Fortunately, no one else noticed my uncomfortable descent, too busy squabbling with each other. Only Nolan seems to have any real concern over the experiments, which might have something to do with the fact it’s his home we’re experimenting at.
“This is a bad idea,” Nolan objects, as we approach the line of Douglas-firs that separate the back of his family’s property and the rest of the forest.
“Your objection is duly noted… again,” Kaleb replies, flipping open his notebook and writing something down.
“Are you actually making a note of it?” Felix snickers, attempting to look over Kaleb’s shoulder.
Kaleb rolls his eyes. “Of course not. I’m making notes for different techniques we can try based on our limited knowledge.”
“My point exactly!” Nolan cries, throwing his hands up in the air. “Magic is not something to mess with.”
“What’s wrong, dude? Worried you’ll get your hair wet?” Donovan teases, reaching over to mess up his hair.
“Fuck off,” he grumbles, swiping Donovan’s hand away.
Nolan looks like a page ripped from a Men’s Fall Fashion catalogue with a long sleeved shirt that wants to be a Henley-- except it unbuttons to nearly his waist with a tank undershirt, another pair of expensive fitted jeans, and a pair of high tops that don’t look like they’ve seen the outdoors. I wonder how long he spends picking out his clothes every morning--- or does he have someone do that for him?
The others are dressed in what I’m starting to notice is their own standard attire. Kaleb is in another button up, untucked, with a pullover sweater, Connor is in lumberjack teen edition, Donovan discovered he owned a Henley not in black-- it’s gunmetal grey-- though I’m unsure he knows his proper size since it’s again painted on, and Felix is in a red t-shirt that says,This shirt is blue if you run fast enough.
“My hope is for a more contained spell than a thunderstorm,” Kaleb comments, looking up from his notebook. “That’s why I chose this location. The stream offers a readily available water source that Callie can focus on.”
Donovan walks over next to Kaleb to also peer over his shoulder at the notebook. “So you’re sure her element is water?”
“I’m not sure about anything,” he admits, tapping his pen against the notebook. “My guess is either water or wind based on what we’ve seen.”
Guilt slithers through my gut. I know by keeping my healing abilities a secret, I’m hindering Kaleb’s ability to find useful information, but if I tell them, they’ll want to know why I didn’t say it sooner. Why I acted like I didn’t know anything about the existence of the supernatural. Which I didn’t-- sort of-- but either way, revealing what I’m capable of leads either to more lies or truths I’m afraid to share. If I’m being honest with myself, the longer they don’t know the truth, the longer I can pretend that it didn’t happen-- that I can at least have the vague trappings of normal.
You know, if you leave out that I’m a witch and we’re experimenting on how to cast spells.
“Did we remember umbrellas in case of a repeat performance?” Felix asks, while looking up at the clear blue sky, then looks at Nolan and grins. “For you corporeal types that can actually get rained on, that is.”
Donovan snorts. “Don’t know why everyone is so worried. It’s just water for fuck’s sake.”
“Or possibly a tornado if her element is wind not water,” Nolan points out warily.
“She’s not going to make a tornado,” Donovan sighs, then looks over at me. “Right?”
“Uh… right,” I chirp, nodding my head like I have any idea how to make or not make a tornado. I chew on my lip. “But if Nolan really doesn’t want us to experiment, we can wait until we know more.”
“It’s fine,” Nolan grumbles, plopping down on one of the larger rocks next to the stream. “Just… try not to destroy anything.”
“Aw, you’re no fun,” Felix pouts, as he float leans against one of the trees. “The best part of experiments is blowing stuff up.”
“She’s more likely to knock something down than blow something up,” Donovan comments while reading over Kaleb’s shoulder, then looks up when everyone is quiet. “What? I’m an asshole. Not an idiot.”
Kaleb sighs. “There’s also the real possibility that nothing will happen. I researched spellbooks, specifically ones that only have verbal components, but I have no idea if any of these are real. Honestly, most things I found were ridiculous. One promised that it would turn the caster into a mermaid, but only after a few months.”
Donovan snorts.
“So, no mermaid shifters?” I ask, looking up at Connor with what I hope is a natural smile.
He gives me aI can’t believe you asked me thatexpression and mutters, “No.”
“Point is,” Kaleb says with a shake of his head, “that everything is guess work until I can at the very least track down a real grimoire, which is more challenging to come by than I thought.”
“We’re not going to the coven,” Donovan stresses. “We keep those bitches far away from Callie for as long as possible.”
“I second that,” Nolan chimes in, raising one finger into the air, and Connor grows still beside me.
