters, Hotchkiss would probably be the best person to ask about it.
“There you are.” Declan's voice came from behind me. “I've been looking for you everywhere.”
“Did you find Sadie?” I asked.
“No, what's wrong with Sadie?” Declan asked.
I motioned for him to follow me and went back to the birch wood where Sadie had told me about Cole. I explained to him everything Sadie told me about how Cole had no memory of her or any of his Fae fire.
“That's what I wanted to talk to you about,” Fergus said. “I have that same connection now, too.”
He lifted his hand as brilliant green and brown tendrils went up and down his arm. I felt a pang of jealousy because I knew there was only that could have happened. I pushed thought of he and Sadie embracing out of mind. He was my best friend and I knew I’d have to share her with him. Our connection was stronger than our boyhood friendship. We were all linked now. Permanently.
“You better put that away,” I said.
“It is Fae fire, isn’t it?” he asked as it faded back into his arm.
“Yep,” I said. “That's the problem, though. Leonora seems to have taken Cole’s Fae fire away from him if that's even possible. When I asked my dad about it, he called it an Extraction Spell. You ever heard of anything like that?”
Declan shook his head no.
“We need to reverse it. At least now they’ve shown us their hand. They can take our magic away. There has to be a reversal spell or an antidote,” I said.
“What’s the play?” Declan asked.
“We need to coordinate with Hotchkiss.”
“How can I help?” Declan asked.
I wanted to send him to protect Sadie, but I needed back up.
“Could you shift into your wolf form and shadow me as I go to his place?” I asked.
“Am I busting in if they try to hex you, too?” he asked dryly.
“Or if someone is sneaks up on me, you could howl or something,” I said.
“Let's do it,” he said. “We’re all in danger now. She wouldn’t care that we’re part of the Magic Council families,” he said.
“I don't think that woman cares about anything except power,” I said.
Before we left the safety of the wood, Declan turned into his silver wolf form. He disappeared into the birch forest as I made my way over to the headmaster’s front porch. I raised my hand to knock and instead the door opened to a smiling Leonora Trahern.
“Fergus Mathonwy,” she said. “I was just about to go looking for you and here you are.”
My heart felt like it would fly out of my chest. This woman terrified me.
“What's this about?” I asked as I stepped into headmaster’s front room, hoping Declan was already in place.
She led me into the kitchen with a wide view of the back woods. I smiled when she offered me a seat. She’d picked the perfect spot for Declan to come save me if I needed him to.
I made sure my conduit ring was on and I could feel the Fae fire in my belly ready to go. This woman would not get the best of me.
“Your father was telling me you were asking about my son, Cole,” she said.
I sat as still as I could, pretending to be casual. I hadn’t expected her to jump to her point. Actually, I hadn’t known what to expect.
“Yeah. A friend of mine saw him on campus and he seemed not really himself. Like he was kind of in a daze, or something,” I said.
Leonora nodded.
“It's the price one pays for going against the Magic Council. You're not planning to go against the magic council are you, Fergus?” she asked in a steely quiet voice.
The t
one of her voice gave me the creeps.
“I'm sure my father has told you I've been helping him out with whatever he needs done.”
“Your father has told me how indispensable you’ve been as of late,” she said. “What I find interesting is the gossip about Cole got around the school so quickly. I wonder if there was no friend and if it was actually you who saw him this morning,” she said as her eyes bore into me.
They were cold and lifeless like blue glass shards stuck into eye sockets.
“I don’t know what that means, Mrs. Trahern,” I said, trying to keep my voice level. “I haven’t seen Cole in weeks.”
I hoped Declan could see the look on my face of how the conversation had turned.
“Well, I'm thinking I'm going to be careful just in case,” Leonora said.
That was the signal.
I lifted my conduit ring and the golden lava fire turned my arm molten.
“Not fast enough.” Leonora laughed as the white light grew larger. The last thought I had was I wasn't as fast as Leonora Trahern.
15
Declan
I watched in horror as Leonora Trahern lifted her arm. Fergus did the same and I could see the gold fire melting into his skin like he’d shown me in the woods.
His golden Fae fire was just getting going, but Leonora was more experienced in the spell she was casting. She threw the white fireball at him.
I shifted back to my human form and threw my own Fae fire at her. I’d never used it before as it had just shown up last night with Sadie. I didn’t know what I was doing, and it went flying off in a diagonal, shattered the glass window and disappeared in a shower of green sparkles.
Leonora turned and saw me. I shifted quickly back into my wolf form and leaped away from the window. I bounded across the green lawn and took a dive over the rosebushes between the lawn and the wood behind the village.
I whimpered in pain as my paw got caught on one of the rose thorns. I hit the ground on all fours and ran into the wood. I glanced back to see Leonora coming out of the back door.
What had I just seen? Did she put the Extraction Spell on Fergus?
Oh my God, she actually did it to him.
In my fear, I shifted back into my human form. My foot was bleeding, I was naked as I crouched among the trees. Did I remember what she had said?
Potentiam tuam mea came to me. I had to remember that. Send it to Sadie through our cute little messages I’d been telepathing to her. I needed a piece of paper.
I looked around wildly and saw two cottages nearby. One had a screen door that was open. If I could just make it there, maybe I could find paper. I shifted back into my wolf form and, limping on my foot, I ran as fast as I could towards the cottage.
I hoped Fergus would be okay while I got help. I figured she would let him loose like she’d let Cole back into the academy now that he was no longer a threat to her.
I couldn't believe he’d shown his Fae fire, especially with what she believed about the Fae.
I stopped.
