by L. C. Mawson
“Very impressive.”
I turned to Xiatyan, still grinning, as I let the fire lapse. “All thanks to your tutelage. Though... I have no idea why I’m struggling so much in the waking world. I mean, I’m getting better, but it’s nothing compared to when I’m here.”
Xiatyan gave me a reassuring smile as he stepped close. Close enough for me to feel his body heat against mine, threatening to melt my thoughts into goo.
Though, it was now just a threat. Something I could give in to if I wanted, but not something that influenced my actions.
“Magic is tied to emotion,” Xiatyan reminded me. “Great Dragons often have this effect on their lovers. We’re the embodiment of fire, which means light and energy and passion. We bring that out in the people we’re close to.” He brought a calloused hand to my cheek, his thumb slowly stroking towards my lips. “I can see that you tend to suppress that side of yourself in the waking world. Even here, you were guarded and reluctant for longer than most.”
“Well, I had to be sure that I could trust you. That takes time.”
“And I appreciate that. But I didn’t just mean that you were reluctant to let me close. I meant that you were reluctant with everything. To give voice to your wants and emotions. You bottle it up and suppress it, as if you’re afraid of what the world will do if you let it loose.”
I sighed. “Can you really blame me? I’ve never really belonged anywhere before, Xiatyan. I’ve always had to hide some part of myself. Except...”
“Except?”
“Except here. Everybody has a reason not to accept me, but you... You chose me regardless.”
“Of course, I did, Skye. It is difficult to explain, but we Great Dragons eventually gain an intuitive sense for our mates. They call to us, and you called to me. I would not doubt that over these trivial things that seem to upset others so. And I’m glad that I can provide you with a safe haven here.”
“I’m glad too,” I said as I melted into him.
I wasn’t ready to accept anything as scary as being his bride or mate yet, but I couldn’t deny that having somewhere – someone – who would never reject me, never turn away from me, was an intoxicating idea that I struggled to turn away from.
Chapter Fourteen
“So, what do you think?” I asked Lorelei as I left the bathroom, twirling my hair between my fingers. “I’m trying a different shampoo. I didn’t like that last one I picked up, but I’m not sure this one is any better.”
Lorelei just gave me a deadpan look before answering. “It’s made your hair frizzy and dry.”
I smiled. Lorelei had tried to ignore me, but over the past two weeks, I’d worn her down to talking. She always kept her responses blunt and to the point, as if that would discourage me, but after years of friendship with Elizabeth, she would have to do better than that.
I sighed letting my hair drop back down. “Yeah, I think you’re right. I either need another shampoo, or a better conditioner.”
Lorelei didn’t respond as I made my way to the door, but it was okay, I would take what improvement I could.
I paused there, waiting for her to pick up her own bag. She would wait until the last moment, but she otherwise didn’t object to walking with me.
If she wanted, she could go a different route, maybe get a coffee first, but no, she just made me wait.
Which I didn’t mind. She never waited long enough to risk being late, after all.
“So,” I said as she finally picked up her bag and joined me as we walked to class together, “I think I’ve cracked our problem with the glamour spell.”
“Oh?” she said, perking up a bit.
I grinned. I might not be able to get her to talk about shampoo, but she could never resist talking about our work. “Yeah, I did a bit of reading, and I think we need to ground the spell. I think that both of us casting it is muddying the focus. We’re trying to both be invisible, right? Well, the original spell is made for one person, and allows them to still see themselves...”
Lorelei’s features lit up as she realised where I was going. “So, when we’re both casting the spell, it’s not sure who should be able to see who. Hmm... We could simplify the spell and remove the ability for either of us to see anything.”
“We could, but glamouring yourself to be invisible is pointless if you start knocking things over because you don’t realise how close you are.”
“True. You said something about grounding the spell... You might be on to something there. I’m assuming you mean that we both cast the spell and use ourselves as vectors to ground it?”
My grin widened. “Exactly.”
“You know, I think that might work. Let’s try it.”
I continued to smile. As hard as it was to get them, I did love these moments with Lorelei. As cold as she could be, she did really care about her work. It was kind of adorable...
I pushed that thought away. The last thing I needed was to start thinking of my distant roommate as adorable when she’d been destroying my things just a couple of weeks ago.
Though, it did seem as if that was now behind us.
But even so, Lorelei seemed to barely like me, and was probably just tolerating me at the insistence of Ms Griffin and Lia. I wasn’t so starved for friends that I was going to read anything more into this and put myself in a position to get hurt.
We found ourselves at the lecture theatre before I could think on it further, and we found our seats more than easily, not needing to even glance at the name placements anymore to see where we should sit.
Lia arrived not long after us, but just expected us to get on with the work.
She’d given us several spells that we could focus on working on, and Lorelei had jumped at the glamour, and I had agreed, fairly interested in the idea of being able to disappear into my surroundings if I needed to.
Lorelei went to form the rune we needed to cast the spell, but she kept frowning, moving her water from one shape to another, all close to what we needed, but never quite accurate.
