A Witch’s Beating Heart

by Kasey Mackenzie

  Misty and I stepped around him and froze just steps past the doorway. There must have been some mistake. No way could this sheer luxury be intended for poor witch trash like us…

  We stood in a spacious living room/study space that was at least half the size of our entire trailer. A turquoise sofa and loveseat sat before a fireplace on the far wall. An expensive flat-screen television hung above the fireplace, obviously of witchcraft rather than human make since it curved at the same gentle angle as our tower wall. No doubt it would pick up channels from both Earth and the Shadow Realms. To the left and right of that, two large desks complete with snazzy laptops had been arranged. Comfy-looking office chairs sat beneath the desks, and bookcases that were already a quarter-filled flanked each desk.

  Open doors stood to the side of each bookshelf, revealing bedrooms that were like three times the size of the single room Misty and I shared back home. The suite walls were painted a lighter purple than the rotunda’s dark purple, and the curtains, sofa, cushions, and bedspreads were varying shades of purple and turquoise. Everything appeared new and shiny and far more opulent than our family was used to. Except maybe Luc when working for his clients…

  Trey misinterpreted our pausing in the foyer. “I know it’s probably smaller than what you’re used to back home, but thus is the life of freshmen. Obviously you’ll get bigger, better rooms as you level up in the Academy.”

  Pride ran strong in the Gibbs family, so all four of us assumed bored expressions, as if these were the bare acceptable standards to which we were accustomed. Our RA gave us a quick run-through of the magical and electronic features of the suite, handed us an extra hard copy of the dorm rules, and then hurried off to escort the next set of students to their home sweet home.

  Once the door shut behind him, Misty and I turned to Daddy and Luc and echoed in unison, “Are we still dreaming?”

  Our brother—supposedly much more mature at the advanced age of 22—reached out both hands in pinching gestures. We danced back and swatted at his grabby hands. He dropped them with a snicker, set his burdens down on the lushly carpeted floor, and started roaming around the suite. His expression became thoughtful as he wandered.

  Daddy’s expression, on the other hand, was flat-out troubled. He set his boxes and bags down and pursed his lips. “I know you two are smart enough not to lose your heads over a little glitz and glamour.”

  Misty and I exchanged glances as we waited for the inevitable but…

  “But remember everything your mama and I have taught you. Especially what we discussed the past few weeks.” He gave a meaningful glance around the room. “Remember that little eyes and ears can be anywhere. Not even counting familiars.”

  As if he’d cast a summoning spell, our two Eternals finally put in their appearance.

  My skin prickled as Pixie tugged gently on our link before poofing into the room, all self-satisfied 20 pounds of her most typical manifestation. The charcoal gray cat with teal tiger stripes that matched my hair and our combined magical signature strutted across the few feet of space separating us and butted my legs imperiously. Her rainbow eyes peered into my own, and she meowed loudly even though she could damned well talk straight into my mind.

  Amusement trickled across our link because I’d directed that thought straight into her mind. I was still giving her a sour expression when Belle, Misty’s familiar, materialized. Also in feline form, she was an exact match to Pixie except in color, which was black with magenta stripes. Her personality was equally mercurial, however. There was a reason these two littermates most often chose cat forms.

  Besides the fact that Misty and I were suckers for kitties…

  Daddy and Luc’s familiars—a red-feathered hawk and a red-and-black-striped salamander nearly as big as the hawk—materialized on each man’s shoulders. Luc caressed his hawk’s back and shook his head. “Just in time to not be helpful, Leonardo.”

  The hawk broadcast his mental laughter among all of us. Familiars were much friendlier with family and close friends than strangers. Pixie batted my leg again, and I picked her up with a sigh. Otherwise she’d only get progressively more annoying (or destructive toward my personal belongings) until I bowed to her wishes. Just like a real cat.

  She dug her claws into my flesh a little too sharply for comfort before settling upon my shoulder. Pretty much every familiar’s perch of choice. Her size magically shrunk to allow her to fit perfectly.

  Misty bowed to Belle’s wishes a little faster and more graciously, meaning she didn’t end up with blood welling from jagged crescent wounds on her arm. No sooner had that thought occurred to me than the tears in my flesh disappeared, stings fading just as fast. Pixie nuzzled my hair, a note of apology flashing between us. Unlike a mere mortal feline, my familiar could actually apologize and heal the injuries she caused.

  Daddy held his arms out. “Best we be moseying home, since we both have to work in the morning. You girls know how to reach all three of us. Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”

  As eager as I’d been to start this exciting new chapter (minus the whole hiding from the Witch Queen part), my throat welled with sudden emotion as tears pricked my eyes. The longest we’d gone without seeing our parents before was three or four days. Now, chances were we’d be so busy studying it might be weeks before we managed a visit.

  ((Hey,)) Misty sent through our magical twin link. ((We have each other.))

  ((And you have me!)) Pixie added on a private thread, nuzzling me again.

  I got ahold of my emotions and nodded. Misty and I really were lucky to have each other. Especially in light of all the danger we faced compared to the average Academy student. Thank the deities we could watch each other’s backs!

