could hide themselves inside newborn children, only to burst forth from their skulls once the children were full grown, like a monstrous Athena escaping Zeus’s head. Only the humans never survived, of course.
“No, Justin, I’m done with him.” One of the windows was cracked, and during a lull in the lesson, Jenna’s piercing tones carried from the parking lot below.
“Jenna!” A frustrated Justin chimed in just as expected. “Jenna!” A little more frantic now.
I got to my feet, saw Maddy and Kevin doing the same, and approached the window. Jenna was still talking, but now that her voice had dropped down, it didn’t carry enough for me to hear it. But from the finger jabbed into Justin’s chest and the sour twist of her mouth, I knew exactly what she was going on about. The same thing she was always pissed off about.
“If I was a nicer person, I wouldn’t say I told you so.” At least Maddy didn’t smirk at me when she said it. Though it was implied.
“What’s she doing?” Kevin asked, forehead scrunching up. He leaned forward to get a better look, and I turned back to the view of my siblings to see Jenna … I don’t know what she was doing. Her eyes were concentrated on the blacktop in front of her, and a small breeze rifled through her hair as her hands were dropped parallel to the ground.
“She’s using magic,” Maddy said, stating the obvious.
“I can’t hear what she’s saying, can you?” Kevin asked, but I shook my head.
The problem with magic was how hard it was to contain sometimes. Normal people saw things, and you couldn’t always rely on them to rationalize away what they’d seen. My first concern was that Jenna was going to do something to get us in trouble. Something big and obvious and destructive.
But as she finished her spell, there was a tug in my chest, like an invisible string attached to my spine was tugged forward, and my eyes snapped to hers. The moment we connected there was a rush of heat along my core, a wave of energy that washed away in a moment.
“What is that?” The teacher had joined us at the window, and he leaned forward.
There was a cloud of … well, a cloud forming around Jenna, and distorting her appearance like a mirage on the horizon. Heated air, like the same that had just rushed through me, collected around her and then shot forward, straight towards me.
It struck the window and I braced myself, but that was it. The window fogged over with the sudden appearance of moisture, and a trail of warm air ghosted around all of us.
“That … was unexpected,” I said, testing out my limbs. I felt fine. But without knowing what Jenna did, I couldn’t say for certain that it was a dud.
That happened sometimes. Jenna liked to experiment with magic, since no one would teach her anything. She could cobble together a few tiny spells and create the most random result. But with all that experimentation came the duds. Spells that didn’t go anywhere, didn’t accomplish anything.
“Illana’s not going to be too happy about this,” the teacher muttered.
“Not going to be happy you stood around and didn’t get involved either,” Kevin pointed out, not too kindly.
Jenna and Justin split apart, with Jenna striding away in a fury. No, I couldn’t imagine anyone was going to be happy about this. Especially not Jenna, and her fizzled spell. It was going to be a long ride home.
n i n e
Seven seniors were hospitalized before the
Invisible Congress ruled to investigate the
claims of the Moonset coven. No one is sure what transpired during those three weeks in April—the town of Carrow Mill was whited out from the rest of the world. When it returned, a monster was dead, and Robert Cooper was a hero.
Moonset: A Dark Legacy
Jenna muttered obscenities on the way home, so whatever it was she’d been after hadn’t played out. Maybe there was something to that whole “God is magic” thing. Maybe He was finally looking out for me.
Then I arrived at
“No, Justin, I’m done with him.” One of the windows was cracked, and during a lull in the lesson, Jenna’s piercing tones carried from the parking lot below.
“Jenna!” A frustrated Justin chimed in just as expected. “Jenna!” A little more frantic now.
I got to my feet, saw Maddy and Kevin doing the same, and approached the window. Jenna was still talking, but now that her voice had dropped down, it didn’t carry enough for me to hear it. But from the finger jabbed into Justin’s chest and the sour twist of her mouth, I knew exactly what she was going on about. The same thing she was always pissed off about.
“If I was a nicer person, I wouldn’t say I told you so.” At least Maddy didn’t smirk at me when she said it. Though it was implied.
“What’s she doing?” Kevin asked, forehead scrunching up. He leaned forward to get a better look, and I turned back to the view of my siblings to see Jenna … I don’t know what she was doing. Her eyes were concentrated on the blacktop in front of her, and a small breeze rifled through her hair as her hands were dropped parallel to the ground.
“She’s using magic,” Maddy said, stating the obvious.
“I can’t hear what she’s saying, can you?” Kevin asked, but I shook my head.
The problem with magic was how hard it was to contain sometimes. Normal people saw things, and you couldn’t always rely on them to rationalize away what they’d seen. My first concern was that Jenna was going to do something to get us in trouble. Something big and obvious and destructive.
But as she finished her spell, there was a tug in my chest, like an invisible string attached to my spine was tugged forward, and my eyes snapped to hers. The moment we connected there was a rush of heat along my core, a wave of energy that washed away in a moment.
“What is that?” The teacher had joined us at the window, and he leaned forward.
There was a cloud of … well, a cloud forming around Jenna, and distorting her appearance like a mirage on the horizon. Heated air, like the same that had just rushed through me, collected around her and then shot forward, straight towards me.
It struck the window and I braced myself, but that was it. The window fogged over with the sudden appearance of moisture, and a trail of warm air ghosted around all of us.
“That … was unexpected,” I said, testing out my limbs. I felt fine. But without knowing what Jenna did, I couldn’t say for certain that it was a dud.
That happened sometimes. Jenna liked to experiment with magic, since no one would teach her anything. She could cobble together a few tiny spells and create the most random result. But with all that experimentation came the duds. Spells that didn’t go anywhere, didn’t accomplish anything.
“Illana’s not going to be too happy about this,” the teacher muttered.
“Not going to be happy you stood around and didn’t get involved either,” Kevin pointed out, not too kindly.
Jenna and Justin split apart, with Jenna striding away in a fury. No, I couldn’t imagine anyone was going to be happy about this. Especially not Jenna, and her fizzled spell. It was going to be a long ride home.
n i n e
Seven seniors were hospitalized before the
Invisible Congress ruled to investigate the
claims of the Moonset coven. No one is sure what transpired during those three weeks in April—the town of Carrow Mill was whited out from the rest of the world. When it returned, a monster was dead, and Robert Cooper was a hero.
Moonset: A Dark Legacy
Jenna muttered obscenities on the way home, so whatever it was she’d been after hadn’t played out. Maybe there was something to that whole “God is magic” thing. Maybe He was finally looking out for me.
Then I arrived at
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