Conjuring Quantico (The Federal Witch Book 1) (6 page)

Cat and Chuck were arguing when I stepped into the room. I looked at my two friends. Both had cat eyes and whiskers popping out of their faces. They were both seconds from changing. “Hey! Knock it off!” I yelled at the two of them.

Focusing their attention on me prevented the change. I really didn’t want to listen to Fergus bitch about two really big cats in the room. He only tolerated the two in human forms.

“What is it this time?” I asked them as I scanned the walls looking for my prize.

“She won’t take the title of Alpha publicly!” Both of them were now watching me stare at the walls. Cats.

“So, you thought of goading her into changing... and then what? She would see the error of her ways as she ripped you a new one? Is that what you thought? She might bite them off this time.” He made a face and crossed his legs. I shook my head and laughed at him.

I wasn’t having any luck finding the camera, so I said a word of power and swirled my hands above my head. Strands of color began to form. I had what looked like a ball of colored yarn floating above me.

“Agatha, whatcha doin’?” Cat was mesmerized by the colors and the swirling motion the ball was making.

“That’s a good way to catch Weres. You need to remember that one, Agatha.” Fergus was standing on my desk watching,

I concentrated for a moment and visualized what I wanted to happen. The ball of ‘yarn’ broke into a thousand strands that flew in a dozen directions. They clumped up in three locations. The light feature at the center of the room, a spot above the door, and another above the windows. Three balls of molten fire formed in front of my eyes. With a word they homed in on the spots of color and incinerated them. Shards of the light feature sprayed in all directions. Fortunately it was plastic. “Oops.”

“What the hell, Agatha?”

It took me over an hour to explain. Cat kept having me go back over information concerning the Director and the camera system.

“So where is the junction box located at?” Chuck didn’t look happy at all.

“It’s at the rear of the building where the cable and other electrical stuff comes in at. The one I fried on this building said ‘TelcomSyS High Power - Do not touch’ on it.”

Chuck nodded. “I will get some of the boys to help but we need to take care of the rest of them.”

“I can zap a few of the individual cameras, but do you realize how many there are? I can’t get them all.”

“Agatha, we can sniff out cameras now that we know what to look for. The Paras can at least be protected. We are used to this sort of crap. So much for thinking this place is any different.”

“Guys, chill. Director Mills had no idea they were doing this. Her first words were to shut it down. When they wouldn’t she had me zap them. I think a lot of it was the old director. You both know how much he hated Para’s and me.”

“She’s probably going to yell at me for telling others about it though. I’ll take all the blame. They really need me. I doubt they will expel me over this. What worries me is some overzealous idiot like that sub-director, Richard Jonson, doing it again while we are away.”

“Wait, that was really his name? Dick Jonson is his actual name?” My Unicorn was now upside down laughing uncontrollably.

“Why is that funny?” Cat shrugged her shoulders, and we both looked at Chuck. He was smirking and soon joined Fergus in laughter. Men.

“Can you make it so cameras don’t work in here?” Cat looked anxious too.

“I can try. I don’t have a shield spell handy so it might be dangerous. The various Council Mages have been teaching me. Let me meditate on it for a moment.”

I sat on my bed cross legged and considered the problem. I can cast temporary shield spells that block all communication or intrusion. Mine are finite though. I would need energy and strength to give it structure. For the basic framework I thought I might be able to use the internal electrical system and the wooden studs. This would be one of my first off-the-cuff spells in years. Even though I was planning what I was going to do, there was no spell to work with.

“OK, I think I have a clue here. There is no spell for this in my book so I have to wing it.”

“Oh, just kill me now. Please don’t make me into a squirrel!” Fergus was now moaning.

“Fergus, if you won’t lend me your support, just go hide in your barn.” He scuttled off to his little red house with a Mooo! preceding him as he went inside.

“As I was saying. I will cast a circle in the center of the room. If you two are in it with me, you should be safe. Or you can leave the room.”

The two looked at each other. “We trust you Aggy. We will stay in here with you if that’s OK?”

“I love you guys.” I stepped over to my desk and grabbed a few spell components and a small goddess statue.

They each gave me a hug and sat at my feet in the center of the room. I quickly called the quarters asking the four elements for their permission and protection from harm. In my mind I visualized a circle forming around the three of us. I called upon the goddess Freya to bless and protect us in upcoming battles. In my mind I traced the structure I wanted and used the power system coupled with sunlight energy to extend the spells life. I opened my eyes and received a shock to my system.

My magic was visibly penetrating the walls and floor. I could see the formula and symbols of my magic as it swirled about changing the physical structures of the walls. I looked down at my two friends. They had very large eyes and Chuck whimpered once. They could see what I was doing!

Sensing that it was time to speak my words of power I threw up both hands and forced the magic in the room to pour into the walls.

I spoke.

“Skjald-borg!”

There was a bright flash of light that blinded all of us for a moment.

“By Jewel’s pointy horn, I’m not purple!” Fergus burst out of his home and began doing some elaborate dance on my desk.

“Did it work?”

I looked down at Cat and smiled. “I don’t know. It was pretty cool though. I know you could see it.”

“Agatha, I knew you were powerful but wow! Father has a wizard that works for the Pack. His spells are nothing like That! He doesn’t have a tenth the power that you do.”

“Uh, thanks? Chuck can you check the walls? They should be able to take at least a punch: it's supposed to be like a force field.”

The large Were stepped over by the door and gave the wall a sharp punch. Clang!

“Hey, the wall’s metal now?” He checked the door; it clanged too but did open.

“Thank the Goddess!” We could have been trapped inside the room.

