Page 83 of Mistaken Magic

"ButnotHawke?"SinceI'dnoticed she'd left him out.

"Hismagic is stronger than he thinks, but he's the weakest of us.It'swhy he takes the combat courses instead."

"Inever really see him in that class,"Iadmitted.

"Classes," she corrected. "Andhe's in the advanced stuff.Meanshe's not in the same room you're in.Brackenseparates the novices to one side, the middle group gets that main room, and the experts are usually on the other.Hemoves between them."

"Whichis why he wants to have a teaching assistant,"Irealized.

Hereyes narrowed. "Itwould be a good idea, but we're not giving upHawke."

"Hesaid something about it toKeir, actually,"Iexplained. "Beforewe left today.He'skinda gotKeirworking with me."

"Andyou don't mind at all," she teased, gesturing for me to come closer.Thenshe rolled onto her stomach and woke up her tablet. "Crows, you said?"

"Crows,"Iagreed, telling her all about the birds from theSparks' place, and then the oneI'djust met outside.

Aspennodded whileItalked, occasionally pausing to type something into a search.Afew times, she glanced over, her eyes meeting mine.Sometimes, she'd smile, making me do the same.Eventually,Ilay down like her, our heads together over her tablet, our feet in the air behind us.

"I'mnot finding anything about a bird rescue in the area," she admitted. "Thatdoesn't mean there isn't someone doing it out of their house, but it's usually found onGoogle."Dimmingthe screen, she pushed it away. "Yousaid it could answer questions, though?"

"Onlynodding or shaking its head,"Iexplained. "Italso says, 'Jack,' and pretty clearly.It'sjust weird that a bird from the other side of town would move here.Imean,Ihaven't seen a whole murder of crows or anything."

"Thereare more now than there used to be," she admitted. "WhenIwas walking the grounds onFriday,Ikept seeing them.Maybehalf a dozen?I'mpretty sure we didn't have any before you came."

"ButI'mnormal,"Ireminded her.

"Andcrows keep showing up in your life," she countered. "Whenwas the first time,Rain?"

Iblew out my breath asIthought back. "Idon't really know.Imean,Ihad a set at a previous foster home.Differentcity, so no way it's the same ones.And, um,Iremember throwingCheeriosto them whenIwas a baby.Momwould give me a handful of cereal for them.Like, on my tray, becauseIwas little.It'sall a blur, though.Ijust remember the handful ofCheerios, then me throwing them off the back porch and crows coming to eat them.It'swhyIfed the first group."

"Becausethey remind you of your mom."Shelooked over at her plants. "PrettysureIget that."

"Yeah, which is whyIfeel less stupid telling you.Mostpeople would thinkI'mcompletely nuts."

Shelaughed at that, the sound so beautiful. "You?Incase you missed it, you're atSilverOaksInstitute, a school for the fae folk. 'Nuts' is something we're going to have to redefine.Besides, they're crows.Ifit was sparrows or something,I'dsee where you're coming from."

Whichreminded me. "Keirsaid they're one of the few things that could cross the gates."

Aspennodded. "Faeand crows.TheQueen- back before she was mad - tried to lock all animals from crossing through.Toomany things terrorizing ancientEarth, you know?Herspell worked for everything but crows.They'renulls, you see.It'snot that they're immune to magic.It'sthat they convert it, so our spells are useless on them."

"Crowsdo magic?"Becausethat was the most unbelievable thingI'dheard yet.

"No!" she laughed. "Nomore than yourMoonShinedoes.Somethings simply co-exist with magic.Thesilver oak uses it to live longer and grow bigger.Faeplants are fertilized by it.Crows?Theyseem to be more of a catalyst."Thenshe sucked in a breath. "Weneed to mark your friend.Jack.Heneeds a leg band so we can tell him apart, just to make sure he's the same crow."

"How?"Iasked.

"Well, you said he landed on your arm.Maybewe can convince him to let you put something on him?"Sheshrugged. "It'sworth trying, right?I'llaskMr.Mossabout it tomorrow."Thenshe rolled onto her back. "I'mglad you're not mad at me anymore."

Iflopped down beside her. "Nevermad.Nervous,Ithink."

Aspenreached over, using the tips of her fingers to toy with mine. "Metoo, butImissed you.Itwas a long few days."

Ishifted to lie on my side, her tablet separating us. "Yeah."ThenImoved my fingers to tease the tips of hers. "Ireally do like the new plant."

"Ireally like you," she breathed. "Andwe're going to figure out your crows."

"Mightmake me less interesting,"Iwarned, silently hoping she'd never think that.

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