by Lucia Ashta
Mordecai scooted farther down the chaise and leaned backward (squashing my feet) with a loud sigh. “Those are very good questions.” He played with the braids of his beard while he considered my questions; the beads at their ends tinkled as they met, sounding like wind chimes.
Gustave, Marcelo, and Clara entered the room then, and he looked to them, as if my questions had been forgotten. When Marie and Walt came in, and then Nando, who immediately rushed to my side, I was sure I’d never get the answers I needed. So many questions were piling up, unanswered, and each day I accumulated more.
Wizard Meedles walked in the door without his hellhounds—thankfully!—and Sir Lancelot flew straight toward the windowsill to keep watch, when Nando reached my side. He knelt in front of me. “¿Cómo estás, Isa?” His voice was gentle, his brown eyes brimming with concern.
I pushed myself up a little more in an attempt to ease his worry. “I’m a bit better. Resting helped.”
“Good. Do you want me to get you some food? Do you think you could eat?”
I smiled and squeezed his arm. “Not yet. Gracias.”
His eyes didn’t lose any of their tension.
“Really, I’m better.”
“Hmph” was all he said, and I guessed my appearance wasn’t convincing.
Mordecai looked my way then, and I jumped at the chance. “Do you know why this happened to me? Why portaling hit me this hard?”
The room immediately quieted. From what I’d gathered, what happened to me wasn’t common. They must all be curious.
“I’ve been giving it some thought, child, and I think I know why this happened to you.” He paused, and impatience reared in me. I wasn’t feeling well, and that just made me more irritable than usual.
“And?” I prompted sooner than it was polite to do so. But I saw no objection in the old wizard’s eyes, just understanding.
“It was your first instance of performing any kind of magic, am I right?”
Uh, obviously. I swallowed my huff. “Yes.”
“Well, I think your magic just hasn’t had the chance to regulate itself yet. It hasn’t figured out how to hold back when not as much is needed. You haven’t yet learned how to balance your magic.”
“Is that something someone will teach me?” This was an academy for the learning of magic, after all, even if there hadn’t been much opportunity for lessons thus far.
“We’ll have to teach you,” Gustave said from across the room. “If not you’ll kill yourself.”
“Gustave!” Arianne reprimanded her twin.
“Quoi? It’s true, is it not?”
“Oui, but a bit more subtlety please.”
“She needs to know. What she did was dangerous. She got lucky. We got lucky she didn’t kill herself.”
All this talk of me dying was freaking Nando out. I squeezed his arm again and said, “The danger is over now, right? As long as someone teaches me how to... regulate my magic or whatever, before I do more of it, I’ll be fine.” When no one answered straightaway, I said, “Right?”
Clara and Marcelo shared a look, but Arianne was the one to say, “Correct.” She sounded three-quarters of the way convinced.
Marcelo nodded—the husband and wife were having some unspoken conversation—then Clara stepped further into the room. “I think I should help her with this. I haven’t gone through exactly what she did, but I have some experience in learning to control powers that are so strong they might overtake you.”
“Yes, darling, that sounds like a marvelous idea!” Arianne clapped her hands, and I couldn’t help but feel her sudden glee was overcompensating for the tension, which still radiated throughout the room. Nothing was settled nor certain, and the dangers and risks continued to come at us from all directions. “You’re the perfect one to teach her this. Once you do, she’ll be able to handle her magic as gracefully as you do.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I wanted to share her optimism.
Mordecai patted my foot awkwardly. “See. I told you the runes always know better than we do. You belong here, just as much as your brother.”
I blushed. I’d forgotten for a moment that the runes had selected him and not me. But Mordecai’s comment was spot on. I obviously had magic—something I was accepting far too easily. I must be in shock or something, and once I started feeling myself again I’d struggle to accept the incongruous notion.
“The runes always show the way. We just have to understand what they’re trying to say.”
“It’s a shame the runes can’t show you the way to Priscilla,” Gustave said.
“Yes, a shame indeed. They can’t even show me the way to Albacus, and he’s using them to speak with me.” He patted my ankle. “Unless I use them as a compass like Isa suggests.”
We were in trouble if my ideas were the best ones we had.
“The runes as a compass will take too long,” Count Vabu said. “I’m not waiting.”
“Then how will you find Miranda’s den?” Arianne brought her hands to her hips. “We have no idea where she is. You know we can’t trace a portal once it’s closed.”
“We can’t do that, but these students can share their impressions of where she held them. That might be enough to link a portal to where Miranda and Priscilla are.”
“And it might not be. You could get stuck somewhere!”
Stuck? No one had mentioned that we could get stuck when I opened the portal for us.
Marcelo clapped a hand on Count Vabu’s shoulder. “She’s right. I’m all for rescuing your sister, but Arianne’s argument is sound. You have to know exactly where you’re going to be able to portal. You have to be able to feel it thoroughly to make sure you complete the journey with all your parts.”
All your parts? I gulped. It was a really good thing no one had told me that before I portaled us back to the academy.
“That’s why I’m hoping one of the students will be able to give me enough details to allow me to portal. They should be able to. I just need to understand enough of what it feels and looks like, and I’ll be fine.”
