by L. C. Mawson
“It was never just that.” She sighed. “I know that you have no reason to believe me, but I would have wanted to help you even if I didn’t need your help in freeing my coven. I mean, I’m helping you now, aren’t I? I know that you probably won’t believe me but lying to you before was exhausting. I thought that it was the only way, that no one would ever trust Maria Brown enough to help her...”
“Esme trusted you.”
Maria folded her arms. “Well, I guess I didn’t give her enough of a chance. Maybe things would have been different if I had. But we are where we are... And there is no reason for me to lie anymore, so I’m not going to put myself through the effort.
“So, I’m not lying when I say that I would have helped you before, regardless of whether or not you could help me free my sisters. You’re like me, Amelia, and I would never want you to go through the things that I did.”
I frowned. “So, what? You don’t want me to be like you?”
She shrugged. “Amelia, I’m a bitter old woman forged in centuries of pain. No one should be like me if they can avoid it.”
Charlotte put the book down and turned to us. “Okay. I think I have the process memorised.”
Maria nodded. “Then I guess we should use the time we have left here to teach the two of you instinctive magic.” She turned to Charlotte. “Have you had any progress with it since we last spoke?”
She shook her head. “No, I feel like I’m close, but...”
“Well, it is essentially just spell composition done very quickly, and you’ve already shown great skill there. If I had to guess, you’re second-guessing yourself, and that is something that we can work on.” Maria smiled. “You’re both powerful, so if you both can crack it, the Amazons will be hard pressed to fail you, no matter their plans. Come on, I’ll run you through some basics.”
I GROANED AS I AWOKE, not really feeling as if I’d gotten much sleep, but glad for the time we’d spent training.
“I did it,” Charlotte said as we awoke. “Did you see that? I actually used instinctive magic.”
I smiled. She’d cast a small spell, just as I had the day before, but she was right. She’d done it.
“After so long, I finally managed it... I can see why you were so willing to take the risk of asking for her help.”
I nodded, but didn’t answer, frowning at the floor.
Charlotte got up from Natalie’s bed and sat beside me on mine. “I heard what she said to you when I was reading the book. Do you believe her? About wanting to help us without an ulterior motive.”
“I’m not sure. Did you?”
“I’m not sure, either. But maybe that doesn’t matter for now. As long as she’s helping us, trust doesn’t have to come into it.”
“Assuming that this listening device of hers is legit.”
Charlotte smiled. “In all honesty, I think that’s why she gave it to me. It’s advanced, but not completely beyond me. She tricked you before because you didn’t know enough about magic to know what she was doing. I know enough to know that this device isn’t dangerous.”
She pulled out her phone.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Texting Lena so that she can get the parts I need to make this device.”
I nodded before standing up. “Then I’ll go and get dressed.”
I made my way to the bathroom and quickly hopped in the shower before getting changed.
When I got back out, Lena and Natalie were entering the room, with plates of food and a bag that rattled with what sounded like small bits of metal.
Lena passed one of the plates to Charlotte. “You didn’t eat last night.”
“Oh... Yeah, I guess I forgot.”
Lena shook her head. “Where would you be without me?”
“Half-starved, probably.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m here.”
Natalie passed a plate to me. “And I’m guessing that if Charlotte didn’t eat, you didn’t either.”
I shrugged, giving her a sheepish smile. “I get a little nauseous when I’m stressed.”
“You need to keep your energy up for these trials. And doesn’t your ADHD medication work better with food?”
“I know. I just forgot...”
Lena shook her head. “You two are as bad as each other.” She then turned to Charlotte, who had a bacon sandwich in one hand and was sorting through tiny metal gears and screws with the other. “What are you doing?”
“Building a listening device to record the Amazons talking about sabotaging Amelia’s final trial.”
“Won’t they detect it?”
“No, it’s designed to be cloaked.”
Natalie frowned. “But how are you going to get it to where it needs to be? I mean, the Amazons have their own rooms just off the training grounds, and they’re warded tight.”
I shrugged between bites of my avocado and egg sandwich. “Maybe we can ask Sarah to plant it for us.”
ONCE CHARLOTTE HAD finished the device, and gotten dressed herself, we made our way to the infirmary.
Sarah frowned as soon as she saw us. “Girls, do you need something?”
I nodded. “We’ve figured out a way to gather more evidence on the Amazons. I know Esme said that catching them sabotaging my trial would be enough, but if we catch them planning beforehand instead, we can stop them from interfering at all.”
“Okay. What’s your plan?”
Charlotte pulled the listening device from her pocket. “We have this device. It will record any mention of Amelia’s trial across the building it’s placed in. But the Amazon rooms are warded, so we were hoping that you could place it for us.”
Sarah took the device and examined it for a moment, before frowning once more.
“This design... I recognise some of it. How the hell did you two get a device from Maria Brown?”
I cringed. “Um... Esme knows,” I said, not wanting to admit the details given the way Sarah was glaring at the device. “And it doesn’t matter. What matters is that it will work?”
