My face transformed into a smile, despite having been stuck here with Stan and Paper Rose, I couldn’t help but be excited for Helaine. I once heard that mentors were decided at auditions before you were officially introduced as the next witch.
“Well if it isn’t Onyx,” said Stan, who probably knew about this from the beginning.
“In the flesh,” he said, dark eyes grinning. “Nice to see you, Avereis. I figured you’d end up here.” That meant he knew about the prophecy, but I kept my mouth shut. “You two ready to kick evil’s ass, or what?”
“I am,” I said back to our old family friend.
I finally understood what my destiny meant. The good I would do could only be measured by the evil someone else orchestrated. The energy of every task I’d complete was a beacon with a magnetic field for attracting trouble. Onyx’s comment gave me the feeling that I was the one who was bringing evil straight to our door.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The First Trial
Helaine
I was both ecstatic and confident now that I knew Onyx was going to be my mentor for two long years. He was a former earth witch who served with my mum, had a fabulous career with the Royals, and a strange and quirky power. Earth was a nurturing element, the clear advantage over any other mentor. He was also raised learning Kung Fu. Unfortunately, I knew we would not be doing martial arts in the living room today. In Onyx’s words, day one was frivolous.
I was also wary that he would be watching me to report back to my parents. My dad got on well with nearly everyone, and it was fair to say that Onyx was friends with him. I didn’t want a spy here with me, but that could be his purpose. I’d have to keep my distance until I knew Onyx’s true intentions.
“It is a great honor to train you after being in the Coven with your mother. Imogen is someone I greatly respect,” Onyx told me.
“It’s equally an honor for me.”
“Frivolities aside, we’re going to make you the best water witch who ever lived,” he said, sounding almost as if he were planning a conspiracy. “I saw your water form at auditions, and I think martial arts will be the key to harnessing your power. What I am supposed to tell you is that you’re going to have a hard time, as your mum practiced spirit, not water, but time will tell. For now,” he stood to take a book off of the floor to ceiling bookshelf, “read this. Study this. It’s about the water witches who came before you. Their stats, their attainments—those are goals you can set for yourself to increase your power—all of that. Read up, and I’ll be back this evening.”
“Two lessons a day?” I gawked.
Rose and I had been studying to be in the Coven for over a decade now. We could tell you every element’s qualities and strengths. We could describe the proceedings from death scenes to press conferences. We could tell you what happened when we didn’t agree unanimously and how the tiebreaker went to the Mages. We could also tell you in-depth descriptions of the Isle of Shrouded Souls, the place the Coven took supernatural people to rehabilitate them. Why in the bloodiest of hells did anyone need two lessons a day?
“It’s mandatory for three months. Then, you only have to see me a few times a week.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to it,” I assured him.
“I don’t underestimate you. I’ve seen the Raleigh witches and their capabilities. My babysitting days have long been over, so I’m going to be more of a guide than a micromanager. Spread your wings and soar, Laurence.”
“I’ll do my best. It sounds like you’re leaving already?”
“I have a lunch engagement. Let me make sure it’s still on, then I’ll say goodbye to Rose and go. You’ll be fine, trust me.”
I officially had the english teacher who just showed movies all day, the one Rose had all through schooling at the Hallowed Locus every time we ended up with different schedules.
“Give me a moment?”
I nodded to Onyx and then left to refill my teacup. I had seen Stan sulk upstairs to finally go to sleep about five minutes prior, without so much of a glance in mine and Onyx’s direction. Rose was sitting alone, bum planted in the wicker chair.
“I’m so bloody excited that Onyx is my mentor!” I said in victory, before pouring more tea. “He’s such a talented earth witch and martial artist, and to have a family friend as a mentor is only going to be helpful. Oh no, what’s Stan like?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Rose said. “He’s a pacifist and I’m a second-degree black belt, so there goes channeling energy through martial arts like we studied for years.”
“Ooo,” I breathed out. “I see the problem.”
“And I have the feeling he wants me to fail. He’ll get a mark on his record, but it wouldn’t be enough to get him exiled or anything.”
“What did Stan say to you?”
“Uh, ‘Let’s hope you make it’, but I think it was sarcastic somehow.”
“He is a mystery. Something magical is going on.”
“I think so too.”
I smiled deviously, looking around. “That’s his thermos, right?”
“Yeah. He seemed to have left it when he sleep-walked out of here. It’s coffee. He’s British and it’s coffee. Another mystery.”
“Esper drinks it,” I said judgingly.
“Well Esper’s… Esper,” Rose reminded me.
“Fortunately for us, you can find a lot out about someone by how they take their coffee. Take the Avereis family, for instance. Doctor, Ninja, and Witch Avereis all drink it black. They are all very intense people, the kind that will mess you up twice as bad if you mess with them.”
“And then there’s Grayson,” Rose added. “A tea drinker.”
“But my dad, for example, President of the Supernatural London Underground Laurence, drinks cream with a splash of coffee, because he is so sweet, and it pains him to play the strict dad. He only wants the illusion that he is drinking coffee, but illusion is important in politics, and when raising girls.”
