Chapter Six
The building that stood before Orion and me was made out of midnight-blue bricks, with gold lettering that spelled THE WANDERING WORDS LIbrARY.
The doorway was arched and a pale-purple colour – it was an entirely beautiful mystical building and usually one of my favourite places to be.
Normally, though, I wasn’t trudging up its steps with a know-it-all dragon shifter at my back.
As Orion and I passed by the foyer, my head tilted upwards to scan the ceiling that was held up by dark wooden beams. Lamps lit by eternal dragon-fire hung down, like a million tiny stars.
‘Hey, Maya.’
I turned my head to the right to see a guy manning the front desk of the library.
Rowan Hale.
Every town has a bad boy. It’s like a must-have.
And Rowan was Maple Falls’ resident troublemaker.
He’s a werewolf, the same age as my sister, and part of the long lineage of caretakers for the library.
His grandfather had been looking after the library for most of our lives, and everyone knew he had expected Rowan to take over once he graduated.
But no, our town bad boy stayed exactly where he was – manning the library desk, part-time, and spending the rest of the time terrorizing the town with his enchanted motorcycle, throwing wild parties late into the night and graffitiing different buildings.
If there’s a hint of trouble in Maple Falls, you’d likely find Rowan right at the centre of it.
But, today, Rowan looked like he wasn’t trying to stir up any trouble.
He was resting on his forearms, holding a worn-out paperback in one hand, wearing a light-grey T-shirt, dark-blue jeans and several multi-coloured thread bracelets around one wrist. His face was all sharp angles, with a perpetual pouty mouth and eyes that were the same shade as dark-chocolate brownies.
‘Hi, Rowan,’ I replied as we approached the front desk to scan our library cards.
Orion swiped first, giving Rowan a brief nod, before turning away and walking down the shelves.
I felt a flash of irritation that he’d just expect me to follow him.
With a huff, I scanned my card, but before I could head off in the same direction, Rowan’s voice stopped me.
‘Maya.’ I paused, looking over my shoulder. ‘Tell your sister I said hi, would you?’ Rowan said, with a lazy grin on his mouth – the kind that spelled trouble.
I waited for him to elaborate, to explain why my older sister, perfectionist-to-her-core, mum-friend extraordinaire and all-round stellar witch, would be hanging out with the likes of him.
But Rowan didn’t say anything else, so I tucked away this interaction to examine later.
Rani was going to have to explain a lot on our next phone call.
I found Orion in the cookbook section, sat at a round table. As I took a seat opposite him, he pulled out a whiteboard and some pens from his backpack and wrote down a spell.
Amore transfige et cor meum liga, Cupido, quaeso, figam tuam reperi.
The spell I cast that got us here.
Orion leaned back in his chair, and I couldn’t help but notice that he had his sleeves pushed up. I felt my eyes tracing over his forearms and dropping away just as quickly before he could notice.
Get a grip, they’re just arms. Lots of people have them!
‘Recite the spell you cast on the cookies,’ Orion commanded, unaware of my brief lapse in sanity.
The curtness of his tone made me bristle. ‘Are we role-playing your fantasy of being a dictator?’ I snapped, feeling a flush rise under my skin.
‘Bold of you to think you know my fantasies, Reverie,’ Orion retorted, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
The flush rose higher to my cheeks.
His grin widened at my lack of response. ‘Now, can you please recite the spell you cast on the cookies.’
‘I didn’t say the spell in Latin. I translated it – so that night, I said “To pierce with love and bind my heart, Cupido please land your mark.”’ I recited the translation perfectly. I would likely never forget the spell that had created this whole mess.
‘That’s where you went wrong – the translation is incorrect. The right translation is: “To pierce with love and bind my heart, Cupido please find your mark.”’ And then with perfect pronunciation, he added the Latin version. ‘Amore transfige et cor meum liga, Cupido, quaeso, figam tuam reperi.’
‘Find your mark,’ I echoed, and it clicked in my head once I said it aloud. ‘Like finding your soulmate.’
‘Exactly. It’s a minor thing, but Latin spells are finicky like that,’ Orion said with a self-satisfied note in his voice.
I slumped back in my chair as disbelief took hold of me. One word. One word and I wouldn’t be in this mess right now.
A disaster waiting to happen.
Was that all I was? Was that all I was ever going to be – one step away from getting it right but always getting it wrong instead?
