Page 32 of Spellbound
“What am I going to do, Benji? How am I supposed to read through twenty of these and remember everything?”
He looked at me, tilting his head, then after a few seconds looked back out the window, as if to say I was on my own with this one.
I really should have started studying sooner, but I kept putting it off because I needed to master the advanced spells and grade four dark objects. I couldn’t even do that. I was close to banging my head against the table when an idea popped into my mind. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. It was a terrible, terrible idea but was awfully tempting considering the circumstances. A little over a year ago, I’d come across something I shouldn’t have in Edmund’s office. They called it the Joker’s Ball. Found by witches, retrieved by Frederick from the south of Istinia, it was a rare object made by the same dark magician who’d made the blood ring that had hurt Viktor. According to Edmund and Maddox, it could force powerful illusions onto whomever the user desired. It would be difficult to master, but if I did, I could use it to pass the exams. It would only be Edmund, Dora, and Maddox overseeing my passing the tests. If I could master that one object, I could delude them into believing I’d passed with flying colors. Once a keeper, I’d be able to work on the stacks of books and tricky spells without so much pressure, and there would be no way Viktor would be able to rise high enough to become a keeper before me.
I knew where Edmund kept the key. I also knew he wouldn’t miss the Ball, not really. He probably wouldn’t even notice it had gone. They’d stopped working on it months ago. He and Maddox had both mastered it, naturally, but they didn’t use it for their own gain. Neither would cross that line, and normally I wouldn’t—
“Have you seen Viktor?”
I jumped in my seat, placing my hand against my chest, where my heart raced a mile a minute. “You could have knocked!”
Maddox rolled his eyes. “I’m glad to see you’re studying. For once.”
“Yes, it’s riveting,” I snarked. “No, I haven’t seen Viktor.”
“I’ve looked everywhere.” His forehead wrinkled, and he chewed on one of his nails. “Can you help me? I’m about to reinforce the spells outside but need to make sure everyone is within the limits. If not, things could get ugly.”
My stomach dipped. I’d be in so much trouble if he found out I’d told Viktor how to get out of the mansion. “I think he went out onto the grounds, to practice with his throwing daggers or something. I can go look for him if you want.”
“I don’t know if you should go alone.”
“We’re nowhere near the woods, and the spells are up,” I said assuredly. “I’ll be okay.”
After a few seconds, he relented. “I’ll search the front and the attic, also the basement and vault. I doubt he’d be able to get down there. It’s heavily guarded, but you never know.”
“Meet back here in an hour?”
He nodded.
I grabbed my black umbrella patterned with purple skulls when I noticed the clouds forming overhead, and I walked out the back door and down the three steps to the path leading down the garden. Running between flowerbeds of whites and blues, I headed out, then between two hedges and a small garden, which was fenced off from the rest, where the pond remained stagnant. Viktor had probably gone into the woods. It was precisely where I’d said not to go, and he didn’t seem the type to keep promises. He’d been far too insistent on going the other day, but nonetheless, I hoped he hadn’t.
Moving through the overgrowth, past stinging nettles and through a hole in the fence, I emerged into a small collection of trees that made a U shape around the secluded garden area. The grounds were so big, Maddox and Edmund often forgot about the small area, so the magic surrounding the mansion, like a large dome guarding it from sight, was weaker here. Touching it, I absorbed some of the power and broke through. I’d told Viktor to do the same. It was the only way in and out whenever the mansion was on high alert. We had more intruders than any other coven, which was expected with the treasures we held.
My hand tingled. Wide-eyed, I brought it into my line of sight. “Not now, Naomi.” A magic quill appeared, letting me know she would be leaving in a short while with her coven. It would take her at least thirty minutes to get here and maybe thirty minutes until she left, which left me an hour to find him before it was too late.