“And what about Stan?” Rose asked with yet another laugh. If anything could get through to her it was coffee.
“Glad you asked.” I took the cap from his thermos and looked inside. “Dark coffee,” I reported, taking a sniff of it. It smelled warm, as coffee always somehow did to me, but this coffee made my nose twitch with the metallic scent swirled in with it. “Blood coffee.”
“If vampirism makes a witches’ power void, then that means one thing,” Rose pointed out.
“Stan is a Bathory, and doesn’t want us to know. At least not yet.”
Together, our minds always did things like this, and poor Stan had no idea what was coming now that we were both trying to figure out what his deal was.
We turned toward Onyx, who had followed me into the room. Rose and I were both suspicious that he knew something. It was time to press.
“So, the greatest mentor in all of London,” I said, bowing, “What is Stan’s deal?”
“If you break the magical seal, you find out,” Onyx said. “You’re already giving yourselves clues and don’t even know it. It’s darling, really. Look at you, growing up before my eyes.”
“Tell us.” I stared him down.
“As you go through the profiles of past witches you’ll notice they all have gift powers awarded in their second year after official induction. You will also notice there are attainments listed. Both of those have to do with this unique situation.”
“Attainments, like girl scout badges for witches?” Rose asked.
“Yes, and if you unlock a certain number, you keep your powers when you leave the Coven. Fail to do so, and you lose them. Most of us would rather keep them.”
“And this has to do with Stan...” I said out loud. “His gift power… an attainment. An attainment for us to earn!” I knew I nailed it by the look on Onyx’s face.
“You got it. If either of you figures out Stan’s gift power before he tells you, you will receive your first attainment and powers boost. You both have less than t
wo weeks to figure it out. This is your first trial.”
I was willing to bet I’d figure it out before Rose even got halfway there.
“Why didn’t Stan tell me this?” Rose asked, nearly snapping at Onyx.
“It was only your first lesson. Have faith in Stan and his teachers. I think the lad has a chance. I’ll see you two at dinner tonight.”
“Sorry Onyx, I didn’t mean to sound like such a bit—”
“Nope,” he interjected. “If you call yourself those things you give other people the right to as well.”
“Thanks, Onyx,” she said back.
Throughout the day, I could tell Rose was still thinking that Stan was against her. She memorized her book in her room all afternoon. Stan wanted to discuss it after dinner, which didn’t at all add up to him trying to sabotage her.
I skimmed my book, more or less looking for the gift power I’d want, or trying to figure out Stan’s. I’d move to the other elements if I didn’t find what I was looking for. It bored me into taking a kip on my soft, plain bed, and I woke up to my hand stuck in a page as a human bookmark.
When I wandered down to dinner, Rose was already helping Maddi with the recipe that was on the screen of the icebox. I tried not to interrupt them, but they both greeted me as I walked into the kitchen.
“Enough about the recipe. How was your first day?” Maddi asked Rose.
“Well Stan is my mentor, so there’s that…”
“Stanley did better than the lot of us,” explained Maddi. “He’ll be able to teach you where power comes from and how to control it just fine.”
“I hope so.” Rose sighed out. “I think I’m going to need extra help.”
“While you can do spells with us, Gregory and I aren’t allowed to interfere with your mentoring,” explained Maddi. “You’ll understand by year three, but for now, just trust Stan. Fire witches always have a few surprises up their sleeves. And, don’t forget how both you and Laurence might change when you start getting lost in your element. Their characteristics might bring out the best or worst in you.”
“No pressure,” Rose said, grinning at Maddi.
I, on the other hand, was fine with my element. If anything, I was more grounded, but despite water and its harmonious tendencies, anything could happen when we were off of house arrest after winter solstice.
I wanted to ask Maddi more when my attention was caught by a glimmer of light passing by the front window. The lightweight panting over the piano in the living room started to shake.
“Oh, that’s just Stanley’s motorcycle. No need to worry,” Maddi said, catching my look.
Not as boring as I thought, after all.
“I didn’t see a motorcycle parked in the alley yesterday,” Rose said.
“We have the garage space a little way into the alley,” Maddi explained. “There’s also a car, but witches don’t use conventional transportation much.”
I heard the garage door rattle closed, agitating the painting slightly less than the engine itself, and Stan soon turned his key in the front door to join us.
“I’m not late, am I?” He asked, smoothing down his pitch black helmet hair with one hand. He had on a leather jacket as one of his onion layers this evening.
“I don’t think you can be late to your own house,” Maddi said. “Gregory’s been here all day and he’s not down here yet. Onyx isn’t here yet either.”
The bell rang on cue, and Stan, who was hanging up his motto jacket, went to grab the door.
Onyx joined us in the dining room and Gregory was close behind. We filled our plates from the island and sat around the table for the second night in a row, but this time with our new mentors.
“You should come around more often,” Gregory said to Onyx over a bite of salad. “It’s great to have another earth witch around.”
“I didn’t retire from my day job until about three years ago,” Onyx reminded him. “I’m happy for this opportunity and am not quite ready to be a Mage.”
