Page 27 of Mistaken Magic

"Youalready warned me about that,"Iassured him. "Eliteprivate college and all that."

"No, even less normal than you think," he insisted. "Theentrance exam was to place you in one of five learning programs.Isorta explained that, butIdidn't tell you what they are.Yousee, this school was designed for a very special, and very secret, subset of people."Hestopped again. "No,I'mmaking a mess of this.Letme try a different way.Youknow how theSparkshad all those things in your room?"

"Likethe metal dog?"Iasked.

Henodded. "Theirondog,Rain.Aniron doorknob.Aniron picture frame.Whathave you heard of that has problems with iron?"

"Uh, demons?"Iguessed. "So, you thinkI'mactually possessed?"

"No!" he groaned. "Demonshave nothing to do with iron.Fairiesdo!"

Hejust blurted that out, sounding almost frustrated thatIdidn't know the lore.Butthat was the thing.Hedidn't say it like it was a lie or a joke.Morelike he couldn't believe this wasn't public knowledge.

"Ok?Whatdo fairies have to do with this?"Iwas very careful not to let him hear how crazyIthought he sounded. "Areyou a fairy,Liam?"

"Wrongkind of fairy," he assured me. "Rain, the fae folk are real.Mostof the students at this school are children of a fae who took a human lover.Half-fairies, although they don't use that term.Theyare fae or fae folk.Faelingsis a common term for the half-bloods."

"Yeah,Idon't even want to know how that works,"Ijoked, trying to imagineTinkerbellwithPeterPan.

Hehuffed, squeezing his eyes closed, and tried one more time. "NotlikeDisney.I'mtalking the old-school type of fae.Nobutterfly wings,Rain.Theseare magical beings who have a completely different society and morality.Thisschool was built to help the children they left behind learn how to control their magical powers.Thetesting was to sort you into a class style:Enticement,Glamour,Enchantment,Conjuration, orLegacy.Thoseare the trades we teach here."

Ilifted my head, about to nod at him, but paused whenIrealized he wasn't joking. "You'reserious about this?"

"Very," he admitted. "Afew of us here are completely human.I'mone.Intruth,Iencouraged my brother to become a foster parent so we could funnel kids here.Yousee, with the current situation, a lot of refugee children are being slippedinto the world, and the foster system has replaced the need for changelings."

"Yeah..."Thiswas not getting any less insane.

"Justhear me out?" he begged. "There'sa war inFaerie.Thedoorways have been locked, but every so often, a few make it through.One, maybe two a year, and spread all across the world.Mostof the fae onEarthright now came when the war started.Theymade lives for themselves, fell in love, had children, and all the usual things.Thosechildren, however, were born with magic.Half-bloods, quarter, and sometimes even less.Afterall, the fae have been entertaining themselves here long enough to have become folklore."

"Right,"Iagreed, deciding that was safest.

"Butabilities can crop up through the generations.Themore fae blood, the more likely someone is to have magical abilities."

"AndI'msupposed to be one of these?"Iasked. "You'retrying to sayI'mmagic."

"Yeah, that's the thing..."Hereached up to shove his hand across his mouth, his eyes locked on my rug. "Youtested as normal,Rain.Youcan touch iron, and even the smallest hint of fae blood tends to make someone uncomfortable with that.Themore a person has, the greater the reaction, up to burns and severe pain."

"So, you've actually seen this?"Iasked.

"Ihave," he assured me. "Rain,Iwas coming to the atrium to let you know you hadn't been accepted.Afterthe ordeal with the crows, and the number of times you've been moved through different homes,Iassumed you had to be accidentally casting magic, causing your foster families to move you on instead of trying to explain something they don't believe in.Allthe signs were there, but it seems you're completely normal.They'veagreed to put you in theLegacyclass, though."

"Becausethat girl said so?"Yep, even weirder.

"Aspen,"Liamsaid softly. "She'sa very powerful girl.Whenshe says you're interesting, we tend to believe her."

"Liam!"Ifinally snapped. "Magicisn't real.Thisis stupid.Youcan't expect me to sit here, smile, nod, and pretend like any of this is supposed to make sense!Ifthis is supposed to be some kind of hazing for my first day or something, give up already!"

"No, it's real," he insisted. "Youwill have classes about the normal things likeEnglishand math.Youwill also have classes about the history of the fae, the powers they can wield, and so on."

"Right."Irolled my eyes.

Thenthe door on the far side of the bathroom opened andAspenstormed in, carrying something. "You'remessing it up," she snarled atLiam.Thenthose electric blue eyes turned on me. "Youwant magic?Here."

Onelittle flick of her fingers was all it took for my entire world to change.Onesecond,Iwas on a bed in a dorm room.Thenext,Iwas in the middle of what looked like aLondonstreet.Well, the double-decker buses made me thinkLondon, at any rate.Ijumped up, tripped on something, and fell right across the road.Scrambling,Ipulled myself back to the safety of the median in the middle just a split second before a car ran me over.

Ispun, trying to figure out how to get out of here!Thesounds were loud.Thesmell of car exhaust and the city was almost overwhelming.Finally,Isaw a gap between the oncoming traffic, soIran, hoping to get to the sidewalk before someone took me out.Iwas almost to the curb when an arm grabbed me around the waist and the vision simply faded out, returning me to my room.

ItwasLiamwho held me, my face mere inches from the wall. "It'sreal," he said.Butas his grip relaxed, he turned back toAspen. "Whatdid you do?"'

---