‘To counter the spell you’ve cast, you’ll just have to cast the correct spell under the autumn moon, find your soulmate and share a kiss,’ Orion continued, briskly. This time, there was no sign of any emotion on his face. He just sounded like his usual self – irritated to be dealing with this.
‘Right. Easy,’ I muttered, feeling a headache coming on.
I heard Orion’s slight intake of breath before he spoke again. ‘I know spellcasting isn’t easy for you per se, so I was thinking – every lesson we have will focus on a skill that will make casting the counterspell easier.’ His tone was gruff, but it was clear he was trying to be gentle with me.
‘You don’t have to talk to me like I’m an idiot,’ I retorted, feeling that fist of embarrassment close around my chest again. Sure, I knew I wasn’t much good at spellcasting, but the last thing I needed was an assessment on my abilities.
Orion’s head tilted to one side as he observed me. ‘I never said you were. But we need to make sure you can cast the spell perfectly when the time comes.’
‘Right,’ I said, jaw clenched at his logic. Was there ever a time when he wasn’t so infuriatingly practical and pragmatic. ‘Good thing I’ve been a witch for my entire life. What should we start with?’
It was stupid. I knew it was stupid. I should’ve just said I needed the help, that I wasn’t as confident as I was trying to make myself sound. But that would mean admitting a weakness to Orion, and I couldn’t stand doing that.
He stood and pulled off one of the cookbooks from the shelf. ‘This spell requires calling your soulmate to you. So, let’s go back and practise some basic summoning spells. Like this – cast a spell on this book and get it to move from my hands to yours.’
I tried to calm my nerves. Over the years, I’d had teachers give me all sorts of advice.
Breathe in deeply before casting, envision a calming river meandering through your body, think of your magic like honey pouring out of a jar.
But my magic has always felt like a buzz of energy under my skin; warmth flooding within me.
It never felt controllable or contained. It felt like it was everywhere.
‘Paper and ink, don’t dawdle,’ I began, and my magic erupted beneath my skin like goosebumps.
I kept my gaze sharp on the book – trying to focus my magic on it worked for a moment – but then I felt myself drift.
I thought I could feel the press of eyes watching me, judging me, and then I couldn’t stop thinking about how all of this could go wrong.
My thoughts had slipped so far that I barely heard myself finish the spell. ‘Come to me at full throttle.’
The book in Orion’s hand didn’t shift. But the book behind his head did. Quite violently. The corner of the hardback clipped the dragon shifter on the back of his head before thudding on to the table right in front of me. I launched out of my seat without thinking, reaching for him.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I said, rubbing the back of his head. His hair was soft, the curls filling the spaces between my fingers.
‘I’m fine,’ Orion said softly, glancing down at me.
It took me a moment to register what I was doing. I dropped my hand like it was burning, and my cheeks were flushed a bright red.
I braced myself, waiting for him to lose it at me – to yell at my total lack of control over my magic.
‘So, at what point did you stop thinking about the spell?’ Orion asked simply, and my gaze lifted from the floor to meet his.
I stared at him, swallowing tightly. ‘How did you know that?’
He looked at me like it was obvious. ‘I saw it in your eyes – one minute you were completely focused, and then you got this faraway look in your eyes. So, what was it that distracted you?’
I was silenced by his easy analysis.
‘Were you thinking about this guy you claim is your soulmate?’ Orion asked, eyebrow raised and a new sharpness in his tone that made me feel like I’d done something wrong. There was the Orion I knew so well.
My cheeks went hot. ‘No, it’s just – I – well – I didn’t think you were watching me so closely.’
His gaze narrowed. ‘Did you think I wasn’t going to take this seriously, Reverie? It’s my responsibility to help you fix this curse. So, if you weren’t daydreaming, what was it?’
‘I don’t know. I just started getting overwhelmed,’ I said, deciding to be truthful. ‘All I could think about was everything that could go wrong.’
Orion hummed thoughtfully and moved to take the seat opposite me again, drumming his fingers on the table.
On the top side of his palm, silver dragon scales erupted and fell with the motion.
The sight of him bringing his dragon side forward so effortlessly made me inexplicably warm. His control was … impressive.
‘All right, let’s try something,’ he said suddenly, and raised a hand. ‘Cast a spell all around, a bubble of quiet and no sound.’
It happened like a lightning bolt in the sky; one moment, I could hear every creak, every whistle, every whisper of the library, and then I couldn’t. The world around me turned to a hush, and, when I looked around, everything in my line of sight was blurred. The only thing in focus was Orion.