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I tried to gather and harness my powers, attempting to replace some of the moves I’d done the night before. But compared to my unexpected guests, I was nothing more than a novice. The leader swiped his arms through the air, knocking aside a thick tendril of magic that whipped toward his leg. He put his arms up, and an intense energy pushed against me like a thousand pound weight. I tried to use my own powers to counter it, but I didn’t know what fucking muscle to flex.
How the hell do I control this?
The group marched in together and pushed the door shut behind them. The deadbolt had been ripped clean out of the frame. With a gesture from his other hand, the leader rotated me around in a circle. It felt like I had a rope wrapping around my arms and body, but I couldn’t see anything. He wasn’t hurting me, but he was definitely trying to restrain me. One of the others grabbed a chair and put it behind me just as I lost my balance and plopped down.
Within the space of less than a minute, they had disabled me.
The leader stepped forward and dropped his chin in a nod, watching me intently. “I’m sorry I have to do this. I know you don’t understand what’s going on right now. My name is Oberon, and I’m here to help you. We are all here to help you.”
I shook my head, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the invisible rope around me. “What are you trying to protect me from?”
The man called Oberon smiled, unbuttoning his suit jacket. “From yourself.”
“From myself?” I scoffed, irritation flaring. “I don’t need protecting. I wasn’t the one who got hurt last night.”
Then I stiffened. If I could’ve slapped a hand over my mouth, I would have.
Keep your godsdamned mouth shut, Aria!
Oberon lifted an eyebrow. “I know you’re smarter than that, Aria Banks. We work for the Magical Compliance Enforcement Agency. Our job is to monitor all magic that is performed inside the city, especially when it comes from someone like you. And up until yesterday, you had never manifested magical abilities, is that correct?”
My mouth hung slightly open as I stared at Oberon. My brain felt like it was running at half-speed, working far too slowly to be of any help in coming up with a way out of this. The silence stretched out uncomfortably, but the group standing in front of me seemed to have infinite patience. They just stood there and waited, as if they were certain that eventually I would say something. The stubborn part of me wanted to hold out, make them wait forever—or make them drag it out of me by force.
Then again, I had no fucking clue what’d happened or why, and if there was even the slightest chance they could give me answers, maybe it was in my best interest to play nice with them. So I gave in and tapped out.
“No.” I shook my head, meeting his gaze. “I had no idea I had any type of magic. I don’t understand how it possibly could happen. I’m not from a magical bloodline. My dad was human. My mom died when I was little, but she was human too. I’m sure of it.”
A woman stepped around Oberon and flashed a cursory smile at me. She was very neat and tidy. Her clothes were perfectly ironed, and her white blouse had a collar on it that stood up to her chin, lined with a bit of lace. She looked like what I imagined an old-fashioned school teacher would look like, only much younger. She pushed a pair of thin, black-rimmed glasses up her nose and clutched her hands together in front of her.
“It’s entirely possible neither of your parents had magic,” she said in a light, airy voice. At my shocked look, she lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug. “I’m sure you’ve been taught for most of your life that there are two categories of people in the world—magical and non-magical. The truth, however, is slightly more complex than that. There are a small portion of people who exist in a third category—newly magical. You are correct that you didn’t have magic before. But you do now. The gods have blessed you, Aria.”
I snorted a laughed, looking around for anyone else who wanted to chime in—maybe to tell this woman she was crazy. When no one did, I slowly dropped the smile and cleared my throat. “Okay, so I’ve acquired new magical abilities. Why exactly do you have me tied to a chair then?”
Oberon took a deep breath and released the bind he had on me. I rolled my shoulders, feeling the soreness in them. I wasn’t sure if it was from the invisible rope or from the fights I’d gotten into the night before. He crouched down next to me, and I leaned back a little, feeling suddenly claustrophobic.
“What you need to understand, Aria, is that when you acquire these new magical skills, especially at an older age, you lack the ability to control them. I’m pretty sure that last night, control wasn’t something you even thought about—you just lashed out, and your power lashed out too. We’re here to offer you guidance and instruct you on the next steps.”
I wrinkled my nose, knowing full well I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say. “And what is the next step?”
Oberon stood up and smiled down at me. “School. It’s time for you to go back to school. And before you say anything, it’s not really a request.”
On any other day, I would’ve fought them. But my fingertips were still tingling with magic, and I could still see the slight aura radiating from me. Even if I managed to overpower four trained mages and escape, I’d be a walking beacon for more of these magical enforcement people to come find. And I was sure the next ones who found me would be less gentle than these four.
With a deep sigh, I nodded grudgingly. “Fine. But I’m not wearing a damn uniform.”
Chapter Four
Ten minutes later, I stood at the kitchen sink, my back to the magical popo, taking a drink of warm tap water. I could feel their serious gazes drilling into the back of my head, making me want to run. Holding my glass so tight I was afraid it might shatter, I turned around and scowled at them.
“You guys are a scream. I bet your company parties get wild.”
They all just blinked at me, except Oberon, who was writing something down. He smirked.
Oberon finished writing with what looked like a quill from the eighteen-hundreds, but there wasn’t any ink that I could see. I watched as he swished his hand through the air, and the paper rolled up, wobbled back and forth, and disappeared. I could feel my right eye twitch at the sight of it. It wasn’t that I’d never seen magic before—it was that I had never seen magic that had to do with me. I’d tended to stay in the background, to stay out of the way of magic users. I’d learned that lesson very early on.
When he was done, he motioned to the chair next to him with an almost kind smile on his face. I took my time, setting the glass in the sink and walking over slowly. Pulling out the chair, I plopped down, knees apart, shoulders slumped, and my hands folded on my belly.