Not that I found that surprising. I’d found that I needed to write down spells to visualise them, but Lorelei seemed averse to writing anything down ever. As if she trusted her memory to be perfect at all times, despite the fact that no one’s memory could ever be that, not even my enhanced one.
I smiled, grabbing a second notebook. “Here,” I said, passing it over.
She looked at the rune I’d drawn in the notebook I’d handed her, then at the rune in the one I had. “Why do you have back-up notes?”
“Because you never take them, and I figured you might need them.”
She frowned slightly, looking me over. “You... You took a spare set of notes just in case I needed them?”
Heat rose to my cheeks as I looked away, shrugging slightly. “Well... Yeah, I guess. It’s not that big of a deal, though. It was good to practice writing the runes down.”
“I... Thanks...”
Lorelei’s voice was soft, and she struggled to meet my gaze as I turned back to her.
I had no idea what to make of that. Lorelei was never caught off-guard, always impeccably composed, but apparently, this had done it...
Before I could figure out what to say next, however, Lia came over.
“Hey, so, how are you two getting on?” she asked.
Lorelei straightened in her seat. “We were just about to try the spell again.”
“Well, by all means, go ahead.”
Lorelei moved her water into the rune, getting it right this time, and I lit the candles with my fire, careful to do so in the correct order so that I could ground the spell before I activated it.
Once the spell was activated, I looked over to Lorelei and saw that she was slightly translucent.
I turned to Lia, and from her approving smile, I figured that we appeared invisible to everyone else in the room.
After several moments, I let the spell lapse, not wanting to exhaust either myself or Lorelei.
“Impressive,” Lia
said. “Glamour spells can be tricky, but it seems that the two of you are more than capable. In fact, it seems that your ties to Nature are both particularly strong. I suppose that makes sense for you Lorelei, but Skye... Do you know of any reason why you might have a stronger connection to your element than you might expect?”
I frowned slightly, wondering why it made sense for Lorelei to be strong. Though, I supposed if Elizabeth was right and she was some kind of Atlantian nobility, her family was probably stronger than most.
Though, for me...
I just shrugged. “No, I can’t think of anything. One of my biological parents was part-Dragon, but I don’t think it’s a big part. Most of their siblings never got magic, and I don’t think anyone was sure that I would inherit their powers before I was born.”
I left out anything about being Enhanced. While Auntie Nyssa had told Ms Griffin before I’d come to the school, explaining everything about my unique situation, I doubted any of the other staff knew.
No, I doubted anyone who didn’t know me or my parents well, like Nyssa, would understand that we weren’t a threat.
That the fact that we were Enhanced didn’t mean that we were inherently a danger to magical beings.
To most, we were the scary monsters under the bed. The thing that you scared children with when you wanted them to understand how important it was that they didn’t tell Humans about magic.
We were the consequence of letting the truth out. The one thing that could actually be a threat to magical beings.
Yeah, I didn’t exactly want anyone else to know that I was Enhanced. I’d just gotten Lorelei to open up to me, I doubted that would continue if she knew the truth.
Lia just examined me carefully, and I bit the inside of my cheek. Did she know that I was hiding something? Was she going to press the issue?
But, thankfully, she just nodded. “Well, I know that you will have a Dragon mentor, but I know a thing or two about elemental magic, so if you ever need help, just let me know. That goes for you, too, Lorelei.”
Lorelei frowned. “I thought you were a Witch, not any kind of elemental being.”
“Well, we all have our secrets, don’t we?”
Lorelei just looked away at that, and I frowned. Maybe I wasn’t the only one hiding something about my past...
There was a knock at the door, and I turned to see Ms Griffin standing there, looking sombre.
“Lia,” she said as she entered the room, “may I speak to Lorelei?”
I glanced over to Lorelei and saw that every muscle in her body was tense, as if she knew that whatever Ms Griffin was going to say wouldn’t be good.
I almost reassured her, but she quickly picked up her bag and stormed out of the room before I could say anything.
“What do you think that was about?” I asked Lia once she and Ms Griffin were gone.
Lia sighed. “Probably a message from home.”
She refused to elaborate, heading over to help some other students, leaving me to wonder why a message from home would leave Lorelei looking so stricken.
I PUT LORELEI FROM my mind as I hurried to my Dragon class, excitement and nerves rushing through me in equal measure.
Every lesson, I was getting better and better. I could keep my fire going for most of the class now, and I never lost control any more.
But it came at a price.
I arrived in the class and smiled at James, who was there early, as usual.
“Hey,” I said, but he didn’t smile back. He just nodded.
I suppressed a sigh.
Any friendliness that James had shown me in the past was nowhere to be seen.
He wasn’t being mean, but he was cold.
I folded my arms tight across my chest. I hadn’t realised just how much his kindness had meant, but now it had disappeared.
I pushed that thought aside as Nyssa entered the room.
I couldn’t blame James for being cold when we both needed to win.
