Katherine smiled at her, then nodded to Fiona, who pulled out her caster and cut into her palm. Lily flinched. Katherine had told her that doing magic their way involved cutting yourself, but this was her first time seeing it in action. Fiona barely reacted as blood welled up from her hand.
Lily looked away from the red, but was immediately drawn back by a flash of blue. It was a bright symbol, like a projection on Fiona’s skin, there and then gone. It was replaced by a glimmering bubble, rising from her hand and growing bigger and bigger, until it encased all three of them. Unlike her magic, this magic looked and felt calm—like a wave flowing through the air, rather than the violent sparks that Lily’s exploded in.
Lily reached for the bubble, running her hand lightly along its inner surface. It felt warm and dewy, like fresh grass. The thing inside her responded to it, but not with the rage she was used to. It seemed almost… happy.
Katherine pulled her knife out of her pocket as well, and then the scent of blood was filling the air again, followed by a bitter scent like burnt popcorn. The same blue flash on her palm, and then another bubble grew around the three of them, a second layer to the protection spell.
“You’re covered now,” Katherine said. “Your magic is not gonna get out. It’ll only last a minute, but it’ll be enough for you to try a little something.”
Lily looked at the shell that had formed around her. Her power was practically dancing inside her, begging to be set free. She wasterrified of lifting the cap she’d put on it, but the bubble seemed solid, and she was desperate for any relief from the pounding of magic in her skull. She lifted the lid on the well inside her just slightly, but instead of a trickle, it came out in a flood. She slammed it shut, her body shaking.
“It’s too much,” she said. “I don’t know how to not bring up all of it at once.”
“Pretend that you’re a tree, that your roots are going into the earth,” Katherine said. “Your roots are your magic, and you’re going to dig up a piece of it, just a little bit, and let it out. You’re giving back your power to the earth from where you came.”
Lily did as Katherine said, closing her eyes. It felt silly to pretend to be a tree. Hell, she grew up in Los Angeles—the most she knew about trees was that the city’s famous palms were definitely not native. Her mind instead landed on the image of the new apartment complex that was being built on her street. They’d torn a massive hole in the ground before sinking down the foundation, the concrete and wood that would keep the building tied to its spot. The building materials didn’t choose where they would end up—they simply appeared there, and then they did what they had to do.
Lily had to do the same.
She looked into her mind, and she dug her hands into the foundation of her power, and she let it flow through her fingers.
And when she opened her eyes, there was a small spark in front of her.
Lily’s breath caught in her chest. It was so beautiful, that little red dot hanging in the air. A piece of her, outside her body, doing nothing except enriching the environment around her. Leaving a place better than she found it.
Katherine smiled at her, and then her bubble faded. Fiona’s followed, until they were standing totally in the open.
“Holy shit,” Lily breathed. “Sorry. I shouldn’t curse.”
“No one cares if you curse,” Fiona said.
“See?” Katherine said. “Magic can be beautiful, once you learn to control it. That’s what we’re here to help you do.”
Lily stared at the spark for a moment, and then felt her face split into a wide, open smile. Magic. She had actualmagic. All she had to do was learn to control it and then—
All of a sudden, there was a creak. The noise startled Lily, breaking her focus, and the spark shattered, a blast of heat exploding from Lily as her unsettled magic surged through the air. She ducked, covering her head as a table flipped nearby. She felt another protection bubble go up around her, containing the rest of her snap, but it didn’t matter. The damage was done.
“I didn’t mean to,” Lily murmured, repeating it again and again, except it didn’t help, because who cared if she meant to or not. The power had been in control, not her, and it could do that whenever it wanted.
Lily dug her head into her knees, the roar of the blood pounding in her skull making it hard to hear anything else. She stayed like that until she felt a soft hand on her knee. When she looked up, she found a blond woman kneeling in front of her, her green eyes shining with concern.
“It’s okay,” the woman said. Katherine stood behind her, blood dripping from her hand onto the floor from the cut she’d made to save these people from Lily.
“Small snaps like that are going to happen,” the woman continued. “I’m Sylvia, the head of Aestas. I’m going to help you figure this all out.”
“I can’t.” Lily’s voice shook. “I’m going to do that again.”
Sylvia shook her head. “No one got hurt, and that’s all that matters. You’re safe, we’re safe. We’re going to help you. You’re going to be a great witch, Lily.”
A great witch. Lily didn’t want to be a great witch. She wanted to be a great daughter, a great friend, a great sister. She wanted things that she could no longer have.
“I don’t want to be a witch.” She sniffled. “I want to go back to my life.”
“I wish you could,” Sylvia said. “I really do.”
Sylvia stood up, holding a hand out to Lily. Lily looked at it for a moment. A choice: to take it or stay here on the floor. But like every choice she’d had since this power found her, it was a false one. Becauseeven if she didn’t take it, even if she stayed here, her situation wouldn’t go back to normal. She could stand on her own, but it wouldn’t change anything. She’d still be tied here, still forced to accept these people’s help if she wanted any hope of making it through this.
She took Sylvia’s hand and stood.
