The Witchling Apprentice

by B. Kristin McMichael

  Cassie slipped out of the car into the dark in the parking lot. James Park really wasn’t the kind of park with a swing set and slide. It was more like a wooded area with a large stone open shelter that people would use to throw parties at. It was beautiful in the summer when all the flowers were blooming in the surrounding woods, and down by the large lake. Cassie loved to hike all the adjoining trails, but in the cold, now slightly wet fall, it had lost some of its appeal. That was until she passed the shelter and saw the fire blazing down by the lake.

  The ground was slippery as it was, but when Cassie didn’t notice the branch sticking out of the pathway, she was thankful that Owen was back to being her friend. His arm quickly rushed out and caught her before she took a face-plant into the earthen pathway. Normally, Cassie wouldn’t mind—she loved nature and everything outside—but it was her first time being allowed out to the bonfire, and she didn’t want to show up covered in mud. She decided it was best to hold onto Owen, who seemed to have no trouble leading the way down to the lake in the dark.

  As the fire grew brighter, she began to notice all the people lounging around. She had thought that there would only be a few people since the dance was still going on, but there were a lot more than she expected. Whitney had talked about the lake bonfires before, and she had made it seem like not that big of a deal. Cassie saw now as more people rushed past her and Owen that it was slightly a big deal. There were more people at the lake than the dance.

  “I think Whitney’s over there,” Owen said, pointing toward their waiting friend.

  They stepped into the sand, and Cassie didn’t want to drop her hold on Owen. He grinned as she grasped his arm tighter. A muddy impression wouldn’t be good, but falling on the uneven sand would be just as bad.

  Owen led the way through several groups of students that sat around. Cassie could still see the same divisions as there were in school. Each group of friends was divided from the rest, but at least here they were a little more mashed together to be near the warm fire.

  “You guys actually made it!” Whitney cheered when Owen finally reached her. “I was beginning to think John wouldn’t let you come.”

  “He wasn’t going to, but Owen convinced him to let me.” Cassie gave Owen all the credit he deserved for facing John.

  Whitney wiggled her eyebrows at Owen, and he swatted at her.

  “He had to let her. She’s part of all this now, why would he make her stay away? He had no reason,” Owen replied like it was nothing.

  “Whatever,” Whitney said. She knew it was a big deal to stand up to John. “Can you go get us some drinks, so we don’t have to get cold and leave the fire?”

  Owen nodded, and Cassie dropped down to sit next to Whitney.

  “I can’t believe he actually let you out. This is awesome,” Whitney added.

  Cassie had to agree. First, he allowed her to go to a dance, and now the bonfire. Cassie should have taken the exam years ago. It still was bit confusing, but at least she fit in a bit more than normal.

  “John and Owen got into some argument about me coming, and something was said about me choosing a mate. What the heck was that about?” Cassie asked Whitney.

  Whitney began to cough as she inhaled her gum. Cassie quickly patted her on the back before someone who hadn’t been sitting too far away turned and smacked her harder than Cassie ever could have. The piece of gum flew out of her mouth and into the fire.

  “That’s not possible. You haven’t been out of my sight long enough to mate with anyone,” Whitney added.

  Cassie scrunched up her face in confusion.

  “That came out wrong. What I mean is that you couldn’t have chosen a mate. It takes a bit more time than just having a crush on someone. And if you had, I would have known when I was doing your hair.”

  “You mean this?” Cassie asked, rubbing the back of her neck. She still didn’t feel anything there, and when she had peeked in the mirror as they rushed out of the house, she didn’t see anything.

  “Yeah that,” Whitney replied, she hadn’t seen it, but she knew what Cassie walk talking about.

  Cassie brushed her hair back as if she could see behind her head.

  “What the …” Whitney added as she stopped Cassie’s hand from releasing the hair she had picked up.

  “Yeah, isn’t that interesting?” Owen said as he finally arrived back to their spot. He had three drinks in his hand. He gave one to each of them, while keeping one for himself, and then sat down next to Cassie.

  “Nathaniel Bay? I swear that wasn’t there before the dance,” Whitney told Owen, almost like she was apologizing.