“Like the device you planted in Aaron’s room worked?” She shook her head. “You cannot be so foolish as to trust Maria Brown again.”
“What other option do we have? You know as much as we do that Esme’s plan might not work. What happens then?”
“Then we will figure things out from there. But I am not planting a device made by Maria Brown among the Amazons. For all we know, it could be a bomb.”
She took out her wand and muttered an incantation as she pointed it at the device.
It fell apart in her hand.
“I have no idea how you got this past the school wards, but if you attempt to bring another of Maria Brown’s contraptions here, I will tell Gail. Do not test me on this, Amelia. This is dangerous in ways that are clearly beyond your understanding.”
She turned her back on us and I stormed out of the room, seeing that nothing I said was going to change her mind.
Charlotte jogged to catch up with me and only spoke once we were a decent way away from the infirmary.
“She said not to bring another contraption through the wards,” Charlotte said. “But we didn’t. I built it. And she didn’t say not to build another one.”
I turned to her, Sarah’s warnings making me hesitate. “And you’re definitely sure that it is just a listening device? That Sarah wasn’t right to get rid of it.”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay, then let’s make another one. We’ll figure out how to plant it later.”
Chapter Eighteen
While Charlotte crafted another device, I paced up and down my room, trying to figure out how we were going to get it past the Amazons’ wards.
The best way would still be to get an Amazon to take it through.
Every other avenue left too many ways for us to be caught.
Even if we got past the wards, we might leave traces for people looking for them.
But that left us with the problem that th
e only two friendly Amazons were Esme and Sarah.
Sarah had already told us no, and she’d be watching us carefully now.
Which left Esme.
I bit my lip. I supposed we could just ask her to take the device.
After all, she was just as wary of the rest of the Amazons as us, and she trusted Maria in a way that Sarah clearly didn’t.
But what if she said no as well? She’d already said that she thought that catching the other Amazons in their act of sabotage would be enough.
What if she didn’t think it would be worth the risk?
Then she would be on high alert as well, and we’d be all out of Amazons to deliver the device.
No, Esme would have to deliver it without knowing that she was delivering it.
I could stick it to her with a spell and have it drop off when I needed it to.
But I didn’t know a spell for that.
And I didn’t have time to find one.
But... If I could use instinctive magic...
I suppressed a groan. I had progressed in the complexity of spells I could cast with instinctive magic the night before, but this would be the most complex spell yet.
What if it didn’t work?
“I’m done,” Charlotte said, and I nodded.
I didn’t have time to think about failure.
This had to work.
I fuelled my determination and worry into the spell, allowing the feelings to flow through my wand, directing my hand as I cast the spell.
“What was that?” Charlotte asked once I cast it.
“Hopefully something that will help it get past the wards if it catches a ride.” I picked up the device. “All I have to do now is get it close to an Amazon. Come on, we’ll be late if we don’t hurry.”
THE DEVICE WEIGHED heavily in my pocket as we got changed.
I tried not to look too conspicuous as I moved it over from my uniform to my Amazon armour, not wanting to draw attention to it.
Thankfully, no one seemed to notice, and Charlotte and I made it out to the training grounds with no trouble.
“Good morning, girls,” Dana greeted as we all arrived. There were just a handful of girls now. Less than ten, though I didn’t stop to count the exact number.
“We’ll be testing you on your ability to quickly dismantle a complex spell today. Practice accordingly.”
I turned to Charlotte. “Got any ideas on where to start?”
“Why bother?”
I groaned at the familiar, sneering voice but refused to turn to look at Lauren.
“You’re just wasting your time here now.”
I turned to her with a sigh. “Are you done?”
She glared at me, but thankfully stormed off in the other direction.
I turned back to Charlotte to see her frowning.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
“Just... I’m worried. Even if we manage to stop whatever the Amazons are planning, Lauren already got Willow and Natalie kicked out. Now that you’ve pissed her off, I wouldn’t be shocked if she turned that attention towards you.”
“Lauren is the smaller problem. We can deal with her later. For now, let’s focus on the actual Amazons.”
Charlotte nodded as Esme walked over to us.
“Sarah told me about this morning,” she said as she cast a privacy spell. “Amelia, when I said to give Maria a chance, I didn’t mean to help her sneak something past the school’s wards. This connection of yours is only safe as long as you remain physically distant from her.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just... I’m worried about the final trial.”
“I know, but we know that they’re going to try to sabotage you now, which means that we can expose them. Don’t worry, they won’t get away with this.”
I nodded, though I didn’t buy it.
“Speaking of the trials,” I said, “Charlotte was just showing me a spell, but I’m not sure that I’m getting the hand movements right.”
“Okay, well, let me see.”
I brought out my wand and moved my hand as if to cast the first spell vaguely related to the day’s trial that came to mind, deliberately keeping my wrist bent.
