Chapter Thirty - Basic Magic
CHAPTER THIRTY
Basic Magic
FROM MY SEAT in the back of the Basic Magic class, I stared out at the windows beside me. Blythe sat flipping back and forth through the class textbook while I was still trying to catch up on writing down the notes from the board. This weekend was so fast for it to really sink in, but that changed when seeing my uncle struggle to fit into a life that he had to leave. It made me furious.
Nick spent the class in full professor mode, discussing air and water magic and their uses. The words kind of became a blur until he would stop and catch my eye from across the class. He’d linger with a hard stare before moving on.
My hand scrawled quickly in my notebook. I wanted to know more about the council. We barely made it out of the graveyard. In comparison to Nick and the council’s magic this weekend, I knew I needed to know more to protect myself and to be able to stay here and feel safe. This was my home once, I didn’t want to leave it again. I needed to focus, to finish out my training like my parents wanted, while figuring out how to out the council who were stealing power.
Those dark eyes landed on me again. Sometimes it made me wonder if he was just checking that I was okay. He fixed his tie and continued speaking to the class. He looked good—perfect, really. A fitted button-up stretched across his shoulders. His hair was just barely messed up, like he ran his hand through it without paying attention. I knew he didn’t want more, so my gaze dropped.
I turned to Blythe. “What page are we on?”
She shook her head. “Chapter nine? I gave up. Did you see this notice that went out to our phones this morning?”
“No, I didn’t have a chance. I was in a bit of a rush.”
“Same,” she said, staring at her phone resting on her book. “But I’ve never seen anything like this before. With those cases of increased shadow users and arrests, they are putting a curfew on students and around council buildings. Deimos is close to one of the buildings, it’s probably included. Apparently, students need to be on campus by 8 p.m. They’re saying if you want to leave on weekends, you have to sign out. A specific barrier will alert the staff if someone crosses it without permission. Failure can get you expelled or fined, along with getting questioned by the army. They said the dark magic users are going after students learning their powers and that it should be temporary. ”
“All academies in the Realm?” I asked, feeling nervous, like they might have pinpointed that I was a student here—but Nick had assured me it didn’t look like it.
“All of them,” she said. I tried speaking casually while my throat felt tighter. “That’s pretty strict. Sounds like they want to track everyone’s movement.”
Blythe shrugged, placing her phone in her bag. “I think it’s better than having someone use mind control or rip you apart with shadow magic.”
I only stared at her, unsure of what to say.
“People get power hungry, and if they’re approaching young adults coming into their magic, who knows what they’re preparing for? If shadow magic wasn’t serious, they wouldn’t be locking people up for it. Don’t worry though, this is one of the safest places to be, and student services will bring us anything we need.”
“Yeah… I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I said.
We cleared our desks to get ready to practice more with water. For the second half of some of the Basic Magic classes, we would sometimes walk out to the field, but most of the time, it was focused on control and keeping it confined. Water was one of the easier ones where students often showed off, and the class would get louder with conversation.
“Get out of the splash zone, Ruby,” said Christina, who still sat right in front of Blythe.
The comment was because one time I accidentally dropped our contained water orbs and it splashed on the desk. Mr. Ares—Nick—dried it up and told me to try again. Since then, I had been practicing much more with ice, water was feeling so much easier. Blythe copied me with water, getting the hang of it quickly.
Hearing Caleb’s name had me halfway paying attention. It wasn’t hard to listen because Christina wasn’t quiet about her conversation. She mentioned how she slept late because he was texting her, and I tried to not care about it. I should have known. Really, I didn’t know why I let myself care in the first place. I liked our connection, it was what I needed when I got here. I didn’t know why I’d been surprised when he had been honest with me about her.
“So, you’re back together now?” asked Ruby.
“We will be. He’s just focused on his training,” Christina said, looking back. I nearly cursed when she smiled, catching me looking.
At the end of class, my eyes flicked up in a double take while I walked from the back of the room. Nick’s eyes met mine, so glacial and distant. There was something so tortured, so hidden within that hard look. It made me wonder how much of what he saw and found out over the weekend affected him, too.
“Professor,” I said when passing his desk, ignoring the way his eyes narrowed, but then something snapped in his features.
That ice broke and his stare turned heated. Only for a split second did the rest of the room fall away. I almost wanted to stay after class and call his bluff about everything that look promised. A hot flush formed over my body, I didn’t let my face reflect anything. I didn’t know how to feel after hearing his non-answer about killing them all. He clearly didn’t want to involve me for whatever reason—but I was already involved .
He didn’t want to be with me, and with the year I was having here, I didn’t want to be a part of his loss of control only to feel the cold ice afterward. Turning, I headed out toward Herbology.
The lunchroom had emptied out after the rush. We huddled with our bags and trays at the end of one of the longer tables. Levi sat beside me, mindlessly eating while consumed with whoever he was texting.
Blythe adjusted a scarf around her neck after getting back from grabbing the hat Levi got her for her birthday from her room. “Fall is so cold in this part of the Realm. In winter, my parents would take me to the southwestern part, where it’s slightly warmer and sunnier. That’s where I want to live. We spent most winters there, but this year I’ll be staying at Ares-Valentine.” “We should take a trip there. I’d like to see more of the Realm,” I said.
