Heartless (Blue Fire Saga) (5 page)

The lines on Leesa’s brow deepened. Something about what Cali was telling her seemed familiar for some reason, but she couldn’t place it. She hated not being able to remember, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“Go on,” she said, hoping that more might come back to her with the more Cali told her.

“One of the guys—I don’t remember if it was Smith or Jones—said Rome needed to touch me, to see if I had been ‘infected’ by any zombie magic. Apparently, she can sense magic. I didn’t buy the zombie infection thing for one minute, of course. I think they just wanted to see if I had magic of any kind. Since I don’t, I told her sure, go ahead. I figured it was best to clear myself of any suspicion.”

Leesa got up from the bed and limped over to the window.

“I don’t like the sound of this,” she said, staring out the window but not really focusing on anything outside.

“I know. That’s why I waited for you, so I could tell you right away.” Cali joined Leesa by the window. “There’s more, too.”

Leesa turned her head toward Cali. “More?”

“Yeah. Rome can sense magic in places, not just in people. She could tell where the three zombies were killed in the hall, and she also sensed some faint magic blanketing the whole area. I think she was talking about whatever it is that’s weakening your magic.”

Leesa thought for a moment. Someone who could sense magic like that was troublesome news for sure. A very worrisome thought came to her. Her fingers began twirling in her hair.

“What about the spell I did in your room last night? Did she sense that?”

Cali shook her head. “I was worried about that, too. But no, she didn’t, thank goodness. I don’t know how I would have explained it. Maybe she missed it because your magic was so weak. She said the low level magic that’s everywhere might be hiding some traces of other magic, so it could be that, too.”

Leesa blew out a sigh of relief. “Either way, that’s lucky for us.”

“Yeah, I know. I was really worried about that once I learned she could sniff out magic.”

Leesa reached for her cell phone. “I need to let Dominic know about this.”

She switched the phone on, but stopped before pushing Dominic’s number. If the BSI people were so interested in her dorm, they might already be monitoring communications from anyone inside. She had seen enough movies to know these special government organizations had all kinds of ways to listen in on and to record phone calls, track emails and who knows what else. Maybe she was being paranoid, but she thought it was better to be safe than sorry. Dominic was supposed to come by around lunch time on Saturday—she figured she could wait until then to tell him about it.

“I think I’ll wait until I see him,” she told Cali. “Just to be on the safe side.”

“Good idea. The agents are gone for now—they’re out trying to map the boundaries of the magic that Rome sensed—but Big Brother could still be listening. I don’t think you should practice any magic in the dorm for awhile, either, in case they come back.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But I still need to practice. Dominic is going to need me to be as strong as possible. So I guess the question now is: where do I practice?”

Cali smiled. “I was thinking about that while I was waiting for you. I think I may know just the place.”

7. A PLACE TO PRACTICE

A
fter dinner, Leesa and Cali bundled up and headed out from the dorm. The night air was cool, and a chill wind blowing out of the northwest made it feel even colder. Leesa wondered if there might be a storm on the way. It was getting late in the year for snow, but her friends had told her that every now and then New England got walloped by a March blizzard. Dominic would know if a storm was coming—he was better than any weather computer when it came to forecasting snow or rain—but predicting the weather was one of many wizard tricks Leesa had not yet even begun to learn. She wondered if her book of magic, which was tucked safely in the backpack slung over her shoulders right now, had anything about weather forecasting in it. Even if it did, she imagined that particular skill would be pretty far down on any list of priorities for some time yet.

She tugged her dark blue knit ski cap farther down over her ears and trudged on into the wind. Beside her, Cali already had her rainbow colored Rasta tam pulled far down onto her head.

They only had to walk two blocks with the wind blasting directly into their faces. As soon as they turned the corner and headed southeast, the walk became much more comfortable. Another four blocks brought them to the wide grass plaza fronting the college library, one of the oldest buildings on campus. As always, there were plenty of students coming and going from the huge, four story stone and brick building. Those going into the library converged on the six wide glass doors that made up the front entrance, while the kids who were leaving the building scattered in all directions across the plaza. Leesa knew the foot traffic would continue to increase as midterms drew closer and more and more students sought refuge in the library to study.

