by Jen Pretty
show I created.
“You lied to me. You all did. I thought I would learn
how to use magic, but you want me to raise people.
Murdered people. I can’t do that.”
Niri nodded. “You’re right. I should have told you.
We have never brought in someone at your age before.
Magic first appears in children very young, and we have
never had an adult show up. We should have prepared
you.”
“So, you lie to children? How is that better?” I asked,
struggling again to get to my feet.
“Children are raised here. We don’t lie to them. You
don’t tell a four-year-old that the world is dark and
violent.”
I looked away. He was right, but I wasn’t ready to
accept that. I wouldn’t raise any murdered people for
anyone, ever.
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“You don’t have to,” Niri said calmly, reading my
thoughts. His eyes stayed locked on mine. “If you can’t do
that, we won't force you. It’s just that some find a purpose
in catching killers and others find their purpose protecting
the innocent with magic. You were born with a gift that
can help, but it’s yours to use how you see fit.”
Some tension left my body, and my magic pulled back
in, instead of lighting up all the graves, it started to coalesce
around one in particular. I watched the blue magic jump
and twist, beckoning me to drop my blood and let the dead
speak.
“Selena,” Niri said my name in a hushed voice, and I
tipped my head up. He held out a small knife. A peace
offering, if ever there was one. Falcor’s face was blank. I
had never raised the dead in front of someone before,
except Dorothy.
“We only want to help you find a purpose. If your
purpose is a cook in a restaurant, we can help you do that
safely.” Niri sounded convincing. I wanted to believe.
I felt a calm wash into me. It felt foreign. I looked up
at Niri and then to Falcor. I toyed with the calmness, letting
my magic explore the unexpected feeling for a moment and
when I focused my eyes again, I saw it. A string of magic
was flowing out of Falcor and into me.
I crab-walked backwards away from the warlocks.
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“Selena, wait,” Niri said.
The magic thread stretched. The further I got from
them, the more the feeling wavered.
“Falcor, stop,” Niri said, but my heart surged and
brought power back to my legs. Finally, I was up and
running like a jackrabbit. I ran until my legs were ready to
give out again and the foreign feeling was long gone. I
didn’t recognize the city. The streets were wider and made
with red sand, making them look bloody under the glow of
the streetlights.
People eyed me as they walked by. Couples, hand in
hand and groups of people my age laughing and joking as
they walked the night streets. I passed a nightclub with
music pounding.
The bouncer out front looked me up and down as I
hurried past. At the end of the block, there was a restaurant
with smooth jazz music playing. The sound of dishes
clinking and people talking floated on the light breeze
along with the smell of charbroiled steak. My stomach
rumbled again, but I ignored it and kept walking. I was
going nowhere, but it was better than going back.
A few blocks later I came to a park. There were lights
along the path, but there was a small wooded area that was
dark. I crawled through a bush and into the sparse trees
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then collapsed to the cool bare dirt. I leaned back against a
trunk and stared up at the moon.
I was probably still in the US, but I had no idea where
and I was too tired to think about how I could get home.
Colvin. I wanted to get him away from there too. I couldn’t
leave him with people who would manipulate him and then
make him raise murdered people. I closed my eyes.
“Don’t freak out, ok?” I didn’t recognize the voice,
but my magic wanted to spill out towards it. I clamped it
down and slid silently on my butt away from the voice on
the other side of the shrubs. “My name is Peran.”
I slid back a bit further, trying not to make a sound,
but my breaths were rasping in and out,
“I’m just like you, Selena. I want to talk to you for a
minute,” he said, and I saw his blue magic pour across the
ground towards me. A face came through under the
bushes. Eyes as green as grass and hair stark white, cut
short and spiked up like a punk. He smiled, and I felt the
same pull that Colvin had. It drew out my magic, and I
didn’t want to fight it anymore. I let my magic slip out and
roll across the ground to meet his.
When the two magics combined, I saw sparks across
my vision. Warmth filled me from my center, and I felt
balanced. Not like when Falcor’s magic was trying to
control my emotions. This lifted me, making me feel
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confident and whole. The rest of the man wiggled through
the bush into my tiny hiding spot. He sat and pulled his
long legs in, wrapping his arms around them to fit in
between the trees. It was a hiding place for one, and the tall
man was more like one and a half on his own. But he kept
himself as far back from me as he could get within the
confines.
“Peran, you said?” I whispered into the silence that fell
on us.
“Yes.”