“I wonder where I made the mistake?” I thought about it for a moment. “At least we’re safe now. If they try to install something we will know it.”

We now lived in a large metal room. It really was pretty cool and my magic didn’t make anyone into a pink chicken. Maybe I was finally learning. The downside to it all was I now had to tell the both the Council and the Director of my oopsy.

Chapter 5

My morning the next day started very slowly. Every resident in the dorms found a note under their doors explaining that a clerical error had postponed classes by one day and to enjoy the day off. Cat just sat up in bed, listened to what I had to say, then passed out again. Just like a Cat. I sat on my bed and meditated on my spell work the previous evening. Breaking it down I couldn’t see what I did wrong or even if it was wrong. I picked up my cell phone and gave Grams a call.

“So, what is your question child?”

“Uh, good morning Grams? How did you know it was me?” I actually pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it.

“I was notified by the Council that they detected several magical surges near Quantico and I assumed it was you. Any pink chickens this time?”

I smiled and bowed my head. There was the grandmother I grew up with. “I only use that threat for Aunt Camilla.”

“What happened, Aggy?”

For several minutes I gave her the background about the Russian mercenaries and the problems within the FBI administration building. Then I told her about the surveillance and cameras.

She blew up.

“That is outrageous! The Council needs to be informed. Child, if you wish to come home I will convince the town to let you!”

“I took care of it, Grandma. The new director is pretty nice, at least to me. She was as outraged as you are. I took care of the cameras here in the dorm and had some of the Pack take out the others. The reason I called was I had a small ‘oops’ when I tried to shield the room. I wanted a permanent shield that would stop most threats, but I didn’t have a spell for it. I made one up and it had an unexpected effect.”

“Aggy dear, you know what happens when you do off-the-cuff magic. You should have called me. We could have figured something out. What happened? Are you OK?”

“I’m fine and so are Cat and Chuck. They were in here with me. Did you know that Weres can actually see magic?”

“Yes, I did. Only the really strongest can see the actual working. The rest just see color changes and strange shadows. To them it can be very frightening.”

“Well, Cat said she could see the spell and Chuck was freaked out a bit. After I cast, there was a bright flash and the walls, floor, and ceiling were turned to metal. We now live inside a steel box. At least the door opens so we aren’t trapped.”

Grams began laughing. “That is pretty funny, child! What did you use and who did you call on for your spell?”

“I used some of what the Council teachers have imparted to me. I went old-school and cast a circle first. Then I called upon the Goddess and described what I wanted and visualized the whole thing. I’ve thought about it and even wrote it down, but I can’t see what happened!”

“Who did you call upon?”

“I asked Freya for protection and spoke the words for shield wall.”

“That is your problem right there, child! You asked for a shield.” She stressed the word shield. “The Goddess took you literally. Especially when you used the words for shield wall. I would suggest that next time you use Athena or one of the other battle goddesses but leave out the word shield somehow. But I am proud of you, Aggy. You changed a building and not an animal this time. It shows you are learning.”

“I may have done that too. It’s what chased off the last teacher, Montgomery.”

“Montgomery? They sent that fuddy-duddy to you? How many teachers have you had?”

“Twelve or thirteen I think. Some of them haven’t stayed very long. Montgomery had me doing a diagnostic spell, and I used the wrong word for something and there was a flash. A deer and a rabbit may have been changed into a Jackalope. I don’t know how far my spell went this time. I’ve seen more than one so they might be breeding.”

“Don’t worry about it, dear. I will notify the Council for you. They should be sending real teachers not the bozo brigade! I will take care of it. Have a good week, Agatha, and call me anytime.”

I set the phone down and looked up. Cat was sitting up in bed watching me. “She sounds like a real sweetheart.”

“She can be when she wants to be. She really cares about me.”

“It sounds like it.”

“Did you catch what she said about Weres and magic?”

Cat looked at me and sighed. “I did. Dad’s pet wizard told me the same thing, actually.”

“You need to decide, Cat. I suspect that our training is going to bring your aspect to light. Hiding in the shadows is not an option anymore.”

Cat stood up and walked across the room. She sat down next to me on the bed and gave me a big hug. “I don’t want the status change it will cause at home. There can be only one Alpha at a time in the pack. If I try to stay he will challenge me. I don’t want to kill my Uncle, Aggy. In that type of pack challenge it’s brutal. One wins and one dies. I want to be an FBI agent, not the leader of the pack!”

I rubbed her shoulders. “Vroom vrooom. I have to put that song on your cell phone now. You’d make a good leader, you know that. But I see your point. In my world, rule one is that family is sacred. You don’t hurt or attack family. The school doesn’t have a designated Pack but you could be an Alpha here. Isn’t this considered neutral ground?”

She frowned thoughtfully. “It is. We are allowed to form small packs here. Once we become agents we are allowed to cross pack territories without causing trouble. Mostly.”

“How so?”

“Female Alphas are rare. Really rare. I haven’t been tested but I’m a lot stronger than many of the ruling Alphas on our Council. Or at least that’s what my wolf claims. She’s really dominant.”

“I’m surprised she lets you live with me, then. I know from reading those books you recommended last year that dominant wolves don’t like competition.”

“They don’t. But she says you’re a good balance for us. I had no idea you were that powerful, Aggy. You took out three Russian mercs and then the same day, did this!” She waved her hands around.

I looked at her uncomfortably. “I know we had the conversation where I told you I was drafted by the FBI. Right? I mean, not really, but I had very little in the way of choices. Mostly it’s my Aunt Camilla’s fault. If there was ever someone who deserved to become a pink chicken, it would be her.”