She had only been inside the library a couple of times—most of her classes so far did not require much in the way of research, and she preferred to do her studying up in her room. She had no idea how Cali could think the old library would be a good place to practice magic, but when Leesa asked, Cali had merely grinned and said “you’ll see.” At least there would be plenty of kids inside to mingle with should they need to get lost in a crowd.

The interior of the first two floors of the building had been completely modernized over the past decade. Hundreds of computer monitors had been installed, and they were gathered into two sections on each floor. There were lots of tables, desks and even some cubicles along the walls for studying, as well as plenty of cushioned chairs and a few couches. The whole place had wireless access, so lots of kids pecked away at their laptops and tablets. The center of each floor contained tall shelves filled with the newer, more popular and useful books.

The third and fourth floors were as different from those below as night was from day. These were called the “stacks” and contained tens of thousands of old books that were rarely, if ever used. Leesa had never had any reason to venture up into the stacks, but apparently Cali had, because she led Leesa through an old wooden door into a dimly lit stairway at the far end of the first floor and guided her up to the fourth floor.

When they stepped out of the doorway, Leesa saw nothing but row after row of tall metal shelves crammed with old books. Worn tables and desks with names and initials carved into the surfaces were scattered along the outside edges. The lighting up here was almost as poor as inside the stairwell, and the only sound was a faint hum from the old-fashioned ceiling lights. The whole place had a musty, abandoned feel. Leesa was pretty sure no one else was up here tonight. She certainly would not have liked being here by herself.

“This feels more like some kind of old warehouse than a library,” she said. “Does anybody ever come up here?”

“Not very often, I don’t think.” Cali led Leesa down one of the narrow aisles. “Some of these books haven’t been checked out in like, forever.”

She pulled a random book off a shelf, opening it to the back and showing it to Leesa. The inside cover still had a lined card attached to it that was half-full with barely legible checkout dates stamped in faded black ink. The most recent date was sometime in May, 1935—almost eighty years ago!

Leesa looked at the back cover and saw the familiar barcode sticker libraries used now to keep track of books, but she doubted this one had ever been used to check the book out. She shoved the book back onto the shelf.

Cali grabbed Leesa’s hand. “C’mon.”

She took Leesa down a couple of different aisles, making what seemed like several random turns. The place was almost like a maze, and Leesa wondered how Cali knew where she was going. Leesa doubted Cali had ever come up here to study—she wasn’t exactly the studious type—and there was no way she could have needed any of these old books. So what had she been doing up here?

Finally, the aisle they were following ended, revealing a small open area that Leesa guessed must be very near the center of the building. An old rectangular table maybe eight feet long filled most of the area. The top of the table was a mess of scratches and carvings. Five old-fashioned wooden chairs were scattered haphazardly around the table. Cali settled down onto one of the chairs.

Leesa took in the worn furniture and then looked at Cali.

“Okay, I have to ask—how do you even know about this place?”

Cali grinned. “Andy brought me up here a couple of times. It’s a great place to…”

Leesa quickly held her hand up in front of her in a “stop” gesture.

“Never mind! I don’t want to know.”

She slung off her backpack and sat down beside Cali, putting the pack on one of the chairs instead of on the table. She did not even want to imagine some of the things that might have happened on there.

Cali looked at the pack on the chair and laughed, knowing what Leesa was probably thinking.

“It’s okay, Lees,” she said. “I’m pretty sure you won’t catch anything.”

“Ha! Maybe not from you, but who knows how many other frat guys bring their ‘friends’ up here.”

Cali laughed again. “You’re probably right. It is pretty private, huh? Didn’t I tell you I knew a good place for you to practice? Even if someone comes up here, we’ll hear them way before they could see anything. And there’s a whole floor below us filled with nothing but more books.”

