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I turn with a heavy sigh. It’s Vanessa. “What do you want?”
“What are you planning to do, Mia?”
“Nothing. I’m looking for the boys. They’re around here.”
“No, Mia. I told you, they’re in their rooms. Ophelia keeps them there. You went—”
I take a step back. “I don’t believe that.”
“Mia, why would I lie to you?”
“I don’t know. Because you hate Ophelia?”
“You hate her more. You said—”
“There they are,” I whisper. They’re standing by the lake, the four of them together—I recognize Jason’s golden hair, the blues in Sindri’s locks, Emrys’ spikes, and Ashton’s shaggy black. “In their rooms, are they? Ha.”
“What…?” She turns and her mouth falls open. “They’re here.”
Indeed. And I have a job to do. I look at them and the papers under my arm feel heavy. I take the boys in, remember them laughing, teasing… and I hesitate. It’s as if memories are slipping through my fingers, jumping out of my mind’s net like little silver fish, escaping me before I can catch them. I look at them and feel… something—a sensation at the edge of my conscience. It feels like water, like wind, like earth and fire, swirling around me.
And the ground around me churns, sprouts shooting up, flames dancing by my feet, a mist rising, words whispering in my ear. I gasp. “What the…? What’s this?”
Vanessa turns to me. “It’s magic.”
“No way. Magic is evil and I’m… I’m human.”
“Magic isn’t evil. And you’re a witch. An Apollinari. The enchantment took your memory away. Remember, Mia. Magic can be used for good.”
“You’re wrong,” I whisper and head their way.
Closer to the shore, the music is loud, the beat thrumming in my blood, in my bones. I swear I can feel the water in the lake, its coolness and its weight, the blaze of the bonfires and their energy, the sharp kiss of the wind deep in my mind, the pulse of power in the earth under my feet.
Ley lines, I think. In the earth, in the air. Everywhere.
“Magic can be used for good.”
Focus, Mia.
Someone gets in my way—a boy, almost as broad-shouldered as the boys I’m making a beeline for, blond hair pulled back in a man bun. “Mia. There you are.”
It’s Elijah, I recall. Jason’s buddy, a werewolf. Strange how some memories persist while others wither away.
“Yes, here I am,” I mutter.
“We have been looking for you. Jason told me to search the Academy, bring you to him.”
“Well, looks like you found me and I’ve found him.” I nod at the boys. “I’m heading there now. And I don’t need an escort,” I mutter when he falls into step beside me.
He falters, his eyes on my face. “But, Mia…”
“What?”
“Are you okay?” he mutters.
“Why is everyone asking me that?”
“Sorry.” He lifts his hands. “We wanted to thank you for saving them, getting them out of there.”