  Our familiars made the smart choice to hop down momentarily. Misty and I flung ourselves into Daddy’s arms and clung to him. My eyes fluttered closed as I breathed in the woodsy scent of his aftershave and reveled in how safe a parent’s embrace could make a witch feel. A fleeting emotion, maybe, but no less powerful.

  In fact, maybe the temporary nature of those moments helped strengthen you enough to make it to the next one.

  Luc gave us a few moments of father-daughter time before shouldering Daddy aside to claim his own hugs. As much grief as we dished out, our sibling bond with Luc was only slightly less powerful than our twin bond. He truly was the best brother a witch could ask for.

  Moments later, Misty and I shut the door on our two best guys and found ourselves tasting freedom for the first time in our lives. It felt both exhilarating and terrifying all at once. And boy, I sure hoped we didn’t screw those lives up the first chance we got.

  We grabbed some of our bags and examined both bedrooms—identical in all ways—before defaulting to our usual. She took the room on the left and I claimed the one on the right. Came from the fact we were opposite-handed. Made it easier to keep our dagger hands free. A spacious bathroom separated our bedrooms, with a toilet on her end, a shower on mine, and double sinks in the middle. Plenty of counter space between the sinks for our health and beauty products, which had Misty particularly excited. I appreciated the magic of makeup as much as anyone else, but she took the art of cosmetics to a whole new level.

  Misty dialed up some of our favorite music on the suite’s magical sound system and we went to work.

  Pixie curled up on my bed to watch as I began unpacking. The bed was double-sized with a simple wooden headboard engraved with Artemis House’s logo. An oversized turquoise-and-purple-striped bedspread enticed me with its fluffy goodness, but I didn’t have time for a nap. Two reasonably thick pillows rested against the headboard, one of which currently had a kitty-shaped butt atop it. A cozy cushioned window seat dominated the wall on the far side of the bed. I anticipated spending many hours curled up there reading. My modest collection of second-hand bargains (quality designer clothes courtesy of Misty, who was a wiz at finding the best pieces at thrift stores and garage sales all across the shadow realms) went into t
he walk-in closet and dresser on the third wall. The several pairs of shoes and boots I owned (maybe a quarter the size of my twin’s collection) went onto a shoe rack on the closet floor.

  Next, I arranged family photos and memorabilia around the room to make it seem more like home. This included several members of the stuffed animal collection my mother had started for me and that all four of my relatives continued contributing to. Pixie delighted in sharpening her claws on one of the most raggedy animals—ironically a stuffed poodle—but she never did it strenuously enough to ruin it. I thought she secretly loved PooPoo LeFou as much as I did.

  Once I’d arranged the bedroom to my liking, I checked in on Misty only to confirm my suspicion that she was barely a quarter of the way through unpacking her much larger wardrobe. Belle allowed me to worship her in the manner all catlike creatures deserved for a few minutes while Misty and I chatted. I eventually grew bored, however, and excused myself to go poking through my study space in the living room.

  Really, this was sure to be my area of zen the way Misty was currently finding nirvana in her walk-in closet. Books were like the first wonder of the world as far as I was concerned. Normally I had to content myself with those I could check out from the school or public library, augmented by the ebooks I saved enough money from babysitting jobs to buy. Imagine enough disposable income to purchase entire shelves of books like most Academy students apparently could, judging by the empty spaces left on both bookshelves!

  I examined the book spines on the occupied shelves next to my desk. They all appeared to be study guides and companion books for the most popular freshman course offerings from the catalog we’d been sent in the mail. We were required to take certain courses our first semester but had been able to choose two electives each. Apparently we’d get to choose more electives the farther along in our academic careers we progressed. Something I was already looking forward to, and we hadn’t even started our first day yet.

  Overachiever, thy name is Crystal Gibbs!

  Something that had gotten me ridiculed by more than one person at Gloaming High. Not that I’d let it stop me from doing what I damned well pleased. Given that my family and my twin loved me just the way I was, who cared what a bunch of random rich-witch snobs thought about me? That thought had me sticking my tongue out at the imaginary figures of the students who’d teased me the most in my old life. Then I forced them out of sight, out of mind. This was the first day of our new lives and I was not going to let them take up any more mental space.

  It didn’t take long to scan all of the titles and select one of the books for a little bedtime reading. My gaze fell upon the sleek laptop sitting on the black lacquered desk next to my bookshelf. I settled into the purple office chair, sighing at how it perfectly conformed to my butt. It legit felt like sitting on a cloud.

  Jeez, rich people have no idea how good they have it!

  Understatement of the century. We could have solved world hunger across all the realms if our rich-witch bureaucrats directed even a portion of their resources toward that issue.

  I shook my head and flipped the laptop open, eager to play with it since I’d only used tenth-hand models checked out from school before. A security prompt requested my ID for confirmation, so I held it up for scanning and then prepared to have some fun. Only to find myself staring in horror at the saved document that immediately popped up on the screen addressed to the name that nobody except my parents, siblings, and our mystery benefactor were supposed to know. Cressida Gallanos of the Gloaming

  Chapter 5

  Oh shit. If anybody else knows who we are, we are so screwed. And we hadn’t even made it to the first day of school yet...

