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“This book says as much.” Miri points to the book in front of me, and I look at it more closely. Today is a glasses day, and I adjust them on my face as I open the book to the page Miri bookmarked. It doesn’t have illustrations like the one back at my office, but there’s a paragraph about each of the seasons.
“Based on the descriptions, I’m like, a hundred and two percent sure that Davis and I fall into the Winter Court.”
I nod, running my finger across the page. “Boreas is associated with alchemy and the manipulation of elements.”
“So, what about the rest of you guys? Lena, we know you’ve got some healing magic. Is there anything that jumps out at you from the other seasons?”
I scan through the other three entries, frowning as nothing sparks recognition.
“Spring is all about creation and rebirth, life and shadow magic. Summer is heat and fire, and the magic associated with that season is enchantment and premonition.”
“Oh, I had a dream once that I was sitting on the toilet peeing, and when I woke up, I nearly peed my pants. Do you think that counts?”
Miri and I both turn to stare at Ruby, who shrugs, causing Miri to burst into a fit of giggles.
“No Ruby, that means you need to go to the bathroom before you go to bed.”
“The last one, fall, is all about change and the harvest. Conjuring and transformation are their main magics.”
“Wait, does that mean one of us is going to turn into an inanimate object? Or like, an animal? Do you think I’m going to turn into a cougar?”
“Well, if you keep dating younger guys, then, yeah, definitely.”
“I went on one date with Jesse Filbert, and he’s only two years younger than me.”
“He’s four years younger, and wasn’t even legal to drink at the time.”
“He totally lied to me. How was I supposed to know? He’s this huge beefcake of a dude. He doesn’t look twenty.”
“Oh my God, you two. I feel like I’m babysitting my old neighbor’s bratty kids. Tone it down a notch, or I won’t give you any cookies.”
As if on cue, the timer beeps, and Miri gets the cookies out of the oven. Once she’s done, she turns back to me and Ruby, leaning on the counter and propping her chin in her hands.
“How did you not know the guy was younger than you? This entire island is basically the size of my old high school.”
Ruby glares at Miri, and I hide my smile behind my coffee cup. “Really? I thought the back and forth was childish?”
“You’re right, never mind. So, what do you guys think?” Miri points to the book in front of me, back to business. “Anything sound familiar?”
“Honestly, no. But these descriptions are all very general. What does enchantment even mean?”
“I already gave my two cents about being a shifter.” Ruby slides off her chair to collect a handful of cookies.
“In that case, I found another book that has a spell in it that I think we can use.” Miri pulls a book out from the bottom of the stack and flips it open to another marked page. “Get your chocolatey fingers away from the book.” Miri swats Ruby away with a towel when she tries to angle the book to see what’s on the page.
“It’s an identifying spell. It’s a little complex to brew, but the execution is really simple. All we need is a drop of blood in the mixture, and the color it changes to will identify your predominant form of magic.”
The three of us stare at one another, the light mood somewhat dampened by the reality of this situation. It sounds like a fun afternoon, brewing up some magic. But the reason we need to do this isn’t banal. It’s a seething, dark undercurrent in our town. It’s not like we don’t know that there’s some form of magic in our veins. This makes it real in a way I wasn’t expecting.
“Apparently, all magic has a signature, kind of like mystical DNA, I guess. That’s how the color coding comes into play.” Miri shows us the book where the spell is hand written. There’s a band of colors across the page, almost like a pH strip, giving me flashbacks to high school science class. Beneath the spectrum of colors is a list of what each color means. I want to take the book and find a spot in the library, curl up, and read the afternoon away. But I’ll save that for later.
“Okay. Let’s get started.”
