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26
Raven
Nervously,I entered the classroom. Somehow, I had to tell Professor Halifax that I couldn't risk using my time magic. Not now that I knew the thief was monitoring me so closely.
Her classroom was lit only by the emergency light. Empty and desolate. It was creepy as hell in the dark. "Professor?"
I heard some noises from the back of the room and there was a stripe of light on the floor coming from a closet door. "Professor, is that you?"
The door opened and Professor Halifax stepped out, a huge bundle of black fabric in her arms. "I'm here."
"Professor, I can't do this," I said before I lost my nerve. "My parole officer threatened me today and they're watching me more than I realized."
"Which is exactly why you have to be able to control your magic," she said. "If you let it slip, you're screwed."
That was true. But how was I supposed to practice it if the use of it set off something they could track? Officer Malone seemed confident that he could trace even the smallest time magic. "I don't want to go to jail."
"That's why we're doing this," she said with a sigh. "I always thought you were one of my smarter students."
"Wow, thanks for that," I said. "Look, I get why this is important, but they said they can track it."
"I suppose, in theory, they could." She set the bundle of fabric down on her desk. "Though, I haven't met anyone who could track magic from a distance in the last century. They'd have to actually be in the room where the spell was cast to trace it. And they'd have to be there within twelve hours of the casting."
"Really?" I asked.
She nodded. "Like I said, it's possible, but if they had people with that skill working for them, they wouldn't need to send people like your Mr. Malone to make threats. They could just sit back and monitor you from a distance."
Her words didn't make me feel more confident about messing with time magic. But I knew there was probably more of a risk of me screwing up big, possibly in front of people if I didn't learn to control it. Last time I'd used it, I was in a life or death situation. The time before it felt like a life or death situation.
What was to stop someone from pushing me too far just to see if they could get a rise from me? Or worse, what if I got scared during the practice trials?
Professor Halifax smoothed out the fabric on her desk so it draped over it like a tablecloth. It was black and looked soft. Velvet maybe. My brow furrowed as I watched her tugging on it to even the sides. I wasn't sure what it had to do with our lesson, but I had a feeling she had a reason for it.
"Okay," I said. "Just enough to learn how to keep me from using it accidentally. Nothing more."
"Of course," she said. "I wouldn't dream of teaching you how to actuallyuseyour time magic. That would be illegal. Teaching you how tocontainit, however, is my duty as your instructor. I'm morally obligated, right?"
"Uh, sure," I said.
"Over here," she said as she placed her palms flat on the velvet fabric. "Like this."
I walked over to the desk and set my hands down on top of the fabric, copying her. My hands tingled instantly from contact. It felt similar to the way my own magic felt, but this wasn't mine. It was different. "What is this?"
"It's my last connection to Faerie," she said. "It's woven with fae magic and will make our session easier to complete."
"How is that even possible?" I asked.
"The magic there far surpasses what is possible here," she said. "Compared to the Fae realm, this place is stuck in the stone ages when magic is concerned."
"You must miss it terribly." I was guessing it was like us going to a place where cell phones and television didn't exist. Not that I had time or use for those things here, but I did miss them.
"Let's just focus on the magic," she said.
"Alright," I said. "What do you want me to do?"
"You're going to attempt to call your time magic, but I can't have you slowing the time around us or risking a time bubble," she said.
"A time bubble?" I repeated.
