Mine to Spell (Mine #2) (20 page)

My knowledge and skills grow, though still feel small compared to theirs, and nothing to what they should be to compete in the tournament. I keep pushing through, hoping it’s enough, but fearing it’s not even close.

I rarely catch a glimpse of my protectors. Unless I count Lukas and Waverly, who I see every day. Lukas always drops in, and Waverly’s presence has been good. Though she was right about Zade being livid. He didn’t stop by, just sent her a scathing letter. Strangely enough, Waverly read it out loud to me, laughing at inappropriate times. At least she seems happy, and I’m glad to have someone else in the house. It’s not as cold with her here. Except right now she’s gone with Chadwick to get some groceries. I’m alone. Well, as alone as I can be. I’m sure there are at least a few warlocks watching over the house to keep me safe.

I’m supposed to be practicing a blocking spell, but instead I’m playing with moving the air in the room. Sweeping it back and forth, sometimes lightly in a powder blue and sometimes with large blue-violet gusts. When it’s strong enough to make an item fall, I rush the air as quickly as I can to catch the item and put it back. It’s like a game, but it would be more fun if someone else was here to push the air back and forth with me.

A knock sounds at the door. I can’t imagine who it would be, but if it was someone dangerous, the guards would have stopped them. Even if the guards couldn’t, I’m certain the attacker wouldn’t be knocking. I pull my magic back into myself and head for the door. I almost open it, but then decide even if it seems safe, I should still be cautious. I do the one-sided, invisible-door spell I'm getting quite good at. Once I see who it is, I squeal, yank open the door, and try to wrap Serena and Bethany in a hug at the same time.

Once I’m done squeezing them, or at least finished hugging them on the porch where anyone can see us, I beckon them into the house.

“What are you doing here? I thought it wasn’t safe.”

“
I’m done being safe. I’m here to find out what’s going on with you because something clearly is,” Serena says.

“
And I made her bring me,” Bethany says.

“
But I’m not staying in the same room as before,” Serena adds.

“
Wouldn’t dream of putting you through that again.” It must be hard enough, just coming back here and reliving the memories. I hug them again. “I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you, thank you.” Tears prick my eyes, so I hurry to change the topic. “How long are you staying?”

“
Just the night, unfortunately,” Serena says. “We want to stay longer, but they need us at home.”

“
Who is tending the girls?”

“
They have mother. She claimed she’s feeling well enough for the task,” Bethany says.

Serena adds, “I also think she’s becoming more accustomed to the idea of father not being around.”

“I think so as well,” Bethany says. “Besides, the older girls are helping.”

“
They’re not as young as they used to be. None of us were ever really young for long.” The thought makes me ache for all of us. I wish we would have known things could be different sooner. Or that we lived in a different country. Or, even better, that someone had already given a woman her freedom before Serena came along, and that another woman showed us all girls can do magic as well. Things could have been so different. But the only way it will change now is if I keep pushing forward.

“
I’m thrilled you’re here. Really I am. But isn’t this going to put more pressure on our family? There’s already negativity and worry surrounding us. Won't you being here make it worse?”

“
It’s a little late to be worrying about that. The rumors of your freedom are spreading.”

“
I’m sorry about all of this.” My voice sounds as tiny as I feel. “I didn’t mean to make everything worse. I wanted to make things better.”

“
Don’t be sorry,” Serena says, her voice fierce. “It may be harder on us, on our family, but what you’re doing—” She blinks away the wetness in her eyes. “Zade freed me. You freed yourself. I wish I was brave enough to be as strong as you are.”

My chin quivers. “That’s not all. I’ve done something that could be deadly.”

They both look at me with patient disbelief in their eyes, like they believe I have done something but not something deadly. They did grow up with me after all and know most of my antics are usually easy to hide. Part of me wishes that was the case this time while the other part finally feels like I’m doing what I should.

“
What is it?” Serena’s voice betrays only a hint of her agitation at being presented with another of my problems.

I take a shaky breath, but it does nothing to calm me. “I’m dueling in the tournament.”

Bethany’s eyes crinkle before lighting. I can almost see her putting thoughts together, all the little pieces from us growing up starting to make sense. Serena’s a different story. Her forehead bunches as she grips her skirt.

“
Don’t be silly, Cynthia. You may have the status of a warlock, but the only way you could compete with them is by using a gun. I doubt they’ll let your status remain if you try that.”

“
Why don’t you sit down?” I say.

Serena eyes the sitting room, a place we never entered when staying previously with Thomas. “I’m fine. We just need to clear this matter.”

“Cynthia’s right,” Bethany adds. “It’s probably best if we sit.”

Serena takes a step back. “There’s no reason to sit. We just need to talk this over rationally. There’s no need for you to duel. You don’t cast spells.”

Guilt pricks my chest. “Serena…”

She backs up until she hits the wall. “No. I’d know. We’d know. Women don’t do magic. We can only carry it. We don't do it.”

“It’s true.”

“
No. You can’t. Women can’t.”

“
What was my hair like when we were little?”

She shakes her head, staying silent, but Bethany says, “It was everywhere. Your curls were hard to manage. You, mother, and Serena were often punished over it. Until your hair suddenly became more manageable…”

She eyes my locks. Serena does as well, her fist gripping her skirt even tighter.

“
They became more manageable when I learned how to keep them spelled in place.”

Bethany bites her lower lip, but nods like it all makes sense. Serena, though, her eyes tighten. “Edward must have done something to you. Spells leave light. You know that. We’d see it.”