“Oh, definitely. I’ve put it aside for now, but I’ve been working to become a clothing designer. My parents wouldn’t agree to fund it unless I finished at the Academy. They have some old buildings in the family all over the place, but there is one that is so unique that I want. I know I could bring life back into the whole strip of shops there if I leased them out. With my touch, it could be better than Deimos. You know, your parents used to have a vacation home there too, but I believe it was sold. Maybe you’ve been there before. ”
“Did they have a home around here?” I asked her, having been wondering about it recently and trying to remember where they lived. I was sure it was on some documents somewhere, but I didn’t know where to look. Overwhelming my uncle with these questions after everything I brought up the other day felt like too much.
She frowned, pushing her food around on her tray. “Um, yeah, not too far from where my parents live. They pointed it out sometimes when I was a kid. I think it was sold or maybe taken for investigation. I can’t remember. I can ask about it.”
“Thank you. I can ask my uncle later, too.”
The end of our table rattled as a group bumped into it while passing. My hand reached out and helped Blythe catch her tray when it nearly fell onto her, my tray was stopped by my arm resting on the table.
I looked back to see Christina and Ruby walking away in the group, loudly laughing to themselves in conversation.
Levi looked up from his phone. “Unnecessary,” he murmured, shaking his head in their direction.
He turned his head. I followed where his gaze trailed to see Trevor glaring at us, but it wasn’t actually at us, it was at Levi. I wondered if the looks he gave him this year weren’t so filled with anger toward Levi, but maybe toward not feeling able to open up about his situation. Trevor stood abruptly from where he sat with Caleb, walking across the dining hall until he met up with Professor Douglas. They headed out the doors, toward the aura tower.
Caleb left the table and headed back to the lunch buffet, grabbing another drink. He tossed me a smile when he caught me looking, then focused on his phone again.
I quickly downed the rest of my drink, caught off guard by the distinct, warm spice taste. That was not what was in my cup before. This tasted like ginger, except bitter and slightly sweet.
A fire potion—a strong one, if I remembered right from Herbology.
That taste coated my mouth and the back of my throat. I could already feel the magic coursing through me like the fear racing in my veins.
“Hey, you alright?” Blythe asked, touching my arm. In my panic, I could see her touching me but was unable to feel it.
Levi sat up and leaned over the table. “Yeah, you just turned pale.”
Magic danced in my palms, eager to be let out. My eyes darted between them. The fear tightened around me, thick and suffocating. My heart raced. I didn’t feel like I had words to respond or just couldn’t use them. The fire magic swelled within me, an inferno ready to be released.
I looked back to find Christina didn’t leave on her way out. She stood by the door, blowing me a kiss from across the room. She had seen me struggling with fire in basic magic. Had she seen me throwing the potions away in Herbology? But this was more, this was such a strong potion. Fire was always her go-to, even at the lake party.
My thoughts became a whirlwind, and the walls felt like they were spinning. She knew I didn’t have control over it, she’d seen too much. She waved as if she were saying bye. My hands itched with the fire just under my skin. I could practically feel the burn over my scars like they just happened.
It wasn’t fire , I told myself. It wasn’t fire. It was light that burned me. Instinctively, I wanted to use shadows to protect myself like before. I looked over at Blythe, at her concerned look. No, I couldn’t use anything. If my magic were out, it’d be fire anyway.
Standing, I took my tray over to the bins, shaking as I tried to calm myself down and look normal. Water formed under my feet that wasn’t there before.
My foot slipped—the tray went flying.
My hands hit the tile, and flames erupted from my palms in a burst in front of me. All I could see was fire, dancing in my vision, matching the flames that took my parents, matching the flames that were in the lanterns at the graveyard.
“Whoa,” Caleb’s voice called over. I could hear him and Blythe trying to put it out with water.
Christina laughed loudly from another direction. “Perhaps she needs to leave the academy for one-on-one training.”
Students rushed for the exit, shouting, and becoming a blur over the wave of fire surrounding me in a near circle.
Suddenly, I was there again. All the voices calling around me, exactly like the screaming voices in the building. The fire roared to the ceiling. I could feel Nick Ares before being able to see him. He ran to me, shielding himself as he got close from behind me.
Nick’s fingers curled around my hand in a firm grip. His power blended with mine. It was like static, storm clouds on a summer night. Threatening and exciting, but also calm, like moments before the rain started. It mixed with my magic, accepting it as a feeling that was so similar to my own. He didn’t do anything, he didn’t make the fire go away. It was like he was waiting for me to do it.
I had to. I could do it—I needed to.
Levi called out to me. He and Blythe were both standing, blocked in front of me by the raging wall of fire. Levi made a cup with his hand mimicking the sticky potion he made. I thought about the vines coating around the fire, the control I used to reduce my own magic in my palm, and the way my magic protected me this weekend.
Blythe kept trying to put water on the fire. It was too much, still pouring from my hands on the floor as the potion roared through me, mixed with pounding fear.
Nick’s magic wrapped around my palm. The potion effects started to calm in my body. It was like the magic knew my will and dampened it somehow, like maybe he was sharing and taking the effects from me.
The fear didn’t leave, but my desire was stronger. I lifted my hand, and he pulled away. Once the effects lessened just enough, I took a deep breath, feeling everything inside me.
All the fire ceased.
All of it was gone, even the smoke dissipated. There was still a massive burn on the floor. Spinning on my heel, my eyes locked on Christina with a glare. Her mouth dropped open. I ignored the word freak being tossed around again.
Turning to Nick, my brow furrowed deeper. What was that? It was more advanced magic than I knew, but so unlike anything I felt before .
His lips parted, and he took several steps backward. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, his eyes wide, and he left out the door.