  “Okay, someone better explain.” Cassie glanced between her two best friends who sat on either side of her. “Why do you guys keep mentioning Nate?”

  Whitney looked to Owen, and he shrugged. He didn’t seem to be any more forthcoming than at Cassie’s house or the ride to the party. When would the secrets be over?

  “She’s part of everything now, right?” Whitney asked. Owen shrugged. He didn’t have an answer. “This is frustrating. Either she’s one of us or not. How can they not know?”

  Cassie stared at her friend. She didn’t know if she was supposed to answer because she didn’t have a reply. A second look told Cassie that Whitney didn’t seem to be talking to anyone in particular as she let off some pent-up frustration.

  “I don’t know. John didn’t seem to know either,” Owen replied. For once, Cassie wasn’t the only one confused.

  “But she passed her exam, and she’s already marked. How can she not be one of us?” Whitney was beyond frustrated now.

  Cassie rolled her eyes. Everyone seemed to think talking in code was better than not telling her. It wasn’t. She still felt left out. Most of the time, Whitney and Owen were better at not discussing things around her, but she could feel the frustration Whitney felt.

  “Fine. We can’t tell her everything yet, but we can tell her bits.” Whitney turned to Cassie and paused with her finger on her lips as she thought.

  “As long as it’s in general terms, no one can get in trouble, right?” Owen was searching for a way to tell Cassie also.

  “Agreed? Tell me something,” Cassie begged.

  “Once you join the coven, you get to choose your mate,” Whitney replied. Owen’s eyes bugged out at how much Whitney was saying. “Hey. That’s general enough to not get us into trouble. She’s already part way there, so they can’t get mad about that. And if she has a mate, she ought to know what that means.”

  “Mate?” Cassie asked. She knew what it meant in animal terms, but there wasn’t a single person who used that word as much as she had heard it in the last thirty minutes.

  “Essentially your husband,” Whitney replied, shrugging her answer.

  “Husband?” Cassie asked in shock. “Um, did you hit your head or something? We’re only sixteen.”

  Whitney shrugged again. “Seventeen in a few months, and in the coven that’s plenty old to get …”

  “Married,” Owen supplied before Whitney added more.

  “And you guys think I chose my mate already?” Cassie couldn’t even say his name out loud. It was crazy. She didn’t even like Nate, let alone want to marry him. They might not have cared that she was only sixteen, but she cared. She had a lot more life to live before deciding to marry someone.

  Owen turned to the fire and shrugged.

  “The mark on your neck says you chose Nate and he chose you,” Whitney explained what Owen wouldn’t.

  Cassie stared in disbelief between her two friends. They were serious about it. It had to be a joke.

  “Ha, ha, you guys. How’d you get John to play along?” Cassie asked. Marriage at seventeen. It was crazy, and she almost believed them.

  Whitney looked at her and shook her head as Owen stared wide-eyed at her.

  “Really. How’d he ever agree? Wait. Don’t tell me. Was it part of taking me out? Were you supposed to scare me into never asking to go out again?” Cassie kept tal
king though her friends didn’t respond. She glanced between them, but there was no laughter in their expressions.

  “Sorry, hon, this isn’t a joke,” Whitney finally replied.

  “Sure. We all should get married at seventeen. Sounds like a great age. Uncle John won’t even let me date, yet you want me to believe you that he’ll let me get married? And to Nate of all people? You guys know that I don’t like him anymore. That crush was back in grade school.” Cassie realized her friends still weren’t laughing, and she got a little nervous it might not be a joke.

  “It isn’t John’s choice whether you marry or not,” Owen replied.

  “True. That should be my choice, and why would I choose Nate? You mean the friend that ditched us to be popular? Not a chance in …” Cassie added but stopped when her neck left a weird tingling sensation going down her back. She turned in time to see Nate arrive at the beach with several of his buddies.

  “How can that happen if she doesn’t even know? Isn’t it supposed to be a decision they both make; otherwise every guy would go around marking the girl he wanted. This can’t be right.”

  Cassie turned to find Whitney whispering to Owen.

