Triumph of Chaos (Red Magic) (8 page)

Izzy camped out on my old trundle bed, sharing my bedroom with me. The last person to use that bed was Rochelle, back when we were best friends, but Izzy only laughed when I told her that.

“Then it’s due for a good cleaning.” She sent a surge of Blue energy at the mattress, and in a minute my whole room smelled like lemon and flowers.

“What did you do?” I asked, amazed at the fresh, clean scent that filled the space. I wasn’t too keen on cleaning, and this was the best my room had smelled in a long time. Usually, I used candles and incense to mask the smell of dirty laundry.

Izzy laughed. “Just a simple cleaning spell. That’s one of the things you can do with water.”

I patted the bed, but it was perfectly dry. “Can you teach me?”

She shrugged. “It’s not hard. What’s your favorite smell?”

I paused for a minute. “Cinnamon,” I finally decided.

“Okay, good. So think of cinnamon, and now think of fresh, clean water. When your energy is filled with scent and intent, let it go.”

I tried to do as she instructed, but instead of the quick flash that had accompanied Izzy’s magic, a round fireball shot across the room. I yelped, and Izzy quickly doused it with a stream of water. Steam filled the air, but when it cleared, my bed was untouched.

“Sorry,” I said sheepishly. “I did what you told me.”

Izzy nodded. “Sometimes, I forget that our magics are so fundamentally different.” She was silent for a minute, thinking. “What kind of magic did Marcus teach you?”

I stared at her in surprise. “How did you know about that?”

She shrugged. “I figured that if you guys worked together at all, he’d get annoyed with how little you know.”

I bristled at her words, but I still told her the truth. “He taught me to work with the elements, but it was all chaos stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Like moving the earth or screwing with the weather.” I didn’t mention that he had also shown me how to repair the damage we had caused, but the memory rose to my mind unbidden. How much more could he have taught me if he’d lived?

“I don’t know how to do any of that.” Izzy leaned forward eagerly, her words cutting through my memories. “Will you teach me?”

I was about to say no, but then I remembered Baldur’s instructions. I stared at her dumbly.

She put her hands on her hips. “What’s your problem? You don’t want to share what you know?”

I tilted my head, considering. “Sure. But what if I don’t just teach you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Justin’s patron, Baldur, suggested that I teach other Witches. And,” I added hurriedly, “maybe you could teach me too?”

She closed her eyes and settled onto the floor with her legs crossed. “That sounds like something I’ve heard before.”

I watched her, and as the seconds ticked by, I found myself wondering if she had drifted off to sleep, but eventually, her eyes popped open.

“I know!” She looked up at me in excitement. “Isis said the same thing to me, right after you and Marcus rescued me.”

I sat down beside her. “What did she say exactly?”

“That knowledge is power. That we must share our power or we won’t stand a chance.”

Baldur’s reminder about Nons flitted through my mind, and I wondered what Izzy’s patron would say about teaching magic to them. I didn’t mention it, though; I agreed with Justin that that wouldn’t be the best place to start. It was going to be hard to overcome my deep distrust of Nons, but I’d worry about that later.
Right now, I just want to focus on how to teach other Witches.

“How could we set up something like this?”

Izzy paused. “The Coven seemed to share their magics with each other. Maybe we should form a group like that?”

I considered pointing out that the Coven hadn’t been such a good idea in the end, but that felt too cruel. Instead I said, “How would we form a group?”

Izzy smacked the side of her forehead and giggled. “We already have a Coven! Well, practically.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We have two Witches of three different magical paths. Plus you.”

I counted on my fingers slowly. “There’s you and Lorna for Blue, and Dr. Farren for White.” I frowned. “Who else?”

“Your parents and Justin, silly. They’re both Green, and he’s White, right?”

Had I told her that? I squinted. “How’d you know that?”

She looked surprised. “You can’t tell?”

“Well, I mean, I knew it already. How did you?”

She exhaled loudly. “I can see magic. I can look at any Witch and tell you what path he follows without ever seeing him cast a spell.”

I stared at her, processing her words. “Is this an Isis thing?”

“Maybe. She is Mistress of Magic, right?”

I nodded, still unsure.

“Remember when we met? I knew you were a Red before you said anything.”

The memory of Izzy confidently telling me she knew what I was rushed back. “I’ve never heard of another Witch who could do that.”

Izzy shrugged. “I guess it’s sort of like the hippies who can read auras,” she continued. “I have to concentrate to do it, but I saw the Green around your dad the first time we met, and your mom too. Justin’s magic is so strong that I thought I was looking at an angel or something.”

I choked on a giggle. “He’s great, but he’s no angel.”

“But he’s like you. His magic sticks out about a foot from his entire body.”

“That’s how far mine extends?” I stretched out my arms, staring at them intently, but I couldn’t see anything. “Can you show me?”

Squinting her eyes in concentration, Izzy traced her hand around my head. I couldn’t see the color she said was there, but her hand never came closer to my body than a foot and a half.

When she was done, I asked, “What does it mean?”

She shrugged. “I always associate people with a wider aura of magic with more power. That means that you and Justin are two of the more powerful Witches I’ve ever met.”

A thought occurred to me. “Izzy,” I began slowly, “what did you see when you fought Rochelle?”

Izzy pursed her lips. “Hers is bigger than yours. But it’s weird: it’s Red along the outside, but inside, close to her body, it’s Black.”

I shivered, not sure what that could mean. “So Rochelle is stronger than I am?”

