Magic Born by Caethes Faron Page B

lights shone in front of me, and I slowed to a stop. “Shit.”
    “What?”
    “I completely forgot about the border. I don’t know if they’ll let us by.”
    “What do you need?”
    “Honestly, I don’t know, but I don’t think they allow you to cross with just a driver’s license anymore, and you don’t strike me as the type to carry a passport. To be honest, I didn’t really expect there to be people checking. I mean, it’s the U.S. and Canada. Don’t people cross over all the time?”
    “See, you humans complicate everything.”
    “Oh yeah, I’ve never heard of an animal killing another who strays into its territory.”
    “That’s what I’m talking about: it’s simpler, none of this paperwork and crap you all have to deal with.”
    We really were from two different worlds. The line slowly moved forward, and when the minivan in front of us was waved through, I put on my most charming smile for the border patrol officer who turned out to be a woman.
    “And what brings you into Canada today?” The officer sounded bored as she peered at me.
    I probably should’ve spent more time thinking of answers to potential questions while waiting. Would fleeing a murderer qualify me for asylum status? Probably not. “Oh, I’m going to the headquarters of Magical Games, Inc.”
    “On a Saturday?”
    “Yeah, I won a contest, and they preferred I come on the weekend. I’ve got class on Monday.” It wouldn’t hurt to throw in that I had a compelling reason to return.
    “ID please.” The woman held out her hand expectantly, and I gave her my license. She spent all of two seconds looking at it. “I’m going to need more than this. This driver’s license doesn’t prove your citizenship.”
    “I’m sorry, I thought I just needed a driver’s license. I’m just coming over for the day. I’m a student, see?” I handed her my student ID. “I’ve got to be back for classes on Monday anyway. I’m not going to jeopardize graduation over trying to illegally stay in Canada. Can’t you just make an exception this once?”
    “I’m sorry, but there’s no provision in immigration law for uninformed students to just hop across the border and hop back over. You’re going to need to turn around.”
    I looked up at her with the most pathetic, pleading gaze I could muster. “Please, this is really important. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
    “Then you should’ve been better prepared. Now just drive through here and you can make a U-turn and come back with proper identification.”
    This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t go back to my apartment to get sufficient identification. I looked to Alex, frantic, my eyebrows raised waiting for him to come up with some brilliant solution. Did he have some kind of magic that could be useful here?
    “You heard the lady, just turn around.” I shot daggers at him with my eyes. He in turn pointedly stared at my chest. It took a second for me to realize that he wasn’t checking out my boobs, he was looking at the talisman that had started to feel a little warm. Better not let it feel too much panic. Right now all the officer wanted me to do was turn around, but I was pretty sure if my talisman decided she was a threat and killed her, I’d have much bigger problems than ID.
    I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself before the talisman did anything to worsen our situation, and followed the officer’s directions to make a U-turn. A few miles down the road, I pulled into the parking lot of a gas station. “So what do we do now?”
    “Now we wait for you to calm down so that talisman stops glowing. You have to learn to control your emotions.”
    In through the nose and out through the mouth I breathed, willing my panic to subside. “And then what?”
    Alex’s yellow eyes twinkled. “And then we storm the border by force.”

Chapter 7
    “ S torm the border by force ?” Panic rose inside me. Alex certainly wasn’t normal, but so far he hadn’t struck