  “You guys still trying to play up that whole mating crap?” Cassie asked. Owen and Whitney shot each other looks. “Okay. Fine. I’ll play along. Not like I haven’t seen weirder stuff with all the witches. Especially the—” Cassie stopped. She wasn’t supposed to say anything about the other witches called the sidhe, but it was getting harder and harder to do so. She was just happy she had told Whitney.

  “Let’s pretend that you believe us,” Whitney started as she looked across the fire to where Nate sat with his friends.

  “Sure,” Cassie replied, watching across the fire also, though she didn’t want to. She couldn’t help it. Nate had to pick a spot exactly across the fire from them.

  “Did you talk to Than tonight?” Whitney asked.

  “Kind of. He stopped me before we went to get changed. He said I could be his girlfriend, and I told him no,” Cassie added, looking between her friends. How in the world was that a Yes, I want to marry you?

  “See. I told you she wouldn’t be stupid enough to agree to tricks,” Whitney added to Owen.

  “You told him no?” Owen asked again.

  “I think my exact words were along the lines that even if I were allowed to date, I would never choose him,” Cassie replied, trying not to look across the fire to the glowing blue eyes of Nate that seemed to be taking in everything.

  “Then how does she have his mark?” Whitney asked.

  “That’s exactly what I want to know,” Owen replied, more than frustrated.

  “Can we just forget about that stuff and enjoy the fact I was let out of my prison for a couple hours?” Cassie asked, trying to change the subject. She still felt they were waiting for the punch line to make her laugh, but the longer they held out, the more it worried her. Did she want to be let in on all the secrets if everyone was going to talk about strange stuff?

  “Exactly,” Owen said, raising his glass as if to toast and clunking it to Cassie’s in her hand.

  Cassie took a large sip and then sputtered on it as it burned her throat.

  “What is this stuff?” Cassie gave her cup to Owen. She wasn’t going to drink any more of it.

  “Trust me, you don’t want to know,” Whitney replied, gulping down her own drink.

  Cassie immediately felt lightheaded, and the bit of magic she tasted as she drank made her even drowsier.

  “Cas, you all right?” Owen asked, concern lacing his voice.

  “I think I’m just going to rest my head,” Cassie replied, leaning on Owen’s shoulder.

  Whitney patted her head.

  “I’ve heard of lightweights before, but one drink is a bit funny,” Whitney added.

  Owen shifted to let Cassie rest better against his arm.

  “Do you think that the mark is permanent?” Whitney asked after some time. She assumed Cassie was out of it.

  “I hope not,” Owen replied. He pulled Cassie closer as she tried not to drift off to sleep.

  “Because you’ve been an idiot and waited too long to tell her how much you love her?” Whitney replied.

  Now Cassie wished she could force her eyes open to see if what Whitney was saying was true. She never suspected Owen liked her. He had never been anything but friendly with her. Sure, he was always there to help her whenever she needed it, but it was what friends were like. He was her friend.

  Cassie felt herself melt even farther against Owen’s shoulder as her body shut down. She felt paralyzed even though her mind was completely awake. Cassie felt the magic swirl in her blood. She knew better than to drink anything she hadn’t seen someone make. Why had she been stupid?

  Without speaking, Cassie began to think about the words she needed to undo the magic binding down her body. She didn’t have anything with her to strengthen the spell, but if she could at least get her mouth moving, it would be a start. Cassie repeated the words in her mind another two times. Tingles were beginning to form. Cassie repeated the words again. Whoever did it was good, but not good enough to stop Cassie’s magic.

  “Maaa,” Cassie got the syllable out, but she needed a few more rounds to counter-curse the magic in her.

  “What?” Owen asked.

  Whitney picked up Cassie’s arm. She tapped her hand a few times and gently placed it back down.

  “Who’d you get the drink from?” Whitney asked. Her words sounded a bit mushed to Cassie, but she listened in anyway.

  “Jess was handing them out, why?” Owen replied. He took Cassie’s hand and tapped it also. Still no response. Cassie wasn’t even trying to get her hands back.

  “As in Jess, Than’s newly dumped girlfriend?” Whitney scolded.

  “Shit,” Owen dumped all three glasses on the ground.

  “Wait. A. Second.” Cassie tried to think straight and took a breath between each word. All other muscle control was gone. She couldn’t open her eyes as she felt two strong arms lift her into the air.

