didn’t give it to her . Being fully aware that she was searching for any r eason to justifiably punish me, I remained silent, glaring my response, and she settled back on her heels before speaking with a tone more sinister than I’ve ever heard.
“We won’t do that, Jocelyn.”
With her response, Mrs. Gaul just broke down the walls between us. No more allusions, no more role-playing, and no more conspiring. She’d just laid her cards on the table, validating what we assumed since the Vires began arriving. The Vires, the entire mass of them, came with a common purpose, one that would keep them here until their objectives were met. She just warned me, or threatened me , whichever way you wish to look at it, that they were unyielding. They would never stop , never back down , and never give up.
Mesmerized by the intensity of the moment, I snapped out of it when I heard the sound of Jameson’s feet on the tile floor as he approached us . He was just about to intervene when I lifted my palm in his direction and glanced at him, my expression indomitable.
He reluctantly stopped, but didn’t turn to leave.
“Fending off two adversaries simultaneously?” goaded Mrs. Gaul, feigning appreciation for my courage. “Or are you? There are those of us who question it…after your brief transgression a few weeks ago.” In no uncertain terms, she was referring to the open display of affection Jameson and I daringly exhibit ed when we first met. At that time, it was a way to defy our families . We had no reason to believe that The Sevens opposed our love more than our own relatives.
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” I taunted, trying to gain some information from her. “To see for yourself?”
“Some of us,” she replied, intentionally leaving me with more questions than answers.
She leaned forward , a sneer lifting her boney cheeks. “What you haven’t learned…your re-introduction to our world being so recent…is that you don’t control us. We control you .” Her eyes drifted smoothly across my arm, the one with my white metal bracelet . She slowly dipped her head in its direction. “It’s unfortunate for you that we don’t give warnings .”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Jameson take a step forward because he saw it happening before I did.
Mrs. Gaul then broke a fundamental rule, for which others had lost their lives.
She voiced an incantation in public. “ Incantatio i ntumescunt .”
Then s omething started happening that I did not expect. She was the one who fell . Her legs crumbled beneath her like stacked playing cards blow ing over in the wind , h er body landing with a sickening smack on the unforgiving floor.
As Mrs. Gaul attempted to regain control of her body, I slipped in front of Jameson, hiding him as best I could. If she saw it was him who…I couldn’t bring myself to finish the thought.
My wrist had begun to swell, bubbling up around the edges of my bracelet, leaving a purplish ring where the pressure was building. It was the same area where Mrs. Gaul had concentrated when casting a hex against me.
I wasn’t worried, though. I would recover. It was a verified certainty. My unique ability to heal others applied to myself too , and it would eventually block and counteract Mrs. Gaul’s cast.
But I wanted her to know it .
Staring down at her and holding one hand over my swelling, I observed Mrs. Gaul’s eyes closing as a smirk came to rest on her lips. Then , I whispered my own incantation “Incantatio sana” – and watched as she grasped what I’d done.
First, the discoloration began reversing , then the swelling. The healing was so quick , in fact, that she caught sight of it just before her eyelids fell shut, and t he smile she wore was replaced with a scowl.
Without further delay, we turned for the door , but we’d only taken two steps before I stopped.
“Jocelyn, we need to go,” Jameson insisted, keeping his voice low and glancing at the hallway where students
“We won’t do that, Jocelyn.”
With her response, Mrs. Gaul just broke down the walls between us. No more allusions, no more role-playing, and no more conspiring. She’d just laid her cards on the table, validating what we assumed since the Vires began arriving. The Vires, the entire mass of them, came with a common purpose, one that would keep them here until their objectives were met. She just warned me, or threatened me , whichever way you wish to look at it, that they were unyielding. They would never stop , never back down , and never give up.
Mesmerized by the intensity of the moment, I snapped out of it when I heard the sound of Jameson’s feet on the tile floor as he approached us . He was just about to intervene when I lifted my palm in his direction and glanced at him, my expression indomitable.
He reluctantly stopped, but didn’t turn to leave.
“Fending off two adversaries simultaneously?” goaded Mrs. Gaul, feigning appreciation for my courage. “Or are you? There are those of us who question it…after your brief transgression a few weeks ago.” In no uncertain terms, she was referring to the open display of affection Jameson and I daringly exhibit ed when we first met. At that time, it was a way to defy our families . We had no reason to believe that The Sevens opposed our love more than our own relatives.
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” I taunted, trying to gain some information from her. “To see for yourself?”
“Some of us,” she replied, intentionally leaving me with more questions than answers.
She leaned forward , a sneer lifting her boney cheeks. “What you haven’t learned…your re-introduction to our world being so recent…is that you don’t control us. We control you .” Her eyes drifted smoothly across my arm, the one with my white metal bracelet . She slowly dipped her head in its direction. “It’s unfortunate for you that we don’t give warnings .”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Jameson take a step forward because he saw it happening before I did.
Mrs. Gaul then broke a fundamental rule, for which others had lost their lives.
She voiced an incantation in public. “ Incantatio i ntumescunt .”
Then s omething started happening that I did not expect. She was the one who fell . Her legs crumbled beneath her like stacked playing cards blow ing over in the wind , h er body landing with a sickening smack on the unforgiving floor.
As Mrs. Gaul attempted to regain control of her body, I slipped in front of Jameson, hiding him as best I could. If she saw it was him who…I couldn’t bring myself to finish the thought.
My wrist had begun to swell, bubbling up around the edges of my bracelet, leaving a purplish ring where the pressure was building. It was the same area where Mrs. Gaul had concentrated when casting a hex against me.
I wasn’t worried, though. I would recover. It was a verified certainty. My unique ability to heal others applied to myself too , and it would eventually block and counteract Mrs. Gaul’s cast.
But I wanted her to know it .
Staring down at her and holding one hand over my swelling, I observed Mrs. Gaul’s eyes closing as a smirk came to rest on her lips. Then , I whispered my own incantation “Incantatio sana” – and watched as she grasped what I’d done.
First, the discoloration began reversing , then the swelling. The healing was so quick , in fact, that she caught sight of it just before her eyelids fell shut, and t he smile she wore was replaced with a scowl.
Without further delay, we turned for the door , but we’d only taken two steps before I stopped.
“Jocelyn, we need to go,” Jameson insisted, keeping his voice low and glancing at the hallway where students
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