Leesa had to admit, this was about as private a spot as she could imagine anywhere on campus. The fact that it sat atop a bustling library made it even better.

“It does seem perfect,” she said.

She took off her coat and hung it over the back of her chair. Cali did likewise.

“Okay,” Cali said, smiling. “I want to see some magic. Show me what you got.”

Leesa was glad to have Cali here with her. Ever since her magic had become diminished, practicing had been becoming more and more boring. It had been more fun when Jenna had added her magic to Leesa’s, but Leesa wasn’t sure when or if that would ever happen again. Both she and Jenna were likely to be a bit uncomfortable around each other for awhile.

Cali would be an appreciative audience, Leesa knew. She just wished her powers were at full strength, so she could really show off. Still, Cali loved everything magical and supernatural, and she was bound to be thrilled with whatever Leesa managed to show her.

Leesa decided to begin with one of her best skills, telekinesis. Even though she could no longer move objects of much size or weight, causing anything to move without touching it should be fairly impressive. She reached into her pack and pulled out a tennis ball.

“I didn’t bring my racquet,” Cali said when she saw the ball. She grinned. “Are we going to play catch?”

“Very funny,” Leesa replied. “But catch is a good idea.” She nodded toward the far end of the table. “Go sit down there.”

Cali got up and moved to the chair at the opposite end of the table. Leesa slid her own chair around to the other end and then reached out and placed the ball about six inches out onto the table. Surprisingly, the old table was fairly level, and the ball sat right where she placed it.

Getting into what she called her everywhere/nowhere state was second nature to Leesa now. One slow deep breath and mentally repeating her trigger word “breathe” was all she needed to reach the tranquil, yet focused state necessary for successful magic. She pictured the tennis ball rolling toward Cali. Almost immediately, the ball began to slowly move down toward Cali’s end of the table.

Rolling a ball was not that impressive a feat, Leesa knew, since balls were made to roll. And there was always the chance that the table sloped slightly in Cali’s direction, which would make it even more natural for the ball to roll that way. But Leesa had another trick up her sleeve that she thought she could manage even with her weakened magic—a trick she was pretty sure Cali would find impressive. Just as Cali began to reach for the ball, Leesa changed the image in her head. The ball stopped for a moment and then began to roll back toward Leesa, leaving Cali grabbing at air. Cali grinned in appreciation—there was no way the ball could have been rolling downhill in
both
directions.

“Pretty neat,” Cali said. “I didn’t expect that. But I’m not sure that little trick is going to strike fear into the hearts of any black wizards.”

Leesa smiled. “Really? I thought for sure it would send them running for cover.” She grabbed the ball from the table. “It’s all just practice, remember? I was moving chairs and stones before my magic got weakened—but that’s not going to scare any black wizards either. It might distract one, though, and give Dominic a chance to use some real magic.”

“Or Rave,” Cali added, remembering Leesa’s story about drawing Josef’s attention with a plant growth spell so that Rave could get close enough to destroy Josef with his magic fire.

“Exactly. Maybe one day I’ll be powerful enough to be a real factor in a fight, but it’s going to take lots of work.”

“You will be,” Cali said confidently. “Remember what you did to Edwina—and you didn’t even know what you were doing back then. That shows how much magic you’ve got inside you.”

Leesa smiled, thinking about all the things she had done in the past few months. She really could turn into something special, she knew—if she survived long enough. She would settle for a long happy life with Rave, though.

“So,” Cali asked, “what else have you got to show me?”

“This is practice, remember? Not show and tell.”

“I know, I know,” Cali said, nodding while she spoke to reinforce that she understood. Then she grinned. “But as long as you’re practicing, you might as well show off a bit.”

Leesa shook her head resignedly. “Incorrigible,” she muttered, using her favorite word to describe Cali’s persistence in most matters. Cali just grinned. She loved having the word attached to her.

“I wish I could show you how I can keep myself warm even outside in the winter,” Leesa said, “because I use a fun visual for that one. Before my magic weakened, I could go without my coat for fifteen minutes.”