I hurried out of the collection of trees and down the bank, treading mud against my boots as I slid onto the gravel path. I was on the edge of town, and darkness was beginning to fall. I shouldn’t have told him how to get out, but he was an adult who could make his own choices.No. I am justifying my recklessness.He was new here, therefore vulnerable as he didn’t know the area, but I’d had to get him out of my hair so I could practice. If he wasn’t trying to climb the ranks so quickly, I wouldn’t be forced to enter my name at the call.
Ambling down the road, I rolled my eyes. Playing tug-of-war between my head and conscience was exhausting. I bit my bottom lip as I stared at the little lights of our town. Now what? How could I possibly know where to find him? Even if he had made it into the woods, which was stupid, there was no way I was going back in there after the other day. I prayed he’d come to his senses and gone into town instead.
Hovering my finger over my hand, I whispered the incantation:Bind the words to become one, send to Viktor...I paused. I’d forgotten his last name, or had he even told me it? How could I send him a magic quill if I didn’t know his full name? I was sure Maddox had already tried, and he, unlike me, would make sure to remember his last name. Either way, Viktor had clearly ignored any messages he’d gotten. He hadn’t come back, and I was going to pay the price for it. Edmund would kill me if he found out I told Viktor how to get out. I would send him a magic quill, but we hadn’t performed the joining spell yet, allowing us to exchange messages that way.
Red-bricked houses lined the road I hurried down. Banners of white hung from windows, signaling one of the many holidays we celebrated in Istinia for some historical event or another. I didn’t participate in most, except for the call festival, because it was fun, and Yuletide, because I could drink as much hot cocoa as I wanted without excuse and eat all the cookies. It was my favorite time of year, and I loved winter, so it was a win-win.
Frostbitten air reached my lungs, paining them as I strode uphill, pausing every now and then to catch my breath. I licked my lips, then flicked my waves over my shoulders and out of the way. Hugging my jacket around me, I watched the sky pinken, then blot to purple as the sun’s rays left the town. Fires flickering from inside the houses illuminated their windows orange.
Finally, I emerged onto a main road, where shops lined either side. Displays from different shops sparkled in the darkening night. I made a face when I took in one packed with brightly colored clothing on mannequins, and I grinned when I saw gorgeous dresses for the call festival in a shop called Mystique. My stomach rumbled when I paused in front of a local bakery, where jams and honeys lined the display. Behind it, glass cases filled with freshly baked breads, donuts, cakes, and cookies, beckoned me. I had several skal on me, enough to buy some dinner—not that cake was dinner, as I’d been lectured on before. Still, the smell of cinnamon, flour, and gingerbread wafted from the shop.
A couple of caster girls looked at me as they passed. Fortunately, I hadn’t seen them before, so they ignored me and made their way to the Mystique shop.
Fairy lights illuminated over the shops’ striped awnings and all the way down the town’s center. The sky turned black, shining out dots of silver and white around the quarter moon. I peered around, frowning as I left the smell of the bakery behind me. I needed to find Viktor. He was my priority.
After a half hour of searching, I turned back. There was nothing more I could do, and I didn’t want to be trapped out when Maddox and the magician coven put up new barriers. My little get-out spot at the back of the gardens probably wouldn’t work after the magician’s magic was placed over the mansion.
I pulled my jacket tighter around me, gripping my umbrella, and hurried back up the path leading to home. I had to pass near the entrance to the woods again, on the way back. My stomach churned as the tree line became visible. Evergreen dotted into the distance as the vast forest and woods before it stretched into oblivion. The hairs on the back of my neck stood erect. The bench where I’d sat after finding the body still had the blanket discarded on it that had been wrapped around me.
“Viktor!” I gasped, my eyes bulging as his six-foot-two figure emerged from the blackness between the trees. He was covered in mud; his hair was wet and curled around his ears. He looked over at me, his eyebrows pointing downward.
“You shouldn’t be out here,” he barked, and I took a step back. He strode toward me and grabbed my wrist. “It’s dangerous.”