“Why are you here? Are you from that place?”
“It’s not what you think,” he said in a quiet voice.
“They shouldn’t have involved Falcor in your transfer or
any part of you settling in. They should have called me back
sooner. If I had known you were coming, I would have
been there.”
I felt like I had always known this stranger. Like we
grew up together, and now he was here to comfort me like
he always did. It wasn’t the same feeling I got from Colvin.
I wanted to protect the little boy. This man, I wanted to
curl up next to on a couch and watch movies. I didn't feel
awkward or stupid even when he stared at me like he was
doing now. It felt natural.
“I don't understand,” I muttered.
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“You will, I promise. Come with me?” He held out his
hand.
I stared at it for a moment and then set my hand in
his, and his smile lit up the night. He squeezed my hand
and then tugged me forward and waved to the small gap
under the bush. He waved me forward, indicating I should
slide through. I took a deep breath and crawled out of my
hiding place.
Standing on the other side, I dusted my knees and
looked up to find I was face to face with a scowling
warlock.
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CHAPTER SIX
“Why are you still here?” Peran asked from behind
me. I turned to look at him, but he was sneering at Falcor.
The air was thick between them. Obviously,
Peran didn’t
like Falcor any more than I did.
“Niri asked me to bring you both back,” Falcor
replied.
“That won't be necessary,” another voice said from
the darkness.
“Whatever, I don't need this,” Falcor said before
disappearing.
The night air was cool, and now that my heart had
calmed, the sweat clinging to me made me shiver. The man
in the darkness stepped out into the moonlight. He was
older than me — maybe early thirties and his face was open
and kind. With a small smile, he peered at me curiously,
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standing in a relaxed pose like he was just out for an
evening stroll and happened upon us.
“I would like to introduce you to Kai. He is a warlock.
He assists me in my work and protects me so I can be safe
in the real world.”
“Hi,” I whispered. He waved once, a sort of salute,
then went back to scanning the park. I realized he was
looking for danger — like a bodyguard.
I turned back to look at Peran. “What do you do? Do
you raise murder victims?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
I shivered again, wrapping my arms around myself to
try to keep some body heat.
Peran took off his sweater in one smooth movement
and popped it over my head. It was huge on me, but I
pushed my arms into the sleeves and wrapped myself in the
warmth. His smooth ashy scent filled my nostrils and
calmed me even more.
“How do you do that?” I asked. “Raise murdered
people, I mean.”
Peran stepped forward, wrapping his arm around my
shoulders and leading me back towards the path that led
out of the park. “It's important work. If I don't get answers,
no one will.”
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I bit my lip, and we walked in silence for a while. He
had a point, but each victim’s pain was so real.
“Niri said you saw Falcor’s magic,” Peran said
hesitantly.
“It was a string. He was trying to control me,” I
replied, shivering and pressing in closer to the tall
necromancer. He was warm, and his arm around my
shoulders held me to the ground, making me feel like I was
a hot-air balloon, and if he let go, I would float away.
“Hm,” he said.
“Is that weird? That I could see it?” I asked after a few
moments.
“I have never seen warlock magic, but he also said you
lit up the whole graveyard and can’t handle being without
magic.”
We made it back to the street, and a car came racing
up the road towards us, its lights blinded me for a moment.
Then it was gone, and my thoughts returned to Peran’s
words.
“I don't want to go back there,” I said.
“I booked a suite in the hotel,” Kai said from behind
us. “You will be safe there.”
I just nodded. I didn’t know these people, but I knew
my magic wanted to be near Peran and that was good
enough for me.
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At the end of the block, we turned south and travelled
past more restaurants and bars, until we came to a large
hotel, it was at least a dozen floors high, and the front
entrance was glowing like a beacon in the night.
Landscaped gardens lined the grounds and a circular
driveway lead to a covered port in front of the doors. I had
never stayed in a fancy hotel before. Having grown up in
the foster system, my one-room apartment was like a
mansion.
Peran led me to a small sitting area in the lobby and
sat beside me on a small couch, his arm resting behind me
while Kai spoke to the woman behind the receptions desk
and got a pair of key cards.
It seemed strange to be checking in with two guys I
didn’t know, but Peran already felt like a part of my life. I
decided to stop thinking. I was safe.
Kai whistled and Peran and I rose and followed him
to the elevator. The entire back wall of the elevator car was
a mirror, and the lights inside were bright, so I got a great
look at how muddy I was from my run through the forest,
fall in the graveyard, and crawl through the park.