“Good morning,” Nyssa said before waving her hand over several glyphs on the floor.
Figures made of purple light sprung from the ground.
“Today, we’re going to see if you can put your fire to use. These figures will turn blue, and when they do, I want you to use your fire. The more damage you do against the blue figures, the more points I’ll give you. Any damage against purple figures will lose you points. Now, I’m going to step outside to avoid either of you setting me alight. Try not to harm each other, either.”
We both nodded as Nyssa stepped out of the room.
James brought his hands up and covered them in flame as the figures began to move.
I followed his lead.
When the first figure turned blue, I lashed out with my fire, almost without thinking.
I’d never done anything more than play with my fire, but a hot, thin stream lashed out like a whip, hitting the target dead between the eyes.
How did I know how to do that?
Another figure glowed blue out of the corner of my eye, and I spun faster than thought, lashing out once more, before James had the chance.
What the hell?
I tried to focus on my actions, trying to trace my muscle memory as I moved.
“Hey!”
I was bumped from my thoughts by James spinning into me.
Right, I’d been so focused on myself, I hadn’t been paying attention.
“Sorry,” I said before spotting another blue figure.
Fire not only leapt from my hands to hit it, but wrapped around it, holding it tight.
Okay, that was definitely more than I was comfortable putting down to instinct.
So, what the hell?
I frowned, focusing once more as I tried to follow my thoughts back.
Where did I know this from?
The more I focused, the more I got the sense that there was something there. Something I couldn’t remember.
A warm body pressed against my back as strong arms helped to shape my movements.
Fire blasted just past my arm, drawing me from my thoughts.
“Dammit!”
I turned to glare at James, about to yell at him to watch what he was doing.
But as I rounded on him, I saw that his eyes were wide with shock.
And his fire was gone, along with the figures.
He brought his hands up, staring at them.
“What... What the hell?” His voice was small and shaking as he stumbled back. “My magic... I can’t... I can’t feel it...”
Ice washed over me as I realised what I had done.
I’d been so desperate to focus, to not be distracted by James, I’d dampened his magic.
Aside from their genetic engineering making them faster and stronger than most Humans, the best weapon in the Enhanced’s arsenal was their ability to dampen magic.
To stop their enemies from being able to access it.
I knew that there was a theoretical chance that I’d inherited the ability, but I’d never used it before.
The door opened and Nyssa stepped through. “What happened? I felt my spells lapse.”
I turned to her with a pleading look, hoping that she could do something to help James. “I’m sorry, James’ fire got close to me and I... I think I dampened everything.”
“Ah.” Nyssa made her way over to James, placing a hand on his shoulder and moving him over to the chairs in the corner. “Don’t worry, it’s only temporary. Though, yes, I understand that it’s disconcerting.” She shuddered. “Just be thankful you’re not a shape-shifter. If I’d been in the room...”
James didn’t seem to be listening.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I really didn’t mean to.”
James turned to me, finally seeming to hear. “Skye? Why are you apologising? Did... Did you do this? How?”
I winced as I realised too late that he hadn’t realised who was to blame.
Nyssa could have told him anything – that it was some kind of safety ward on the cla
ssroom or something – but now...
Nyssa turned to him with a gentle look. “Skye might be part-Dragon, but her Human side... It’s Enhanced. She used those abilities to dampen your magic.”
He just stared at me, as if looking at a stranger. “Enhanced? But they hunted magical beings. They pretty much wiped the Guides out of existence. How could you let one of them into the school?”
Tears welled in my eyes as the small part of me that had hoped that James wouldn’t care – that his Human upbringing wouldn’t lead him to hate the Enhanced as much as magical beings often did – died a swift but agonizing death.
And if he cared...
Dammit, Naveen and Elizabeth had never cared. They’d always seen me for me.
But they were the only magical beings that knew about that part of me, and their parents had worked with mine to defeat the older Enhanced who had actually fought magical beings.
No one else would accept me, would they? Even James, who knew me, couldn’t.
If anyone else found out...
Nyssa put a calming hand on James’ shoulder, bringing his attention back to her. “Skye’s parents left that all behind long before she was born. I know this feels awful, but Skye didn’t mean it, and it will pass. Remember, I am a High Priestess and I have deemed Skye to be trustworthy. You should trust that judgement.”
James just looked away and I felt my heart split in two.
So much for friendship, he was never going to trust me again...
Hell, he probably couldn’t even stand to be in the same room as me.
And neither would anyone else when they learned the truth.
I rushed from the room. I needed someone to tell me that I wasn’t a monster. I needed to speak to one of the only people who already knew that I was Enhanced and didn’t care.
I needed to talk to Naveen.
I should have known the reaction I would get when I headed straight to the library and found him there, just like last time.
But I just needed my friend to tell me that I wasn’t a monster.
That someone wanted me here.
“Naveen?”
He didn’t look up from his work and I struggled to breathe, fire surging through me as every last bit of my focus went to keeping it controlled.
