Linus nodded after a moment. “Yes, it is.”
“Here goes nothing.” He pretended to be a block of uncarved marble while I braced my hand against his cheek. I drew the sigils as precise as possible while my hand grew numb from contact. Even his freckles appeared limned in blue. He hadn’t been this cold even a week ago. Maybe whatever was going on in town was affecting him too. And maybe the whatever was named Ambrose. “There you go. Good as new.”
Linus blinked as though waking from a long dream then unfolded his legs and strode off toward the carriage house. I used the time he was gone to text Amelie an invitation to chat before work. And yes, chat was code for listening to me gush about her brother.
“We shouldn’t leave your blood lying around.” Linus spoke from behind me, and I twisted to see he had returned with a box of matches. He tossed the handkerchief on a spot of bare dirt then struck a match, letting it ignite the fabric on contact, and my blood turned to ash. “There are enough dangerous things a person could do with anyone’s blood. Let’s not tempt them with yours.”
What a depressing thought, that I was no longer even free to bleed without it causing an incident.
“You’ll get used to having power.” Linus watched the flames. “Or maybe it’s best you never do.”
I almost asked him what that meant, but he had disappeared again. This time he returned with two heavy sweaters, two thick scarves, and two sets of plastic goggles that belonged in a high school science lab. He dropped one of each into my lap then sat and started pulling a sweater on over his head.
“I won’t lie.” I lifted the knitted weight, obviously his, and shrugged into its warmth. “I pictured you as the sweater vest type, but actual sweaters?”
“I get cold,” he said softly, and that was the end of that.
Sweating inside my woolen armor, I got back to work. I painted on the sigils to complete one entire side of the foundation before braving the clear liquid a second time. “Are you ready?”
“Remember your scarf.” He was coiling his around his throat and head in a makeshift mask he topped off with his goggles. I tried one-handed, but mine kept slipping down around my shoulders. “No, not like that.” He took the scarf and slowly bound me like a mummy then slid on my goggles. “Now do it.”
The grounding sigil blasted chips in the air that bounced off the plastic covering our eyes and stuck to the wool wrapping our heads. “Much better.”
Linus was quick to disagree with me. “This isn’t going to work.”
I felt my shoulders rolling in before I could stop them. “I did the best I could.”
“Your work is superb. That’s not the issue. We need better supplies.” He looked me dead in the eye. “This is not your fault. Understand? We’re both learning as we go.”
The tension coiling me inward released, and I regretted he held even that much sway over me. “I want to be better than I am. Faster. I want to know it all before you pack up and leave.”
“Time is never wasted when it’s spent with a student who genuinely wants to learn.”
“More teacher logic,” I joked, but it came harder with us still at odds over Ambrose.
Not for the first time, I wondered if his mother had any idea what he was teaching me. Nothing she would find useful. Nothing that would gain her prestige. And then I wondered if that wasn’t the plan, to appeal to the rebellious side of me. To feed me what I wanted in tiny bites until I could swallow the whole of what they intended for me.
“There are sigils to keep the concrete pliant,” Linus was saying. “You’ll need to paint those on using the mélange before you start sparring with Taz.”
The mention of her name forced a groan of protest from my aching muscles. “Show me.”
And he did. I hadn’t finished cleaning my brush when a boot swung at me in my peripheral vision. I tossed the brush and the solution at Linus, drenching him, and rolled away, hoping the ingredients weren’t as rare as they’d sounded. “What is your damage?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Taz was not sorry. “I forgot vampires and kidnappers always announce their presence before they attack to make sure their victims are prepared to defend themselves.”
“Smartass.” I scrambled to my feet and got out of range. “I can see why you and Boaz get along so well.”
“That’s not why.” She bounced on the balls of her feet. “Boaz can have most anything he wants, so he wants what he can’t have.”
The thought mirrored mine so closely, I was stunned. That second of doubt was all it took for Taz to land her first blow. The kick connected with the side of my head, and I went down hard, ears ringing, but I rocked onto my hands and knees.
“Don’t let them get inside your head.” She squatted beside me. “You have to learn to block the mental hits too. Not just the physical ones. These people research, Grier. They memorize you like a favorite song, and they don’t miss any notes.”
“What you said…” I panted through the worst pain. “It’s true.”
“That’s why I said it. Lies don’t resonate. Only the truth cuts as well as a blade.”
I hung my head, letting her wisdom sink in, letting it carve all the way to the bone, but then I stood and braced my legs. “Again.”
Boaz was an old wound. From here on out, she could pick that scab all she wanted. I was done bleeding.
Ten
The fight with Taz ended the way all fights with Taz end. I was leaking from places one should not leak, sweaty in places one should not sweat, and grinning at the person responsible through pink teeth. I didn’t have to limp far for Linus to doodle sigils on my throbbing face. He had stayed to watch again.
Humiliation got pummeled out of me with each lesson until I was grateful for a medic on the sidelines.
Once I stopped resembling a cautionary tale, I grabbed a shower and loaded a crossbody bag with tools for work and supplies for a rendezvous with Timmy then rushed off to meet Amelie in her yard.
“I hope she bought you dinner first.” She clucked her tongue. “Why does this matter so much to you?” A sigh moved through her. “The magic I get, but the fighting?”
“Magic requires time and preparation,” I explained. “A fist comes preloaded.”
“Sometimes you sound so much like Boaz, it’s like speaking to his much shorter twin.” She leaned against her car and patted the door in an invitation to join her. “Go on. Get it over with. I can tell you’re about to pop. Tell me about your first date. Just not the kissy, touchy, feely parts.”
“Honestly?” I had to laugh. “Anything that could go wrong did. It’s a good thing I don’t believe in signs, or I would think Hecate wanted us to change our names and relocate to opposite sides of the country.”
She winced sympathetically. “That bad, huh?”
“There were good parts.” I let my tone convey that I was willing to elaborate. “Really good parts.”
“No details required. I don’t want to know about his parts.” She covered her eyes with one hand and her nearest ear with the other. “Please. Keep those to yourself. I just ate, and I really don’t want to be sick.”
“You’re always asking me to tell you everything.” The car rocked when I leaned against it. “Now that I have something to share, you’re going soft on me?”
“Before it was hypothetical.” She scowled when I pried her arms away from her head. “Now it’s literal. You have more than dreamy-eyed sighs to offer. You’ve got legit dirt on how my brother…” She made gagging noises. “This is so gross. So gross. Worse than pineapple on my ham pizza. It didn’t seem all that disgusting until he walked in wearing a goofy smile.” A shudder rippled through her. “He’s never looked like that after a date. He looked… I don’t know. Happy?”
Our date made Boaz happy? A dopey smile wreathed my face.
“Ugh.” Amelie made heaving sounds. “That’s the look.”
“Okay, okay. I won’t make you listen to how your brother pressed his lips to—”
Amelie slapped a hand over my mouth. “No.”
“—and he pulled my—”