“Ah yes, I think I see,” Esme said, making her way over to my side so that she could see the wand from my angle.
I took my device in my free hand before pressing it lightly against a thicker part of her armour.
Once on, it cloaked itself, turning invisible to both sight and magic.
“So, follow me,” Esme said, oblivious to the device, as she moved her hand in the correct way.
I followed along and she grinned.
“There you go, that wasn’t too hard in the end, was it? Though that kind of sensing spell is only half the battle. Once you know the spell that you have to disarm, you’ll need to be able to safely pull it apart.”
I nodded. “I know. Go from the edges and deactivate the Energy source last.”
She smiled. “Well, it seems you do know what you’re doing. But if you need further help, feel free to ask.”
“I will,” I said as she walked off.
I turned to Charlotte, expecting her to share my relief, but she was looking over my shoulder with a worried frown.
I followed her gaze to see Lauren storming up to us.
“I saw what you did there,” she said with a smug sneer. “What was it that you planted on Esme? You know, if the rest of the Amazons find out, they’ll have you kicked out.”
My blood chilled at the gleam in her eye.
I was under no illusions that Lauren had every intention of telling the Amazons.
And nothing I said would sway her.
No, she was just here to toy with me before she did it.
Before she ruined my life forever.
I gripped my wand, and before I knew what I was doing, I pulled on my magic, channelling my fear and rage into a curse.
I pointed my wand at her throat and a black rune appeared over her skin.
It looked like a cage.
A spell not dissimilar to the one Sarah put my mum under, but this wasn’t a spell.
No, Sarah had needed the power of the Amazons for such a complex spell.
This was simpler.
This was a curse.
And it wouldn’t be so gentle if Lauren tried to ignore it.
“What the hell did you do to me?” Lauren demanded as the spell settled.
“Made sure that you can’t say a bad word about me or my friends, including accusing us of anything.”
“You... You’re such a...”
Part of me wanted to smile at her well-deserved frustration. Part of me wanted to sigh with relief.
But I just clenched my jaw, my lips forming a tight, thin line.
I’d just cursed somebody.
I’d never cursed somebody before.
I’d had to do it. There was no way that she would have shut up otherwise, and I didn’t have the time or power to cast the spell that Sarah had on my mother.
But Sarah’s warnings about Maria were still fresh in my mind.
And even Esme hadn’t trusted her as much as I had.
But maybe I only trusted her because we were more alike than I was willing to admit...
I MANAGED TO PASS THE afternoon’s trial and headed out of the training grounds still in a daze.
I’d cursed somebody.
It hadn’t been Maria manipulating me, I had chosen to do it.
And I wasn’t sure that I wouldn’t do it again if I was placed in the same position.
“Hey.”
I looked up to see Willow approaching.
“Is something wrong? You look upset.”
I winced. The last thing I wanted was to speak my fears aloud.
What if Willow thought they were right? What if she hated me?
But I couldn’t bring myself to lie.
I quickly cast a privacy spell around us.
“I cursed Lauren,” I said, my voice coming out as barely more
than a whisper.
I expected Willow to back away.
To look at me as if I were a monster.
As if Maria Brown was just moments away from jumping out of my skin.
But she didn’t.
She just waited for me to continue.
“Lauren let slip yesterday that the Amazons were going to try to sabotage my final trial. We went to Esme and Sarah, but they were just going to wait and try to expose them during the trial. But if that didn’t work... There was too high a chance of me failing...”
“So, what did you do?” There was no judgement there, just concern, and I relaxed a little, despite what I knew the answer was.
“Casting that spell with Maria... It connected the two of us somehow. I can talk to her, so I asked her for help.” I sighed. “I still don’t know if it was a good idea, but she told Charlotte how to build a listening device that we could use to expose the Amazons before the trial. We built it, but we had to get it past the Amazon’s wards, and Sarah refused to help, so I planted it on Esme.”
“And Lauren got in the way?”
“She saw. And she was going to tell them, so I... I cursed her. So that she couldn’t tell anyone what she’d seen.”
“That’s all? So, you didn’t hurt her?”
“It’s still a curse, Willow! I went to ask Maria for help and now I’m casting curses and... What if the Amazons are right to be scared of me? What if I’m just like her?”
Willow shook her head. “This doesn’t make you like Maria, Amelia. It makes you someone capable of surviving all of this shit. And if it makes you feel better, I’ve never been in league with Maria Brown, but if I had been in your place, I would have cast that curse.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “You know, when I was younger, I never understood what my father meant when he said that sometimes it’s necessary to make a scalpel cut now to avoid an amputation later, but as I get older... I’m starting to see the kind of shit that really exists out there in the world, and I understand what he was trying to say. I thought that I could get away with never wielding a knife at all, but... Maybe that was never an option.”
She shook her head and smiled. “And this was just a minor curse, not an assassination. Really, a minor curse on a bigoted bitch like her? It’s not the worst thing anyone could do.”