Shit.
I picked some branches out of my hair and tried to
smooth it down. It was no use. My hair needed a wash, and
so did my clothes. Ugh.
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“Kai can grab your things from The Sanctuary,” Peran
said, his eye catching mine in the mirror.
“Is that what they call that place?” I asked, wiping a
smear of dirt off my chin.
“It’s not as bad as you think, they just gave you a
terrible first impression,” Peran said.
I shook my head and hoped there was a mini-bar in
the room.
The elevator stopped, and Kai led the way down the
lushly carpeted hall to a room with 802 on it in brass
numbers. He slid a card in a slot on the door, and it beeped
once. Kai pushed the door open and marched inside,
looking in the bathroom and checking the closet, and then
he nodded, and Peran took my hand, leading me inside.
Kai handed the card to Peran and then left.
I walked past the bed to the window looking out over
the city. The lights were hypnotizing, streets laid out like a
quilt of little squares. I could see the pitch-black graveyard
where Falcor had dropped me. I wondered if the light
beyond a patch of trees in the distance was the school —
The Sanctuary.
A soft beep and a door opened. I spun to look, as Kai
came in through a door I thought was the bathroom. It led
to another hotel room. Kai left the door open and flicked
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on the TV in the room we were standing in. Then he sat
on the end of the bed and flicked channels.
I turned back to the window. My eyes traced the
headlights of a car as it cruised along the street and
disappeared into a darker subdivision.
“Do you want a drink, Selena?” Peran said, breaking
me out of my reverie.
I abandoned the giant window and joined Peran by
the small fridge. He handed me a tiny bottled mixed drink.
I unscrewed the top and took a quick shot of it. It burned
all the way down my throat, and I ended up coughing a few
times.
Peran smiled. “Are you ok?”
I took another drink from the small bottle, emptying
it, then reached into the fridge and grabbed another before
climbing onto the bed and leaning back against the
headboard. I wasnt sure how to answer his question, so I
cahnged the subject.
“So, did you guys grow up in the Sanctuary place?” I
asked, unscrewing the lid of the second tiny bottle.
“Yup, someone dropped us off as babies,” Peran said.
“Kai is still a bit of a baby though.”
Kai flipped Peran the middle finger, his eyes never
leaving the TV.
I smiled at their bickering. They sounded like siblings.
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“What was it l
ike, growing up there?” I asked,
frowning as thoughts of Colvin seeped back into my mind.
“It was good. I had friends, and the teachers are like
family,” Peran said.
I nodded and downed more alcohol. It was already
pushing into my system, and I felt more relaxed. I tipped
my head back and rested my eyes for a moment. The
sounds of the TV and the soft bed lulled me nearly to sleep.
A knock at the door disturbed me though, and I opened
my eyes as Kai stood and strode to the door.
He opened it an inch and peeked out. He said a few
words and then swung the door open all the way, and Nick
walked in.
“Hey, who ordered the vampire?” Kai said with a grin.
My magic sprung to life, reminding me I hadn’t actually
used it in the graveyard and was holding a lot of it still. I
clamped down on it and slapped a smile on my face.
“Hey Nick, how's it going?” Peran said greeting him
with a manly half hug.
“Not bad, brother. Well, could be better, I guess,”
Nick replied, his eyes settling on me. I gave him a hand
raise wave. That was all the energy I had left. Between the
crazy night and the liquor, my eyelids were getting heavy.
“Is Falcor off?” Peran asked.
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“Yeah, Niri put him back on school duty. There aren’t
any other warlocks free right now though, so I’m all there
is,” Nick said. I was pretty sure they were talking about me
in some roundabout way but didn't care anymore.
“Hey, Nick, be a dear and grab me another tiny bottle
like this one?” I held it up so he could see what I wanted.
“How many have you had?” he asked, opening the bar
fridge.
“This was only my second. I deserve one more.”
“Probably have a point,” Nick said, grabbing one for
himself too and jumping over me on the bed with
surprising power to settle down beside me against the
headboard.
“Thanks,” I said, unscrewing the lid of the tiny bottle
and holding it up for him to clink his against. “Cheers.”
“All right, well, I’m taking a few days off, so we can
get things straightened out. I’m not leaving her
unprotected,” Peran said.
“You mean I’m not leaving her unprotected,” Kai said
raising an eyebrow at Peran. I wished I could raise a single