But when Count Vabu pursed his lips in determination, he didn’t look to Marie or Walt. He skipped over Nando and stared directly at me.
I swallowed so loudly I feared the whole room would hear it. I’m not ready for this life. I had the tremulous thought before I could stop it. It all felt like too much.
But Priscilla’s life was on the line. If she wasn’t dead already....
Chapter 5
Count Vabu started peppering Marie with questions, but instead of listening in, I whispered to Nando, “What did they say about this Miranda being able to open a portal into the estate?”
Nando’s gaze remained on Marie as he answered. “The usual. That she shouldn’t have been able to do that with the wards, that they’d modify them to account for yet another instance they hadn’t properly anticipated.”
“Wow. It’s really crazy that the SMS keeps getting through the wards like this.”
“They think so too.” He finally turned back to me. “But we shouldn’t have followed some unknown sorceress into a portal either. That’s on us.”
“Yeah, it is. That was totally stupid.” I chewed at my lip and managed to push myself all the way up to sitting. I still leaned into the chaise lounge for support, but I was making progress. “But Nando... I’m not sure I could have helped myself.” My real fear was that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself if it ever happened again. “She was so... I don’t know.”
“Mesmerizing. Enchanting. Alluring.”
I nodded, and was surprised to find my world didn’t tilt at the automatic movement. “All of those things. I couldn’t look away from her. I would’ve followed her anywhere in that moment.” There, I’d admitted it. Yes, it had been foolish following Miranda into that portal, but I worried that I’d do it again if circumstances repeated themselves. How would I stop myself?
Nando grimaced. “I would’ve followed her anywhere too, it’s not just you. She ha
d some kind of hold on our minds.”
“So what’s to keep her from doing it again?” I looked around the room to make sure no one was listening in, but everyone was paying rapt attention to Count Vabu’s inquiry of Marie. “I mean, what if she manages to break through their wards again and opens another portal into the estate? I think I might still follow her through it, even knowing what I do now.”
“Yeah, me too. In that moment, you forget everything but what she tells you.”
“And I’m not sure if I’d be strong enough to open another portal back. Besides, now she knows I can.”
“Don’t even think that, Isa. We’ll get it figured out. We’re at an academy of magic, remember? We’re here to learn.”
“And will we? We’ve been here for days and have barely learned a thing.”
“That’s not true. We’ve learned plenty, just not in classes.”
I sighed. “Which is why we’ve learned everything the really, really hard way.”
“They’re doing the best they can. They can’t help it if the SMS won’t let up and keeps trying to get at us.”
“I know, I know. I’m just scared about what might come next.” I wouldn’t admit to being scared to anyone but my brother. Count Vabu had just moved on from Marie to Walt, and I had a sinking feeling he was going to expect me to give him what he needed.
Nando reached out and took both my hands. He squeezed until I directed my attention to him. “You don’t need to be scared. I’m right here. I’m your protector, remember? Papá and Mamá entrusted me with taking care of you. I won’t let them—or you—down.”
I smiled as much as I could at his wholehearted gesture, and swallowed my thoughts. Yes, that’s wonderful, but you might not know how to protect me. If the SMS uses magic against us, you won’t be able to stop them, and you could get yourself hurt trying.
“It will be all right, really, Isa. We’ll find the way to get through this. Together. Just like we do everything.”
I nodded and pushed hard on the tears that gathered, hot behind my eyes. “Te quiero, Nando. Gracias.”
“Yo te quiero a vos, Isa, and don’t you forget it. I’ll always protect you.”
I only nodded, afraid that if I spoke, I’d cry. I’m really not a crier, I promise, even if my emotions had been closer to the surface than ever before. It was just that I couldn’t help feeling that bad things were coming... and there wasn’t a thing I could do to stop them.
“Besides,” Nando said, snapping me out of my doom-and-gloom worries. “You have magic.” He beamed. “That’s absolutely incredible. You would have never guessed, huh, feeling trapped in Uncle’s house, thinking there was nothing special about you?”
“No, I never guessed it. I never guessed any of this, that’s for sure.”
“But I’ve always realized you were special. I always knew you’d do amazing things. You should have heard them talking about you over luncheon. They were so amazed that you’d managed to open—and hold—a portal like that, and send multiple people through, when you’d shown no signs of magic until that moment.” He inched closer and whispered conspiratorially. “They’re predicting great things from you. Mordecai brought up his runes again, saying they’d chosen you especially, and Clara and Marcelo said you must have an affinity for portal magic.”
I wanted very much to find out what else the magicians said about me—I really did. I was so curious about magic, so curious about what might happen to me now that I’d discovered I actually had magic, but I could barely focus on what Nando was saying.
Count Vabu had finished interrogating Walt and was moving in our direction. Even though the next logical subject would be Nando since I was the one still recovering, those nearly black, intelligent eyes never wavered from me.
Arianne no longer protested, and neither did anyone else. The occupants of the room parted for the vampire as he approached.
It wasn’t that I was frightened of him. I didn’t believe I was anymore. I still didn’t know a lick about what being a vampire meant, except that this particular one seemed to be good, and his sister Priscilla had saved us. I trusted him—I think.
