“And give them a bunch of accidental plant buddies,” I mutter under my breath, still a little sensitive over how my magic supercharged the growth spell into something that parts of rainforests can’t compete with.
“Control takes time, my dear,” my nan comforts me, her tone filled with compassion and patience. She points to the tennis balls. “And this will help with that.”
I give myself a little shake, deciding I can have my magic lesson first and then convince her to let Nolan take a thrall, even though he technically doesn’t need one. That will be particularly challenging since, outside of vampire controlled territories, thralls are extremely taboo. “Okay, what are we doing with tennis balls?”
“It’s the first step toward the spell you’ve wanted to know since first discovering you were a witch.” Her smile widens to a full grin as she waits for me to guess.
It only takes a few seconds for me to realize what spell she means, and genuine excitement has me bouncing and clapping my hands. “Fantasia!”
My nan laughs, delight crinkling the corners of her brown eyes. “Not exactly what the spell is called, but yes, I’m going to teach you how to use magic to clean.” She tosses me one of thetennis balls. “First step is learning how to have full control over multiple spells being performed at once.”
“Or I’ll end up with a forever sweeping broom, and not in a cool way,” I state, recalling my nan’s first warnings about this spell while tossing the ball between my hands. “Since ball plus forest doesn’t equal cleaning, what are we doing here?”
“You’ll be commanding multiple tennis balls to move in different patterns.” She picks up one of the balls, stares at it intently, and then with calm authority, says, “Bounce.”
The ball hops out of her hand, hits the ground with a muffled thud, and then springs up in a perfect straight line. Considering a blanket over dirt isn’t really an ideal surface, the ball only bounces maybe a foot in the air, but it continues to go up and down with the consistency of a metronome. The movement, however, does gain Mischief’s attention from his snoozing location inside my nan’s bag. His large head pops out over the edge and starts bobbing in perfect timing with the tennis ball. Apparently, despite being a high fae who’s well over a thousand years old, he still has many cat-centric tendencies.
Ignoring the fae’s interest in her bouncing ball, my nan continues to explain today’s lessons. “Actively controlling multiple spells at the same time, which is different from casting multiple spells on objects that are meant to remain spelled, takes focus that is difficult to master.” She swirls her finger to encompass our surroundings. “This location should prevent any broken windows.”
“Ah.” I nod with a somewhat bemused smile. “That’s why we aren’t doing our lesson in the garage like normal.”
“One wild tennis ball could risk some damage to my alchemy equipment and workspace, yes, but that’s not something I’d fault you for. This is difficult for any witch tomaster.” She gives Mischief a hard look. “And I’m sure our fae friend will be more than willing to help retrieve any errant balls that escape into the forest.”
His yellow eyes rise from the bouncing ball to give her a glare of displeasure. It seems to imply that if he were to go after a stray ball, he certainly wouldn’t return it.
“A sworn protector for the high priestess would be exceptionally invested in her further expanding education,” she muses, ignoring the dirty glare. “Considering the more the high priestess knows, the more capable she will be of protecting herself.”
Mischief stares at my nan for a long beat, makes grumbling cat noises, and goes back to snoozing inside her bag that he barely fits in. My nan smirks, clearly enjoying her teasing victory over the fae. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear they were flirting. I mean, Mischief has flirted with Mildred, but I got the impression she was immune to his pursuits. It makes me realize how much I still need to learn about the woman who fundamentally changed my life for the better. I don’t even know what happened to my grandfather. Is he still alive? And if so, does he know anything about me?
Disrupting my spiraling thoughts, my nan begins my lesson. “For now, we’re going to focus on two objects at the same time and work up from there.”
“Sure, yeah, I can do that.” I release a deep breath and hope I won’t make trees attempt to bounce along with the ball. “So I just focus and tell the ball what to do?”
“Your magic is very intuitive,” she states, grabbing another tennis ball for herself. “What I want you to do is fully imagine the scene in your mind’s eye. Feel the weight in your hand, and imagine it rolling off your fingers, hitting the ground, andbouncing back up in the air. Don’t allow any other image to enter your mind. There are only the ball and your will.”
I scoff over the idea of my mind emptying enough for that kind of focus. “Easier said than done.”
Her lips twitch as she raises a single brow. “If it was easy, everyone would do it.”
I stare at the fluorescent green ball, taking in all its small fuzzy details. “Is this how you control how much magic you use? By keeping other thoughts from entering your head?”
“Yes, it’s part of it,” she answers, her British accent adding to her more academic tone. “Through practice and focus, you’ll develop a relationship with your magic that will lead to an understanding of how much you need for any given task.” Her voice softens, regret coloring her next words. “A huge part of your relationship with your magic has been built around survival. It’s your natural inclination to draw massive amounts of magic into yourself very quickly, because you’ve needed it as a way to protect yourself and save your loved ones.”
Her sensitivity hits like a piercing dagger in my chest as all the secrets I’ve kept from her pile on my tongue. Even today, after she teaches me something wondrous, I plan to use manipulative tactics to get the approval I need, because I’m scared of telling her the truth. I’m scared to tell her that this whole thrall thing is just to cover up for bringing Felix back from the dead by inserting his soul into James’s corpse.
My feelings must show on my face, because she puts the ball down and crawls over next to me. Wrapping an arm around my shoulders, she pulls me against her. “What is troubling you, my darling? Please tell me. I may be able to help.”
The dam holding back all my guilt and shame breaks, and I can’t help the tears that begin to trickle down my cheeks. It’sover. I can’t lie to her anymore. Resting my head against her shoulder, I breathe in her rose perfume and hope she’ll still love me when she learns I broke the ultimate supernatural law.
“I’m sorry,” I sob, squeezing the tennis ball in my hands.
My nan brushes her lips against the top of my head. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out.”
I shake my head, wishing I could run away from this sick feeling inside me. “I did something I know I shouldn’t have, but it was the only way to save him.”
“Save who? Nolan?” she asks gently, her hand softly stroking down my arm.
Again, I shake my head, and then in a broken whisper, I admit what might make her hate me forever. “Felix. He’s… alive now.”