  I bit back a more vocal curse, not wanting to be that girl who freaked out easily and also because I didn’t want to scare Misty unless it were absolutely necessary. Of course I was going to show her the letter waiting on my screen—odds were since this was addressed only to me, she’d have one waiting on her own laptop. I decided to read through my letter first and figure out how much to hyperventilate second.

  My dearest girl, I hope you’ll allow me to address you as familiarly as I would were we active participants in each other’s lives as should have been the case these last 18 years. Forgive me for not yet revealing my identity to you; that would be far too dangerous for us both in the event someone comes across these letters. Just know that I was once close to both your birth parents and a staunch enemy of she who murdered your mother and ensnared your father.

  I know that asking you to take this on faith given the danger that faces both you and your sister is an awfully large request. Hopefully the aid that I provide you over the next few months of your first term at the Academy will help build trust between us. Because it is going to take all of our cooperation and ingenuity to navigate your time here. Make no mistake, one wrong move too soon, and your stepmother will see us all dead.

  Now that I’ve spoken of the doom and gloom, let me speak of the hope. I am both highly placed in witch society and highly regarded by those who run this Academy. We have other allies, as well, those who have dedicated their lives to freeing the Gloaming from the tyranny that currently has our beloved realm in a choke hold. A few of them are placed within the Academy itself, and they will help keep watch over you both. For now they shall stay in the shadows; but they shall reveal themselves to you if ever that proves necessary for your safety.

  In the event that the worst happens and you find yourselves discovered, you need only reveal your ID and speak these words to the stalwart knight who guards the path to your home sweet home. “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi; you’re my only hope.”

  Likewise, should one of my allies need to approach you directly, you will know them by the fact they will similarly speak a line from your favorite childhood movie.

  Until I send words to you again (most likely via the same means you found this missive), study hard, learn well, and trust no one completely except your sister. Not even whatever allies I send to your side. The wicked witch has spies everywhere, and even the most noble of souls has a price or a pressure point they can’t refuse.

  Something I learned far too painfully far too late to save your mother. May the deities rest her soul...

  The telltale sigil of a silver hawk with blue eyes clutching a red serpent in its beak should have settled my fears, since it supposedly meant the letter was from our mystery benefactor. But the stakes were so high that it barely reassured me.

  I reread the letter twice, pulse picking up speed with each pass, before I stumbled into Misty’s bedroom. She’d finally finished unpacking her clothes and was now fine-tuning her closet for optimal organization of everything by color order, since that was the only way she could ever keep track of everything. Her eyebrows rose when she saw me nearly tripping over my own feet.

  “What’s up, Crys? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  That statement had me wincing, because it seemed like this mystery benefactor truly was a specter from our past. Hopefully one we could trust, but it was far too early to judge that for sure. I wrapped both arms across my chest to help warm my suddenly cold flesh.

  “I found another letter addressed to our alter egos.”

  That’s how we’d decided to refer to our long-ago identities that neither of us could even remember.

  Misty’s back immediately stiffened, and the shadowy magenta nimbus that indicated she had begun to siphon magic through her link with Belle surrounded her head like a halo. No wonder mortals had once mistaken witches for angels. Well, those who hadn’t wanted to burn us at the stake.

  She shook her head as common sense overtook instinct and released the magical energy. After following me back to my desk to read the letter silently (because no way were we going to risk speaking those dangerous words out loud), Misty stalked over to boot up her own laptop. Sure enough, a similar letter stared out at us. We exchanged a poignant look. On the one hand, hearing that our mystery benefactor would be here to help protect
us seemed nice on the surface. But what if this person were secretly enemy rather than ally?

  I read Misty’s letter over her shoulder, and my inner speed reader let me finish first. It was almost word-for-word the same as mine, except it offered a second option for emergency help: Something that didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. “Approach a slice of the Infernal, scan your ID, and speak these words: Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to take back the child you have stolen.”

  I frowned. “I recognize those words as a partial paraphrase of a quote from the movie Labyrinth, but I don’t know what the rest of that means.”

  Misty pursed her lips. “I assume that we’ll understand this once we explore the campus a little more.”

  I squeezed her hand and then dropped it, moving to plop down on my chair. “Yeah, probably. It would be smart to offer multiple escape routes in case we are cut off from one.”

  “Although two still seems like a billion too few when you think about the woman who’s our archenemy.”

  We shivered at that terrible but true statement.

  She tapped her screen with a perfectly-manicured fingernail currently a brilliant purple shade that not-so-coincidentally matched the Artemis House purple. “No way I’m comfortable leaving this on my computer. Do we just delete these?”

  I stared at my own letter thoughtfully. “We burned the original letters to make sure they were permanently unreadable, but somehow I don’t think we would get away with burning our Academy-provided laptops.”

  Laughter escaped her lips despite the grimness of our topic. Something that had me giving my own cheeky little grin. “Probably not,” she drawled. “But you bring up a good point. Is just deleting these good enough? Couldn’t a really good forensics mage or even just a decent magical hacker still get at them if they really wanted to?”