But I couldn’t shake a feeling of dread. It was in the process of completely replacing the ringing and swirling that had previously occupied my awareness.
Now all I could think was, No, no, no. I wanted to push away whatever was coming, even though I had no idea what exactly that might be.
I could answer a few questions without any problems, couldn’t I? I mean, I was bone tired, and I still could barely move, but my mind and mouth were working just fine now.
But when Count Vabu skipped over Nando entirely and addressed me, I barely heard his instructions over my internal protests. “Tell me what it was like to travel through Miranda’s portal, and tell me what her dungeon felt like.”
I answered despite myself, all the while feeling as if I were falling into a trap of my own making. “Her portal was different than the one I opened. It was like we stepped right through it into her dungeon. There was no swirling or the feeling of being ripped apart and reassembled like I—we, I guess—experienced on the way back.”
“The others did too, just not as much as you.”
Ah. I hadn’t had the chance to ask Nando. “Well, so it was a bit just like stepping through a doorway. One moment we were here, the next there.” I shuddered at the memory of realizing that we’d so gullibly followed an evil witch, who’d lured us from safety.
“Go on.”
“The dungeon was cold and dark, and it felt... I don’t know, it’s hard to describe. At first, it felt like I’d never be happy again.”
Count Vabu nodded as if he understood. “Continue.”
I licked my lips, uncomfortable to have everyone’s attention on me, grateful that at least not everyone at the academy had crammed into the parlor, which seemed to grow smaller with every passing second. “I don’t know if I can do this. Most of how I picture the dungeon is about how I felt while I was there. I’m sorry, I don’t think I can help.”
“Oh, I think you can help more than you realize. Feeling is more important than seeing when you create a portal. You have to feel where you’re going, if not it won’t work.”
“I did feel what it was like to be in the gardens here, with the sounds of the birds, the fragrance of the flowers, and the sun on my face.” My voice was timid though I was excited to begin making sense of how I’d accomplished portaling.
“Yes! That’s it. That’s how you portal. You have to possess an affinity for the art, but the most successful portalers know how to sense where they need to go, and project that ahead of them. Tell me more.”
I closed my eyes to better remember. “The walls were damp, which made the cold penetrate your bones. There were no windows; it was so dark it was hard to see what was going on. The sounds were muted, as if the damp, dirt floor absorbed the sounds.”
“Wait just a moment.”
I waited, but didn’t open my eyes. I was nearly there, and already desperate to leave behind the memory of our capture.
“I’m going to merge with her thoughts,” Count Vabu said, though not to me.
“I didn’t know you could do that,” Wizard Meedles’ booming voice said.
“It’s difficult, and I can’t always manage it, but it’s not all that different from compelling people to tell me the truth, just a bit trickier.”
“That sounds like all sorts of things could go wrong. Let’s talk this through first, Vladimir,” Arianne said.
But Count Vabu obviously cared far more for his sister than his emotional displays—or lack thereof—revealed. He threw caution to the wind, and before I realized what was happening, I gasped and pushed my back against the chaise.
Vabu’s consciousness was already inside my mind, and my memories were still locked in that dungeon, along with the woman who wanted to kill me and my friends.
Chapter 6
It was a bizarre feeling—one of the strangest—to have someone
else’s consciousness projected into your own mind. I wasn’t exactly sure how Count Vabu might be doing it—I mean, didn’t he need his consciousness for his own body? But I guessed not. I hadn’t heard any thumping sounds that might indicate his body had slumped to the floor, an empty shell.
How could this happen so quickly? And without warning? Count Vabu hadn’t asked me if I was all right with this, he’d just appeared, all of a sudden. Surely he should have asked permission before entering my mind.
That’s when I realized he wasn’t fully settled into my mind. And I only understood this when he really sank into my mind, gripping onto me. What it might actually be like for him, I didn’t know, but it gave me the sensation of a thousand little spiders latched onto my brain.
My immediate reaction was to want to shake them, to fight the invasion.
No, don’t resist.
I gasped, though maybe I didn’t actually make a sound. Those thoughts weren’t my own. Someone else—Count Vabu, obviously—was thinking for me.
Allow me to see.
I resisted—wouldn’t you? I scrunched up my face and clenched my mind, wondering if the others could see my funny expression. However, I was unable to focus on anything outside of my head.
With sudden panic, I realized that I no longer possessed any awareness of what transpired in the parlor. I’d been surrounded by people, and yet I didn’t hear, smell, or feel a single one of them anymore, not even Nando.
I attempted to open my eyes... but couldn’t. What have you done to me? I screamed in my head.
Nothing. It was the stupidest answer he could have offered me, and I immediately began thrashing inside my head, trying to dislodge him.
Nothing to be frightened of, he amended, but this answer was only partially better.
I want you out. Now. Typically, I’d never talk to a teacher that way, although he was supposed to be our protector and not our teacher, whatever that meant. I was definitely not feeling protected by this protector at the moment. I considered that whatever usual norms might apply, hadn’t applied here. This situation was very far from normal.
