Nela had almost reached him by now. Her dark hair and long beige coat fluttered in the breeze and she looked pale. It was probably the first burning she’d witnessed. Witches in this part of the world tried to pretend bad things didn’t happen to their kind. Darko had watched his first burning on the arms of his father when he was little older than two. It had made him realize very early that his kind had to be careful. Nela, too, had stood there like a sheep, doing nothing. Silent and obedient. But now she was approaching him. That made her less guilty than most of the others. Not by much though.
Before she could reach him, he turned around and walked into the dark alley that opened behind him. Her steps followed him. When they turned another corner, he stopped. Nela caught up with him, a look of astonishment on her face, as if she couldn’t believe she’d come after him. She kept a good distance between them, making it clear that she didn’t trust him. Good. At least she wasn’t a fool.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Her nerve. “I didn’t ask you to follow me.”
“You were watching me. Are you stalking me now?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I was here to enjoy the show. What’s your excuse?”
She wrinkled her nose. “The Brotherhood told us to come. It wasn’t optional.”
“And like the obedient lapdogs that you are you obeyed without protest.”
“What do you even know? If we’d stayed away, we would have been next at the stake. We do what we have to.”
“Spoken like a true coward. You probably wouldn’t be sentenced to death for staying away. You’d only get a couple of years in the Witch Tower.”
“Have you come to insult me?”
He took a deep breath. He needed to get a grip on his anger, especially since the majority of it wasn’t even directed at Nela. Of course she was part of what was wrong with the magical community, but she’d never learned differently. “Sorry. But this makes me so angry. I wanted to walk up to the Grand Master and smash his face in.”
That actually made her smile. “Me too. I hate that man.” She snapped her mouth shut and glanced behind herself.
“We’re alone,” he assured her. “And I won’t utter a word about your blasphemous comment.”
“Claudius isn’t God or a saint, even if he believes otherwise, so nothing I said was anywhere near blasphemous.”
“True,” he said. She could be witty and fierce. How was it even possible that she managed to live a lie? “You know it’ll only get worse, right? This is only the beginning. Soon humans will be asking for more burnings and the Brotherhood will be only too happy to comply.”
Nela’s shoulders slumped. “That’s what everyone’s saying. I don’t want to believe it.” He raised his eyebrows. Ignorance had never protected anyone. She sighed. “I don’t want to believe it but I’m not stupid.” She scanned his face. “And yet here I am talking to a stranger who could be waiting for the perfect moment to kill me.”
He tensed. If she knew how close to the truth she was, she’d run away screaming. “I’m not here to kill you.” That wasn’t even a lie. He wouldn’t kill her, not now, not ever. “I’m here to repeat my offer. You should be able to use magic to protect yourself and those you love. You need to. If things get worse, if people start hunting witches like game again, then you’ll be on your own and without magic to defend yourself, you’d be an easy victim.”
Nela’s eyes grew distant. Her cheeks and nose were red from the cold. In the distance the voices of dozens of spectators on their way back home after enjoying the witch burning carried over to them.
“I don’t think there’s any way I could protect anyone from the Brotherhood. They’ve dealt with rebellious witches for centuries. I doubt they’d be scared of a girl.”
“You’re stronger than you think. The Brotherhood tries to keep witches small, so we don’t realize how strong we really are. If we finally do what we’re capable of, the Brotherhood won’t stand a chance.”
Nela pursed her lips. “Even before the Brotherhood banned magic, witches didn’t stand a chance against them. We were burnt at the stake, were tortured, were drowned...” Darko tensed but Nela was too caught up in her words to notice. “We were on the run, were never safe. Now at least we’re left alone as long as we abide by the Brotherhood’s laws.”
“Do you really believe that? We still burn at the stake. We are prisoners in the Brotherhood’s small world.”
He could tell from the look on Nela’s face that she agreed with what he said, but she didn’t say it aloud. “It’s wrong that we’re forbidden from being what we are. The Brotherhood hates us, they always will. And now that the mood is changing toward witches with all the murders happening, things will get worse, believe me. And once the Brotherhood decides to use the rising resentment to tighten laws even further, there’ll be nothing we can do, because we have forgotten how to fight back.” His voice had risen.
Nela watched him like someone might watch a lion that’s about to pounce. He took a deep breath and forced his voice to soften. He couldn’t let his hatred, his darkness, come out like that. A girl like Nela could never understand why he was the way he was. She’d grown up under the pretense of safety. She could never guess at the horrors that lay in his past. “You can’t pretend to be someone you aren’t. Few witches can go without magic for long.”
“My parents do,” she said simply. He scanned her face for a sign that she was lying but there was none. She didn’t know about her mother’s activities.
“Maybe you don’t want to admit it to yourself yet, but you want, you need to do magic. I can show you how life could be if you embrace your abilities. I can show you what some witches do right under the noses of the Brotherhood. Are you brave enough?”
That question seemed to have strung a cord. Something on her face changed. She licked her lips, then looked down at her feet with a frown. “I…I don’t know.”