Now doesn’t feel like the time to tell her it wasn’t Edward that did something to me, but rather that I did something to him. “They do leave color, but some are more noticeable than others. Father’s silencing spell?”

Serena clamps her mouth closed.

“It’s clear,” Bethany replies.

“
And so is this one, mostly anyway. It does tend to take on the color of my hair, but no one’s ever noticed.”

“
This explains the burned blanket I found at the bottom of your trunk,” Bethany says.

My face heats.

When there’s still no reply from Serena, Bethany says, “Please show us. Just nothing that will burn another blanket. Something nice.”

Immediately, magic stirs within me. It’s been aching to show itself to my sisters for years, and now it has the chance. Only, I don’t know how well Serena’s going to take it. Pushing aside my misgivings, I close my eyes and let the magic flow from me. There’s a gasp, but I don’t look yet. The spell meshes with the spell already on my hair. I picture the spell returning to me, leaving my hair in its natural state of disarray. Once complete, I finally chance opening my eyes.

Serena’s hand presses against her mouth, eyes riveted on my hands.

“
That was amazing,” Bethany says. “I can’t believe you’ve been hiding it all these years. What made it finally come out?”

“
Edward tried to take my blood. My magic. I couldn’t let him. The spells just flew out of me.”

“
You hexed a warlock?” Serena is pale, eyes wide.

“
I did,” I say and hastily add, “But don’t tell anyone. If they find out, I’m sure not only my ownership would be under question, but my life and your memory of me, as well.”

“
Our memory?” Bethany asks.

It’s something I wish I never had to admit. The position I’ve put us all in. “Zade said whenever a woman in Chardonia does magic, the council kills her and erases everyone’s memory of her.”

Bethany emits a small gasp.

After too long a moment, Serena says, “It will take some time for me to get used to this idea, but I promise to keep it secret.”

Relief courses through me, though not nearly enough of it. “Until the tournament at least. I’m certain the council knows, or at least suspects, I can do magic, but since the only people I’ve shown are keeping it to themselves, there’s no proof as of yet. That, backed with those in high rank and from other countries who are expecting to see me in the tournament, to see if I really can do magic or am just faking it, is enough to keep the danger away for now.”

“
Just for now?”

“
We’re trying to figure out a way to show so many people I can do magic at once that the council has no choice but to leave me be. It’s more danger for our family, though.”

Bethany wraps her arms around me, her soft voice full of surety. “Chardonia needs to see this, even if it means putting our family in jeopardy.”

Emotion burns my eyes at her words.

“
We’ll be here for you.” Serena takes a deep breath, her voice quivering. “I’ll be here for you, supporting you as much as I can so you can do this.”

The tears come harder but with them a new resolve. “I’ll do my best.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Ever since Serena and Bethany’s all-too-short visit, I miss the girls more than ever. The days are long, full of practicing and longing to be with them. Waverly picks up on my mood, though, and spends extra time with me. Most of it is spent practicing magic.

Today we’re in the ballroom. Not as big and grand as the one at Zade’s house, but more than ample space to practice. All we really need is a circle of space that’s much too confined.

“
Let’s try again,” Waverly says.

“
I just don’t want to hurt you.” I’m currently working on mastering spell that Lukas taught me which isn’t lethal but leaves a painful sting.

She huffs, probably upset that we’ve had this conversation too many times today. And the rest of the week. “You are competing in a tournament which requires you to throw hexes at others. If you can’t do that, you’re not going to come out alive.”

“I know. I know.” A sudden urge to stamp my foot like Sally does overtakes me. No point in me acting like one of my younger sisters, though, no matter how much I want to. “You’re not a warlock. It’d be so much easier to hex them.” Though that thought still leaves me feeling guilty.

“
You know that’s not true.”

I give her a look.

“Oh, don’t give me that. You can’t hex Lukas any better than you can hex me.”

I scuff the teal-spelled line making up the circle with the toe of my boot. It flashes bronze every time I touch it. “That’s different.”

“It's not, Cynthia. You have to change your frame of mind. What if you two end up competing against each other? You’d have to cast a spell against him or lose.”

My stomach tightens like a chain has been wrapped around it. “There’s so many people entering. I doubt we’ll be paired against each other.”

“True, but what if you are?” When I don’t respond, she continues, “Or what if you’re paired with someone who turns out to be as nice as Lukas? Chardonians aren’t the only ones competing, you know.”

“
I’ll channel my father.”

“
Then channel him now.”

Raising my hand, I call my magic together picturing a horde of bees stinging her, but as soon as I see her face, I drop my hands. “I just don’t want to become him.”

Waverly puffs out a breath and crashes though the spelled circle, flashing it bronze for a moment before leaving me alone inside its teal bounds. “You’re not like your father.”

“
How can you know that? You weren’t there. You didn’t see what I did to Edward. You didn’t see how I relished it. Part of me still relishes it. There has to be a way I can win without becoming like them.”

She comes back over to me, wiping the spelled ring away with a flick of her wrist as she does so. The sharp, frustrated lines of her face have smoothed into worried frown creases. “You aren’t like them, Cynthia. You’re nothing like them.”

“Maybe. But I feel like I’m drifting closer to being like them than I should. One day, I’m afraid I’ll realize I’ve become just like them, and worse, I won’t even care.”

“
That’s the difference between you and them. You do care. You don’t want to become like them and you’re staying aware of it. As long as you keep doing that, you’ll be fine.”