“You as a Mage?” I said with a sputtering laugh.
The lot of us issued Onyx small smiles, even Stan.
“It could happen,” Onyx said with mock sincerity. “Maybe.”
Gregory turned to Rose.
“ So Avereis, thanks for helping Maddi tonight. You like to cook?”
“Yes,” Rose said. “I might as well enjoy it when it’s so necessary.”
“Not to all of us,” Stan said.
“You’re the only one of us who thinks so,” Gregory commented.
“Actually, I don’t like cooking much,” I volunteered. “I have a feeling I’m going to struggle making elixirs.”
“I don’t think so,” Onyx assured me. “Elixirs add a whole new world to your spell casting and there is something for everyone.”
“I thought I would hate elixirs too, but I tailored them to my needs and they became more interesting,” Maddi explained. “For example…” she stood, placing her serviette on the table, and moved to open the cabinet on the wall. Maddi pulled a green bottle from behind the frosted cupboard door.
“This potion cures a hangover.” She reached back in and pulled out more potions with corked tops. “This one gives you energy, and this one stops you from being inebriated, instantly.”
“Maddi is so popular because she’d party at night and then do press conferences and attend to official Coven matters the next day,” Gregory shared.
“These elixirs are my secret to success. I’m a good girl to know. I could be helpful to you these first two years.”
My attention was caught by a blue orb on the shelf. It glinted with a sparking curiosity even though there were no moving shadows in the kitchen. It wasn’t fire or light, it was a magnetic glint that beckoned me forward.
“I’m not going to allow Avereis to take any of your potions,” Stan said, interrupting my fixation on the blue globe. Maddi shut the frosted door.
“Why? What did I ever do to you?” Rose asked him.
“Avereis…” Onyx chided.
“It doesn’t matter as long as I get to induction in one piece,” Rose said to her mentor. “And if I go down, I’m taking you with me.”
“Deal,” Stan said back. “If you think I want you to fail, I don’t.”
I felt as though I was listening to a private conversation, but I was beginning to realize that Stan just said whatever was on his mind. I knew that maybe he wasn’t so forthcoming about himself because of the trial that would award both me and Rose an attainment.
“We all picked you, Avereis,” Gregory said. “And you too Laurence. We wanted you two on our team, and while we think we know what you’re capable of, we hope that you’ll surprise us more than we think possible. That’s what the elite do, and that’s what separates a Coven witch from any other practitioner. Even though you’re not officially inducted, you two are more powerful than anyone in the city.”
I looked at Rose, who was wearing the hugest grin.
“I hope you can actually rest tonight,” Gregory told us.
“I have to stay up until three to get on a new sleep schedule,” Rose replied.
“And there’s another lesson,” Stan reminded her. “Fifteen minutes?”
She sighed out and nodded.
I said goodnight to everyone and grabbed the book on air witches from the living room to search through attainments up in my room. Some of the books had no titles on the binding, and when I opened those select few, there were no words on the inside either. Most unfortunately, I was far too exhausted to look into the blank books now.
As I reached my landing, I saw that the fourth-floor attic door remained shut as a testament to Gregory’s need for privacy. Mine, Rose’s and Stan’s doors always remained open unless we were sleeping. I’d pause at my door nearly every time I’d come up to my room, to reflect a moment on the door at the end of the hallway, and the stairs behind it that led to the highest point in the house.
I forgot to wash my face as I nodded off, a thick yellow
book on my chest. I was finally calm and rested, and the sensors on my lights turned them out as I slipped into a dreamless sleep.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Piano
Rose
We had only been at the mews house a week and a half, and the freedom of winter solstice seemed so far away. Helaine’s ideas of independence were surely rubbing off on me, but my love of planning ahead was as focused as ever. In three months, I wouldn’t have to meet with Stanley every day, and then in two years, he wouldn’t be so involved in my life. We’d just be comrades then, hopefully friends. For now, I had no idea what he thought of me. Gregory and Maddi liked him a lot, and even Maddi’s boyfriend, Tomas, got along with him, but I still had my reservations about trusting him.
Our daily lessons were so dry that the smallest spark could catch them on fire. Stan was so focused on dropping all of the information he could, that the stories of witches before me grew boring, even the history of my one true aspiration, Delilah, the fire element Seer. Luckily, I had Helaine to keep me sane, or perhaps drive me to the brink of curiosity enough to remind me that I didn’t want to be completely sensible.
In between our mentoring sessions today, Helaine and I practiced our knife form in the garden so we’d retain our knowledge when we were allowed to go back to martial arts. I loved the series of slices and blocks, and the way the knife switched between my hands without fumbling anymore. It ended with a forward front roll and plunging the knife into the top of the opponent’s skull, which my dad said was completely possible. We didn’t ask how he knew.
“I think my time for that powers boost attainment is up,” I told Helaine, setting my wooden knife on the patio table. “Today ends us regurgitating autobiographical information about previous initiates. Tonight at the second lesson, I finally learn about Stan so I can figure out where he’s coming from. Maybe. And without being able to name his gift power, I forfeit my first trial.”
Helaine was quiet as she began stretching.
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