He almost had her. Excitement burst through him. “Meet me tomorrow night. I’ll show you what you’re missing and after that you can decide if you’re interested or not, and if you say no, I’ll stay away and you’ll never see me again.”
She tilted her head upward and watched him for a long time. Was she trying to look behind his mask? Many people had tried but they never succeeded. Neither would she. “Okay.” Her eyes widened, as if she couldn’t believe she’d actually agreed.
“Good choice,” he said with a smile. It didn’t set her at ease. He’d have to practice a normal smile in the mirror when he got the chance. The people he usually dealt with didn’t care about a nice smile. They were weary and careful. And his victims never got the chance to worry about the darkness behind his smile before he plunged his hand into their ribcage and ripped their hearts out. “I’ll meet you in front of your house at midnight tomorrow.”
“My house?” she said suspiciously, her eyes narrowing. “How do you know where I live?”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t follow you around. I’m not a stalker.” She let out a small sound that made it very clear she didn’t believe him. “I bet you’re in the directory, right? And even without it, I have my ways of finding out where you live. Or you could just tell me.”
After a moment of hesitation, she gave him her address, then she added, “This time I’ll take more than pepper spray with me, so if you try anything, you’ll regret it.”
He had to suppress a smirk. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He didn’t mention that there were ways he could disable whatever she brought with her. Though he had to admit that she’d caught him off guard last time she used her stupid pepper spray. His eyes had burnt for hours afterward. His healing magic wasn’t as good as he wished it were.
She gave a curt nod, then left without another word. His Master would be pleased at his progress.
Chapter 9
Nela could barely keep her eyes open the next morning. She hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours. Her conversation with Darko had run on repeat in her brain. She wondered
if it had been a mistake to agree to the meeting. If her parents caught her sneaking out to meet with a stranger, her father would never let her out of his sight again. She’d barely been able to get out of a punishment for running off again after the burning. Only a convincing performance pretending she had been feeling sick had saved her. Of course her parents were a small problem in comparison to what might happen if the Brotherhood caught her.
She rang the doorbell at Oskar’s house. It took only a few seconds for Oskar’s mother to open the door. She was a tall woman, with her hair in a tight bun. She gave Nela a tight smile without teeth. “You’re late.”
It was still two minutes until classes would begin. “Is Brother Malte already there?”
“No,” Mrs. Arnold said, ushering Nela into the bright corridor. Floor to ceiling windows lined the door on both sides. Nela supposed it was to show the world, especially the Brotherhood, that they had nothing to hide.
Nela had to stifle a gasp when Mrs. Arnold turned around to lead her into the living room. She was wearing a blouse that had a transparent back, revealing a tattoo – an unchanged tattoo. She still hadn’t gotten over her shock when she sat down at the long dining table where Finja and Oskar were already waiting. Finja gave her a quick look but Nela wasn’t sure of its meaning. Oskar had his hair slicked back again. Before receiving his tattoo he’d never worn it that way. He was also wearing a white, starched shirt and black slacks. Nela didn’t know what to make of that. He gave her a smile that was just as fake as the one Darko had given her yesterday.
“Oskar, I’d like a word with you,” Mrs. Arnold said. He got up with a jerk and quickly followed her out of the room. His shirt was so thin and white in the back that he, too, practically flashed his tattoo at everyone.
“What’s up with their backs?” she whispered.
Finja pressed her lips into a thin line. “My mother told me about it. More and more witches have come into her boutique and asked for blouses and dresses that are either backless or transparent in the back.”
“Is this something the Brotherhood has asked for?” She was pretty sure her father would already have bought her a new wardrobe if that were the case. Of course that would pose a problem, considering her tattoo wasn’t quite as it was supposed to be.
“Not yet,” Finja said quietly. The bell rang. “But some witches want to show the Brotherhood that they have nothing to hide.”
“But they’re only going to encourage the Brotherhood to actually pass a law forcing us all to run around like that.” Steps rang out. She snapped her mouth shut and straightened in her chair. Brother Malte walked in, dressed in his usual gray smock with the red cross on the front. Oskar was close behind, his head lowered. Nela felt a wave of resentment. Why did the Arnolds have to act so cowardly? For the first time that day she was glad that she’d agreed to meet Darko.
Brother Malte walked past Finja and Nela with a small nod before he took a seat at the head of the table. Oskar slipped into his chair and actually folded his hands on the table as if he was going to start praying any moment.
Nela nudged him and gave him a questioning look. But Oskar shook his head with a warning glance before his eyes darted back to Brother Malte who was setting up his work utensils. A cross, which he propped up against the vase with white roses in the middle – like a barrier between him and them, a way to protect himself from their evil. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d volunteered to be a teacher for witches or if he’d been forced to do it. He didn’t really seem to enjoy being anywhere near them. Finally Brother Malte fixed them with his emotionless gaze, his hand folded atop the tabletop in a mirror position of Oskar’s.
Finja rolled her eyes and Nela felt like doing the same, but Malte was watching her. “What is sin?” Even though it was a question directed at her, she knew an answer wasn’t expected. It had never been. As usual he fell into one of his monologues, telling them about sin and why magic was the devil’s work.
