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I chuckled and flipped my hood up. “Really? That’s all it took?”
As I pulled my hand back down from my hood, I noticed strings of swirling light, colorful and vibrant, circulating over my wrist and down over my fingers.
What the fuck?
My eyes went wide, and I flicked my hand as if I could throw them off. Of course, it wasn’t that easy. The wisps of light drifted away from my hand before bouncing back toward me, like they were attached to me somehow.
Oh, shit.
I backed away, flicking my hands down toward the ground over and over, as if I was trying to shake water off of them. My foot caught on the asshole I’d dropped to the ground, and I tripped backward, landing hard on my ass. Breathing hard, I brought both hands up in front of my face, blinking in shock and disbelief.
Moving my hands back and forth, I watched as the streams of magic moved with me. It was as if they were extensions of my body.
They seemed to be responding to my emotions too, because the more panicked and freaked out I got, the brighter the streams of light became, growing longer and more opaque.
Shit. Shit. Get it off me, get it off me!
It was hardly a rational response, but you try suddenly developing magic when you’ve spent nineteen years without it and then tell me how rational your response is.
The big guy scrambled up from the ground, blood streaming down the front of his face. There was a crook in his nose, and the whites of his wide eyes stood out starkly in the dim alley.
One of the guys behind him spoke up, his voice low. “What the fuck, Farrell? You didn’t say she had magic.”
Droopy-Eye furrowed his brow. “I… I didn’t think she did.”
“Yeah, well, she fucking does!” the guy practically screamed. “What the shit? You said this would be an easy mark!”
Excuse me, what now?
My temper flared at the implication that I was just a weak little girl, and my magic flared right along with it.
I leapt to my feet, then thrust my right arm out and watched in shock as a torrent of magic surged forward, wrapping itself around the leg of the man who’d called me an “easy mark”.
Woah. Fucking cool.
Shooting him a toothy grin, I yanked my arm back, pulling his legs out from under him. He went down hard on the asphalt, his head bouncing against the dirty, unforgiving surface. The big guy lunged for me, ignoring the blood still streaming from his busted nose. With a wave of my left arm, I used the magic flowing out of me to wrap around his neck and lift him up in the air. He tried to grab at it, but his hands went right through. I could feel resistance as I lifted my arm, but I was able to bring his body higher, moving him to hover about fifteen feet over a nearby dumpster.
Shit. Now how do I let go?
A second after I had that thought, my long tendril of magic released him, and he dropped like a stone into the dumpster.
The two guys still standing turned tail and attempted to run. It was a smart move on their part, but I was still pissed off enough not to let them get away with it. Maybe whatever magic was flowing through me was doing something weird to my brain, because I felt almost high. A giddy sort of energy filled me, like I’d drunk several pots of coffee in quick succession.
I stomped forward, sending my magic toward the two fleeing men and wrapping it around their waists. I wasn’t even quite sure what I was doing, but it looked like my magic held them suspended in space, unable to run any farther. I moved toward them, stepping over the first victim of my new unforeseen talent, who was still sprawled on the grimy asphalt. His eyelids fluttered as he let out a low groan, but I didn’t even spare him a glance.
Holy shit. What the hell is going on with me?
There was something different about me, as if there was no fear anywhere in my body. The anger had faded too, leaving just a sense of peace… and power. I didn’t need anger, and I didn’t need fear. Not with all the raw magic coursing through my system.
When I neared the two men who’d threatened to jump me, I yanked my right arm back, using the magic emanating from me to drag Droopy-Eye backward, then grabbed him by his collar with the same hand. His eyes were open wide—well, as wide as possible—and his teeth chattered in fear.
“Please, let me go. We didn’t mean anything by it. It was just a little fun,” he sputtered.
I clicked my tongue against the back of my teeth and shook my head. “You really need to pick better hobbies, dickhead.”
Using the strength the magic was gifting me, I tossed him up in the air and then caught him with the current of spiraling lights. In all fairness, I hadn’t been entirely sure I’d be able to catch him before he hit the pavement, but I’d been willing to take that risk. He let out a high-pitched shriek, his arms pinwheeling uselessly in the air, but I held him suspended as I pulled the last guy toward me. I stopped him about a foot away and tilted my head to the side, sizing him up. He didn’t look as scared as the others had. Instead, he looked angry.
Through gritted teeth, he let out a stream of curses. “You fucking magic users are all the same! You think you’re so much better than the rest of us. What, you’re just gonna attack me while I’m bound like this?”
