Page 33 of By the Orchid and the Owl
With their backs to us, they didn’t notice us rooted in place behind them, watching as they snickered down at the young, burly man twirling in circles in the entrance to the courtyard. Gileon. And…
I squinted, horror blooming in my chest.
A stick, as if moving all on its own, was jabbing him in the back over and over, flying out of his reach whenever Gileon turned to try to grab it. Gileon tripped over his feet, landed on his knees, and groaned when the stick whacked him across the back of the head.
“That,” said Fergus smoothly, nudging the stranger next to him, “is what I call a real power. I don’t know why I got stuck with this stupid tree shit.”
An Object Summoner, I realized with a bolt of shock. The stranger squatting next to them was a Summoner, controlling the stick for Fergus, Jenia, and Dazmine’s entertainment. Hurting Gileon for fun.
For the first time in—well, ever—pure, undissolved rage flared within my veins.
“Stop it!” I sprang forward, seizing the Summoner’s raised hand. Immediately, the stick down below dropped, but I didn’t dare let my gaze stray downward to make sure Gileon was okay. “That’s sick.”
Fergus’s eyes narrowed on me as his friend yanked himself out of my grip.
Jenia rose to a stand.
“Look who it is. The girl with the self-righteous stick up her ass. Her friend Quinn told me all about her,” she added, turning to the others. “Said she’s never stepped a toe out of line and looks down on anyone who does.”
“I do not,” I seethed—only pausing when Emelle touched me briefly on the back of my arm.Do not engage.
“Look,” Rodhi said, stepping up beside me, “what you’re all doing is a really shit way to have fun. If none of you can think of another way to entertain yourselves besides poking at a fellow classmate like chimps, you’re even stupider than you look.”
Rodhi made to push past them, but Fergus grabbed him by the collar.
“Look, you twig. I don’t care how many friends you have or how smart you think your mouth is. I could snap your bony frame in half, if I wanted.”
“Why don’t you try, then?” Rodhi bit out.
I groaned, and Emelle shouted, “No!” but too late—
Fergus had nodded at his Summoner friend, who lifted a hand again.
And I felt something like an invisible hook drag me to the ground. Rodhi and Emelle, too, crumpled beside me, until all three of us were flat on our stomachs, our chins grinding into the cobblestone pathway, while Jenia shrieked with glee.
CHAPTER
13
“Let us go,” I spat out against the dirt.
How? How could an Object Summonerchooseto use their power like this? In all my years living with Fabian and Don, Inevercould have imagined them directing their whimsical, witty magic in such a cruel and spiteful way.
“You know, I’m not so sure I want to,” Fergus said from above me. “I don’t particularly like being called stupid. Or being scolded like I’m a toddler.”
“Please,” Emelle cried, her neck cranked sideways. “Why are you doing this?”
That newfound rage crawling through my veins… it made me agree with Fergus on one thing: our powers, so far, seemed useless. Because all I wanted to do in that moment was throw a vine around all their throats until they let us go. But I had no idea how to call out for one or ask it for help or direct it in any capacity.
Fergus droned on above us. I focused my vision on the shallow cracks between cobblestones, where a single fire ant was scurrying past my nose.
“Help us,” I whispered to it, my breath rough and raw. “Please.”
The ant paused and turned to look at me, antennas raised. This close, I could make out the hairs on its head and its mandible flexing in and out.
“Please,” I whispered again, just as Fergus gave Rodhi a single kick.
Rodhi grunted. The ant scurried away.