It wasn’t the first time Nela had heard those words, but she wrote them down anyway as was expected. During his lecture, Brother Malte’s eyes hovered on her and Finja more often than they did on Oskar. Was it because he was showing his tattoo, because he was so submissive?
Tiredness crowded in her body with every passing minute. The classes were useless but she, Finja and Oskar were required to attend, just like every other witch in their age group. Before they’d received their tattoo, their classes had consisted of more than religious bigotry and anti-magic slogans. They’d been taught what every normal child learned in school – math, biology, history. Of course other than human children, they weren’t allowed to go to school. They were forced to be homeschooled by teachers from the Brotherhood. Since they’d gotten their markings, they’d only had classes once a week and that too would be over once they turned seventeen. After that they wouldn’t be schooled any more. They weren’t allowed to attend Universities anyway. There was no real future for them in the human world. All they could hope for was a job in a family or witch owned business. Maybe Darko could show her a different future.
***
It was almost midnight but her parents’ light was still on and Nela could hear them talking. This was complicating things. Maybe it was a sign. Maybe she should stay at home and forget about Darko, about his offer, about magic. But the tingling under her skin betrayed her. She needed to find out if there was a way for her to do magic.
She grabbed the purse she’d stacked with her pepper spray and a pocket knife she’d found in a kitchen drawer. She doubted the knife would be of much use for her. She’d never been in a physical fight, much less a stabbing. She walked toward her window and opened it. She was up on the second floor but her window was close to the attached garage. She climbed onto the windowsill and jumped onto the garage roof. From there she awkwardly lowered herself, clinging to the edge of the garage. She let herself fall and landed on her feet. She quickly looked around but the windows of the neighbors were dark and her parents’ window was facing the other way. She walked down the driveway. The street was deserted. Nela rubbed her arms. It was freezing. The windows of the parked cars were already covered in a fine sheen of ice. If Darko didn’t show up soon, she’d return to her room and catch up on sleep. This was such a stupid idea.
A dark form stepped out from behind a minivan: Darko dressed in the same black coat she’d seen before. He didn’t come all the way to where she stood instead he tilted his head in an inviting gesture.
She hesitated for only a moment before walking toward him. She’d already come this far. Now she could just as well see what he had to show her. Her fingers around her purse tightened when she reached him. Dark shadows were under his eyes and there was something lost about him.
Her steps slowed. Then she squared her shoulders. “What? Are we going to walk, or is whatever you want to show me in the neighborhood?”
“No, not in this neighborhood,” he said.
“What’s your problem with my neighborhood?” He walked down the sidewalk and she had no choice but to hurry after him.
“You’re the only magical family on this street, right?”
She paused. “Yes. Why?”
“I bet your neighbor’s keep a close eye on you.”
Worry slithered through her. She glanced over her shoulder but like before the windows were dark. “Is someone watching us?”
“Not as far I can see, but there are definitely friendlier places for witches to hang out. This is enemy territory.”
Way to go to sound totally paranoid. “Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t war. Humans aren’t our enemy.”
“But neither are they our friends, are they? Or are you friends with a human?”
Nela had never talked more than a few sentences with a normal human. The Brotherhood made sure that witches and wizards never got the chance to make friends with humans in school. And as for their neighbors, they weren’t exactly rude but they kept their distance. “You fear what you don’t know,” she said more to
herself than to Darko.
He shrugged. “I parked my ride around the corner.” He nodded toward a black motorcycle wedged into the narrow gap between two cars.
“You aren’t serious,” she said as he stopped beside the motorcycle.
He snatched the black helmet from the seat and handed it to her. “Take it.”
She pressed her lips together. “What about you? I don’t see a second helmet.”
“I only have this one. I don’t exactly make a habit out of giving people a ride.” She took the helmet from him.
“How are you usually taking people after recruiting them?”
“I haven’t ever done this before.”
“So why me? Why now?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
She put the helmet on. “Does that really surprise you? I don’t really know you. Maybe this is a bad idea.” She was about to pull off the helmet again, but Darko touched her hand. Then he drew back. “I’ve always thought that more witches should learn magic, that they should see other witches who don’t forsake their heritage. But until recently I thought I should mind my own business.”
“And that changed why?”
“Because things are getting worse. More burnings are being scheduled, humans are talking about stricter laws for witches. I want to do something before it’s too late.”
She didn’t believe that it was the only reason but for now it was enough. She didn’t have anyone else who could help her with magic.
He swung his leg over the seat. Something flashed on his leg. The long silver dagger was strapped to his ankle. She quickly looked away because it made her nervous. Why would he need a knife like that? He’d used it for his spell, but she couldn’t imagine that the blade needed to be so long for that. Her pocket knife looked like a toy in comparison.
“Take a seat,” Darko said, nodding toward the space behind him. She perched on the end of the seat and put her purse between them. She didn’t want to be too close to him.
Between the Shadow and the Soul Page 8
