I laugh, on the verge of crying again. “For ateenager.”
“It’s all right—you can admit you want me. It’s a bit weird though, when you think about it.”
Tilting my head back to contain my tears, I laugh again. When I get control of myself, I look back at him. “I don’t want you to waste your life like this. I’m going to help you, Rowan. I don’t know how, but I swear we’re going to change you back into a man.”
A heavy sigh rocks his owl body. “I’m sorry Laverna placed this burden on you. It wasn’t fair.”
A loud and urgent knock demands our attention. When I look toward the front of the shop, I find Ansel standing in the rain.
I run across the large room and throw open the door.
“I have an idea,” the sorcerer says, his eyes bright with triumph. “I know how to use Ryder’s magic.”
Ushering him inside, I glance out at the street. The rain is already ebbing. Maybe people will think it was a passing afternoon storm.
“How?” Rowan demands. Protecting his friend’s secret, he adds, “You know he’s not…trained.”
“He doesn’t have to be,” Ansel says. “He won’t be wielding it—I will. Not Ryder, not Kit.”
“Explain.” Rowan demands.
“We’ll siphon it into the dust pendant along with Kit’s, and then I’ll wield the combined concoction like you would a magic cache—much like you were going to have Kit do, but I’m actually qualified to cast the spell.”
“Impossible. Your magic will interfere.”
“Not if I deplete it first.”
“You can’t fully deplete your magic. At best, you’ll pass out. At worst, you’ll die.”
Ansel waves away his concern. “It won’t come to that.”
“You barely know me—you can’t take that kind of risk.”
“Wouldyoudo it?” Ansel counters.
Rowan doesn’t respond, but his silence is all the answer that’s needed. It’s a clear, resoundingyes.
And suddenly, two truths become apparent about sorcerers:
One, they’re completely insane.
Two, they’re born to push boundaries. They’ll test their magic. They’ll attempt the impossible, just so they can move on and try something crazier. It’s their nature.
“Will a dust pendant hold elf magic?” Rowan finally asks. “They’re crafted specifically for raw, unwieldable pixie magic.”
“We’re going to find out.”
“Even if it will, do you think you’re capable of reversing a class five metamorphosis?”
“It will only be a class four when I do it, since I won’t be performing the magic on myself. And I’m capable, yes.”
“You specialized in earth.”
“But I apprenticed a transfigurist for two years before I got my master certification.”
Rowan thinks about it, walking up and down the back of the chair. “All right, let’s say we do this. You won’t be able to depleteallof your magic. What if that small bit that’s left in your system interferes?”
“I believe that if it does—and I don’t think it will—it will null out the spell. No harm done.”