Maybe I should go back and hide him and then send a message to Sadie. No, that wouldn't work because Leonora had already seen me. She’d seen me shift into my silver wolf and then back into my human form. It was only a matter of time before she found me and zapped me, too.
I tried to remember the name of the word she’d used in the first lines, but in my shock I’d already forgotten.
Crap, I thought.
But I knew the name of the spell at least so even if Leonora magicked me, I’d be able to get the name of the spell to Sadie.
I bounded across the lawn and shifted back into my human form just as I reached the back door. I peered inside to see if anybody was there and when I saw the kitchen empty, I opened the door as quietly as I could. I winced as the door squeaked.
I rushed into the kitchen and looked through drawers until I found paper and a pen. I wrote what I could remember about the Extraction Spell and the words she’d said. I stopped as I heard someone behind me.
It was a footstep.
I turned back as I crumpled the piece of paper in my fist.
“Go to Sadie,” I said and thought of Sadie's face.
I felt the piece of paper disappear in my hand and I turned to see the blue eyes of Leonora standing right behind me. She lifted her hand again and before I could even make a sound, the white light hit me straight on the forehead.
16
Sadie
I’d walked all the way around the lake searching for Declan, but never found him. I headed back to the dorm when a small piece of paper teleported into my hand. The note was from Declan. My smile faded when I saw what was written on it. Extraction Spell, white light, potent tummy, and nothing else. All my boys were in trouble, I thought.
I reached out to Declan to feel, searching for his presence. He was nowhere to be found. I tried contacting Fergus and that connection was gone, too. I knew in my bones that all three had succumbed to this Extraction Spell. I was on my own. It was up to me to figure out exactly how to reverse it and save them.
I guessed Fergus had gone to talk to his father and somehow met up with Declan. Apparently, they both did something harebrained and got themselves in the worst trouble. I stood unsure of where to go next. I needed to talk to someone about this spell. Someone I could trust.
My mind immediately went to Professor Tremaine who’d been willing to share with me about her Fae friend. If she’d shared that knowledge, then surely, she would tell me if she knew about this spell.
I checked the time and went to see if she was in class as it was close to four in the afternoon. I walked with my heart sinking lower while fear bounced around my body. My hands tingled and my insides felt numb as I walked through the main quad. I had lost my three men in just a few hours. Leonora had taken everything from me, and I swore that I would bring them all back, with more power than ever before.
I made it to Craig Hall and when I went to Professor Tremaine's class it was empty. Dammit, I thought. I would have to camp out on her porch until she showed up. I dragged myself back down the hill and over to the professor’s cottages.
I froze when I saw my three men walking toward me. Cole Trahern, Fergus Mathonwy, and Declan LongBane looked like they’d been friends forever, chatting and laughing. They looked like they’d just come from the headmaster’s home. I had to check and see if I was right.
I parked myself next to the opening gate and waved to the three men who only hours ago I’d shared such a powerful connection. Connections I couldn't feel anymore. My heart broke as they walked by, without even glancing my way. None of them looked to even know me. It was as if we were complete strangers.
My heart dropped and I licked my lips for the hundredth time. I wanted to run to them and scream how could you not know me. It's me, Sadie Bishop. But I knew that my boys, my beloved men were under a spell.
This was confirmation they’d all been caught by Leonora Trahern’s spell. She’d gotten the best of them by picking us off one by one.
And I was the last one standing.
My resolve strengthened and I marched to Professor Tremaine's house and knocked on her door. She opened it immediately with a concerned look on her face.
“Something's happened hasn't it?” she asked.
“Please let me come inside and I'll explain everything,” I said.
I followed Professor Tremaine back to her cozy, cat-filled sitting room and sat down.
“Would you like some tea?” she asked.
I shook my head no and instead bit the cuticles on my fingers.
“You seem in worse shape than the last time I spoke to you,” Professor Tremaine said.
“Can I trust you?” I asked point blank. “Do you hate the Fae as much as the Magic Council and all their followers do?”
“Now why would you ask me that?” Professor Tremaine sat back in her char and looked at me.
Her expression was unreadable and the tone in her voice made me unsure if I’d made the righ
t choice. Who else could I go to at this point? She was it.
“Have you ever heard of an Extraction Spell?” I asked.
“I've heard whispers, but I don't know anything other than it's awful for the spelled as it takes your magic away,” Professor Tremaine said.
“You know of anybody who uses it now?” I asked.
“I mean these were rumors I heard decades ago after the Fae War. Nobody's talked about the Extraction Spell in over twenty years, at least not around me.”
I tried to calm my frayed nerves. I had to reverse this. If she hadn’t heard about it who could I talk to next?
“What's going on, Sadie?” she asked.
“I have a special magic and I think it might be Fae fire,” I said carefully. “I know other students who had a similar magic, and something’s happened to them. Yesterday they were fine, now they look like they've been lobotomized. They don't remember me, and they definitely don't have that magic anymore. Does that sound like the Extraction Spell that you had heard about before?”
Professor Tremaine sat back again with a shocked expression on her face.
“Students at the school have Fae fire?” she whispered.
I froze.
That was what she got from my story? If so, I had trusted the wrong woman.
“Should I have not mentioned anything to you?” I asked, my voice dropping an octave and sounding fearful. Maybe she would take pity on me.
“All the half-Fae magical folk that were left in this realm were exterminated. But what you're saying is there are still some who exist here,” she said. Her voice sounded wistful.
“You were telling me about your friend who was part-Fae?” I asked.
Professor Tremaine's eyes softened and became moist. I could see tears forming at the edge of her eyes.
“She was extremely close to me. I miss her every day,” she said.
“Is she also dead? You said she disappeared. Do you know where she went?” I asked.