  “We need to get her out of here and find the antidote before her uncle finds out. He would kill me if he knew I gave her a drink that was laced,” Owen quickly told Whitney.

  She mumbled some sort of agreement as she stood and her keys jingled.

  “Why would Jess do this?” Cassie got out her question even though her eyes wouldn’t open.

  No one replied, but her knight in shining armor who was whisking her away began to walk through the dark woods. Even if she could open her eyes, Cassie wouldn’t see anything. First Owen had to hold her hand to help her walk through the woods, and now he had to carry her home. He sure did earn his spot as her best friend. It didn’t matter. Her epic jailhouse break was a bust anyway. At least she still had Owen to save her. He sat her inside his car before going around and starting up the engine. Cassie could feel the car start moving.

  It was a shorter drive than she remembered, but on the way over she had spent the whole time worrying about Owen. Something seemed off. But at least now, aside from the silent treatment, he was back to his old self. Cassie felt her door open, and she hoped they were at Whitney’s house. She couldn’t go home all magicked up and hope that Uncle John would ever let her out again.

  Since she couldn’t move, Cassie waited for Owen to press a bottle to her lips. At least she had her mouth moving again and could swallow. Owen took her hands in his, and she could feel the warmth from them. His hands felt softer than she remembered, but then again she wasn’t completely in control of herself.

  Cassie felt the potion Owen had given her wake every muscle in her body back up. The tingles hit her all over at once, and she wanted to itch them. It was like how a foot feels waking up from falling asleep times ten. Jess wasn’t a very powerful witch, but she sure knew what she was doing. Would she even apologize when Cassie went to school Monday, and Jess found out that Cassie had no intention of dating Nate? Somehow Cassie doubted it.

  “
Do you feel better now?” a voice that wasn’t Owen’s asked.

  Cassie slowly cracked open her eyes. She already knew that voice. She closed her eyes again and wished she could change who was only inches away from her, staring into her face. Cassie opened her eyes again, and it was still him. Nate’s blue eyes were watching her with worry.

  “Where are my friends?” Cassie asked, feeling stupid that she had thought it was Owen all along.

  “I told them that you’re my responsibility, so I would be taking you home,” Nate replied. This wasn’t what Cassie heard.

  Cassie wished she had the strength to glare at him, but instead kept her eyes closed. She wasn’t his responsibility. She wasn’t anyone’s responsibility but her own. One of the first things every young witch learns is not to drink anything that you didn’t see made.

  “Do you think you can walk?” Nate asked. They were parked outside her house.

  Cassie shook her head, and Nate automatically scooped her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing. Cassie wanted to beat against his chest to make him let go, but everything was still tingling, and any movement made it worse.

  “Put me down,” Cassie finally said as they neared the doorway. Nate looked at her doubtfully, but she put her best serious face on to try to convince him. When he gingerly set her on the top step tingles shot up her legs.

  “Don’t worry. Jess will be dealt with,” Nate told Cassie.

  That hadn’t actually occurred to her. Yeah, getting laced with a potion sucked, but it wasn’t that bad. Cassie had felt worse. She had been hit by a blast over the summer by a sidhe witch that could cast real magic, not the practice stuff Jess was using. That really hurt. This was just a minor inconvenience. It probably would have taken Cassie at least twenty minutes, but she could have undone everything on her own eventually. No, Jess was the furthest thing from her mind. Cassie was much more worried about everything else. Plopping down on the step, she attempted to catch her breath.

  First off, why did her friends ditch her with Nate? That wasn’t like Owen, and especially not something Whitney would do. She already explained she wasn’t dating Nate, and had no plans to. Did her friends not believe her? Secondly, she was returning from a party with magic on and in her. Her uncle was going to be furious. He hated when Cassie had to practice magic in the house for school. He wasn’t going to like her coming home smelling like it. Even if he wasn’t a witch and couldn’t feel magic as one, he still had a great sense about it. While other classmates could change their hair color with a spell, Cassie was never allowed to do magic like that. Her uncle had forbidden any magic in the house without his approval. She wasn’t so sure she wanted to go inside. He might just kick her out like he threatened.