She nodded. “Only if you face her alone.”

“Right.” I took a shaky breath. “When should we talk to the others about forming a Coven?”

Izzy smiled sweetly and flopped down onto her freshly cleaned bed. “When I wake up. But I warn you, I might sleep for years.”

I chuckled. “The cat won’t let you. We’ll tell them in the morning.”

I flicked off the light, and my room plunged into darkness. I lay awake for a while, listening to the sounds of Izzy’s breathing. Despite the disaster that had hit the Coven, I felt almost relaxed for the first time in months as I drifted off to sleep. That night, no nightmares plagued me, and if I had any dreams at all, I didn’t remember them in the morning.

Mom had taken Dr. Farren and Lorna out to the coast before Izzy and I woke up. While on the one hand I was glad she was doing everything she could to try and help them heal from the shock of Samuel and Roy’s betrayal, I was also sort of annoyed. I’d really been ready to broach the subject of a Coven with my parents, and I knew I needed Mom’s support before I tried to talk to Dad.

“Did she say when they’d be back?” I grumbled at my dad, who sat quietly at the kitchen table with his newspaper.

“Do the math yourself, Lena. It’s a three-hour drive, and they left here before sunup. Your mom will be home around dinner, I’d guess.” He sounded cranky too, and I wondered why.

Izzy grabbed a bagel and sat down next to him. “Then that just means you get to hear the idea first.”

I shook my head at her frantically, but she didn’t notice. Dad looked at her before folding his paper and setting it down.

“All right, you’ve got my attention. What do I get to hear first?”

Izzy nodded at me, and I sighed. I took a long swallow of coffee, trying to stall, and I felt Izzy kick me under the table. Finally, I said, “When Izzy helped me fight Rochelle in January, it worked because there were two of us.”

Izzy rolled her eyes, but Dad nodded, his face blank. “That’s nothing new.”

“I know.” I took a deep breath. “Look, Izzy and I were thinking that if we could form a Coven—”

Dad sputtered, cutting me off. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

My temper flared. “Why? What’s wrong with the idea of trying to work with other Witches? Doing it alone hasn’t worked for me so far.”

“Darlena, you were working with another Witch when you blew up that nuclear plant!”

I glared at him. “That’s different.”

“How?”

Izzy leaned forward.“Because then, it was just two Reds. A Coven would have more than one kind of magic. It would be balanced, sort of.”

Dad ignored her and stared at me. “Just who were you thinking of for this little group?”

I took a deep breath. “Like Izzy said, balance is important. So if we found, say, two Blues, two Greens, and two Whites, we’d have a place to start.”

“And I assume you wouldn’t try to bring another Red into it?” I’d never heard my dad sound so bitter, and I stared at him for a minute before answering.

“Right. We need balance, but we also need an uneven number. Right, Izzy?”

She nodded. “Dr. Farren’s old Coven was made up of nine Witches. If we could get nine, that would be awesome.”

“So we’d need two more. But of which color?” I looked at Izzy.

“I’d say Yellow.”

I nodded, forgetting my dad for a minute. “Then we’d have all the paths. But I don’t know any Yellows.”

Dad interrupted. “Is this your grand plan to avoid going back to school?”

His words triggered my memory, and I nodded. “I forgot! Yes, Dad, because the Coven would be kind of a school, too.”

He frowned. “I don’t follow.”

“We’d share our different magics with each other,” Izzy said, smiling. “Darlena and I have lots of ideas.”

“And Dad,” I said slowly, “I know you want me to go back to school, but Justin’s patron said maybe I should teach what I know and learn from other Witches, just like Izzy is saying.” That wasn’t exactly what Baldur had said, but I didn’t feel like explaining the whole thing to my dad just then.

He frowned. “I’m uncomfortable with the concept of a Coven. Why do you think you need to form a group like that, Lena? Look at what happened to them.” He pointed outside vaguely, but I knew he was talking about Dr. Farren and Lorna.

“Witches are stronger together. That’s one of the things they know in Europe that we’ve seemed to forget over here. A Coven would give us a good chance to stand against Rochelle and the Red gods.”

Dad smacked his hand on the table, and Izzy and I both jumped. “There it is. The root of all this. You need to get over your jealousy of your best friend and let it go.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. “She’s tried to kill me. Multiple times. But this isn’t about Rochelle.”

Izzy shook her head. “Mr. Agara, the Red gods want to end the world. That’s what we’re trying to stop.”

He frowned at her. “Forgive me, Izzy, but you’re a child. Both of you. You have no right meddling in the affairs of the gods. The worst things that have happened in the world lately have been caused by my daughter, not these gods.” He turned his gaze to me. “Are you sure you’re trying to fight against chaos? It seems like all you’ve done is cause it since you declared Red two years ago.”

I stared at him, speechless. Red sparks shot up and down my arms, and Dad flinched. Before I could do anything, though, Izzy grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the table.

“Come on, Lena. Let’s go for a walk.”

As we left the kitchen, my rage exploded, and I found my voice again. I stopped and stared at my father. “If you aren’t with me, you’re on their side. Some Green Witch.” I stomped away before he could answer, Izzy rushing along in my wake.

Once we were outside, I screamed, energy coursing through me. A ball of fire burst into the air above me, and Izzy calmly doused it with her magic.

“What the hell is wrong with him?”

She shrugged. “Lena, he’s upset. You’re his only daughter. Think about what’s happened in the last two years.”