He sighed and flopped in a chair, kicking his feet up on the table. “Fine.”
I stared at the bookshelf, finding a book to focus on. It had a royal-blue spine with gold lettering. I couldn’t read what it said from this far, but it didn’t matter.
Come to me.
The book shook.
Come to me.
It lifted off the shelf a little.
COME TO ME.
The whole shelf rattled and the books tumbled off—thankfully, only the ones on that shelf and not the whole wall.
Theo looked from the pile of books to me. “You’re getting too angry,” he surmised. “You’re still learning so it’s not going to come to you on the first try. You’ll have to work at it. It’s like a muscle. You have to make it stronger.”
I picked up the books and replaced them on the shelf. I tucked a few fly-away hairs behind my ears and squared my shoulders.
I focused my gaze on the same book again.
Come to me.
It slid out a little.
Come to me.
A little more.
Come to me … come to me … come to me.
The book shot into my hand. I stumbled back from the speed with which it hit me, but none of the other books came off so I took that as a win.
“I did it,” I cried, and turned to Theo.
He was grinning from ear to ear, clearly proud.
“Again,” he commanded.
I replaced the book and did it again, and again, and about twenty more times before he decided I’d mastered it.
“Try the candle now.”
The words I’m tired were on the tip of my tongue, but I knew I needed to learn this stuff and the sooner I did the better.
I stared at the candle, visualizing a flame, the way it flowed and glimmered, the slight heat it gave off and then …
“Did I, or did I not, tell you that you’d be a force to be reckoned with? Damn.” He clapped his hands. “I’m not going to lie, I’m surprised you got it on the first try—but at the same time, I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re amazing.”
My cheeks tinted pink under his praise. “Thank you.”
It felt good to have mastered the summoning thing and now this.
“I’m glad we didn’t burn the room down. That would’ve been hard to explain.”
I laughed too and blew out the candle.
“I know you’re tired. We’ll work more tomorrow. A couple more basic spells and we’ll work on bigger things before we move on to defensive spells. We’ll keep working on combat too—maybe we should start our lesson tomorrow with that,” he mused quietly to himself, following me down the spiral staircase.
I stopped, almost to the bottom, when I heard a voice.
Theo was muttering quietly behind me to himself once more and I turned around, slamming my hand against his mouth. I knew he was about to protest so I quickly brought a finger to my lips in a shh gesture.
His eyes widened and then filled with surprise when he heard the voices too.
The bottom two floors of the manor were the most used. It was rare for anyone to be up here. We’d never run into anyone yet.
“The wards are strong I promise you,” the first voice spoke.
“Are you sure about that? I saw—”
“Of course I’m sure,” the first voice hissed.
“I’m not trying to offend you, but it’s a concern if they’re weakening. If you’re weakening, Victor.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” It sounded like he tugged on his clothes. “They’re secure. We’re safe.”
“Don’t lie to me. If they’d get in here we’d all be pigs for slaughter.”
“How dare you accuse me of lying about something like this. I take the safety of everyone here seriously.”
“If you’re sure then.”
“I am.”
They shuffled down the stairs and disappeared. I let my hand drop from Theo’s mouth.
“Shit,” he whispered.
“Do you think he’s lying?”
“It’s Victor, I wouldn’t put it past him to lie to hold his position. If he’s not healthy enough to shield the manor, the committee would replace him.”
“What do you think it could be? If he is sick.”
He shrugged and his face twisted as he thought. “Your guess is as good as mine. Let’s get you back to your room.”
We treaded carefully down the stairs and finally made it to my room without running into anyone. It was after one in the morning and I was ready to crash, like every other night. All this learning stuff was exhausting.
I went into the bathroom and took a shower before changing into pajamas.
Theo was already asleep in his makeshift bed on the floor.
Nigel snored peacefully from the bottom of my bed but cracked one eye open when I slipped under the covers and drifted off to sleep.
“Where is she?” a man in the shadows growled.
In front of me, on a cold hard chair was my father, Steven Pryce. He slumped forward, his hands tied behind his back. His head was lowered, but when he slowly raised it a glimmer of light from one dim bulb lit on his face, I saw how beaten he was. One eye was swollen shut, his lip was twice its normal size and bleeding, and the rest of him? He was covered in burns and cut marks.
“I don’t know,” he told the man hidden from my sight.
“Lies,” the voice hissed like a slithery snake. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying to you. You’ve kidnapped me, beaten me, tortured me, and yet I keep telling you the same thing. Just because it’s the answer you don’t want doesn’t mean it’s a lie.”
“Shut up.” The man finally emerged from the darkness and grabbed my dad by the face. His fingernails dug into his cheeks and he winced. “I want to know where she is. Where would she have gone?”
“I don’t know,” my dad repeated. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”
“You’re useless.”
Before I could blink, the man produced a glimmering dagger that seemed to glow as if covered in flames and slit my father’s throat.
I gasped. “No!” I screamed, pain ripping through me.
The man turned to me, almost like he heard me, and I gasped once again.
He was different now.
Ghastly thin, with vacant black eyes, and long blond hair, but I’d still know him.
Thaddeus Lucero.
My biological father.
“Hello little one,” he called out. “I know you’re listening. I’m going to find you.” He smiled cruelly, and I shivered. “We’ll be a family again. Me, you, and your mother.”
“Mara, Mara, Mara, wake up. Please. It’s a dream. Wake up.”
I gasped and my eyes shot open. Theo had me gathered in his arms, his body damp from a shower and a very thin white towel wrapped around his waist.
“Breathe,” he coaxed, pushing my hair off my forehead.
I struggled for air, panic clogging my airway. I felt like I was still stuck in the dream world, as if my body was weighted down.
It’s not real. It can’t have been real.
And yet I still clung to Theo like he was the only thing keeping me rooted to this world.
I sobbed uncontrollably—I didn’t even know when the tears started—and clawed my fingers into his bare shoulders.
“Mara,” his voice was laced with pain as he said my name. “It was only a dream.”
I shook my head. “No, no, I don’t think it was,” I sobbed brokenly.