Page 28 of Magic in the Woods
But me? I could do something. I wasn’t about to stand here and let Fingernails torment us. The witches next to me shook, bracing themselves for the next cold spray. No one else was doing anything besides recoiling and trembling together, waiting for the cruelty to stop. Staying part of this group, cowering in fear beside them, wasn’t who I wanted to be.
I was only one witch, but I could take up space with my magic.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Dafni
I extendedmy index and middle fingers, keeping my hand low at my hip. I sent my magic toward the stream of water, right where it exited the hose. Flicking my fingers up, I directed the stream the same way.
Fingernails shrieked as the cold water sprayed up her nose.
I bit my tongue, hard enough that an iron taste coated my mouth, trying not to give myself away by smiling.
“You’re all a bunch of heathens!”Her screech ricocheted off the tiled walls and into our ears. I bit my tongue harder, still trying not to smile. She reached behind her, turning the knob further to the left, the water pressure increasing. We all braced ourselves against each another.
Fingernails was thorough, not stopping until everyone was drenched, shivering together in a group trying to find warmth. I huddledwith the other girls, Brooke once again finding my hand.
“Ladies,” Gray Curls said from the doorway we’d walked through to enter the shower room. She was still dry, probably having hid back in the dirt room away from the water. “We have towels and uniforms in the next room. Please dress quickly, and a senior student will lead you to your dormitories.” Gray Curls’s heeled boots clicked past our huddled mass as she walked the narrow room, using a key she pulled from her pocket to unlock the next door on the opposite side of the room as the one we’d entered. This door was also metal, although rusted. “We will give you tonight to acclimate. Come morning, you’ll be training with the witches here in this room.” She paused as we took time to look around at each other. “There are only a few weeks until the first evaluation.”
Gray Curls opened the door, and warm light from the next room flowed into the shower room, a stark contrast to the bright fluorescent lights that reflected off the tile. It almost looked welcoming. Our huddled group walked together toward the next room, separating when we got to the doorway that only allowed one body at a time. A long wooden bench stood in the center of the room, with eleven bundles of clothing and white towels spaced out evenly along it. The sight of clothes and towels had the witches rushing, drying their icy bodies and covering them.
I dried my body, squeezing out my dripping hair with the fluffy towel. The uniform left for us had more pieces than I was used to. White underwear and a white bra. A green plaid skirt and a pressed white button-up shirt. There was even a dark-green sweater, the color of the woods in summer, with a patch sewn on the left side of the chest. I ran my fingertips over the patch, admiring the stitch work. It was intricate, the lettersBTCstitched in gold thread.Become the Chosen.Their motto…their creed. Annabel hadn’t fully conveyed to me their devotion to becoming the chosen partner of the male witch. Underneath the bench stood a pair of pointed-toe ankle boots with a small heel that matched Gray Curls’s.
I could already tell that the shirt was going to be too big, even before I pulled it over my head. The second I put it on, the shirt swallowed my body—the hem falling just above my knees. There was no way I was going to ask for a different size. Gray Curls wasn’t going to go out of her way to make sure I had an appropriately sized shirt, and I didn’t need to call any more attention to myself—I’d probably already pushed my luck with the water stunt I pulled with Fingernails. The green plaid skirt had a drawstring on the inside waistband, and after I tucked the bottom of my long shirt inside, I pulled it tight. I drew my sweater over the top of my shirt, hiding the way the baggy shirt hung on my body.
Most of the girls got dressed before me, many of them trying to tame their hair with their fingers. I’d only finished pulling my boots on my feet before a wooden door opened on the opposite side of the room from which we entered. A witch, maybe a few years older than me, stood there, taking in the eleven girls in the room. The marks on her face weren’t as unsightly as the ones on Gray Curls or Fingernails, but the sores were there. Some of them looked to be oozing yellow pus. The tip of her nose looked disproportionate to the rest of her face, like just that small part of her nose was growing faster. She wore the same uniform as us, although she’d ditched her sweater and unbuttoned the top of her shirt, so the swell of her breasts was visible.
“What are you staring at?” Her sharp voice snapped me out of my daze.
I looked away as fast as I could.Stop attracting attention, Dafni.
The girl stopped glaring at me and looked around the chamber. “Let’s go human-borns.”
The witches followed her instructions, making a line in front of the wooden door where she stood.
“I’ll take your names and magic type before you enter the Academy,” Gray Curls said, walking over to where the senior witch waited, producing a pad of paper and a pen from the pocket of her dress. “State your first and last name clearly, along with your magic type.” She looked down the line, and I thought for a moment she’d stopped to stare at me. “The choices areearth,water, orair—no funny business.”
Brooke grabbed my hand again and pulled us to the back of the line. The witches moved slowly, Gray Curls often yelling, “Speak up!” at those whose voices trembled.
“Name?” Gray Curls stepped in front of Brooke and me before we could follow the rest of the group into the narrow tunnel that led ahead.
“Brooke Sukedi, earth magic.”
“And you?” Gray Curls looked at me, waiting for my name.
“Dafni Sarr—” I snapped my lips shut before another syllable could escape.Thatname was dangerous here. That name would bring attention to who I was, who I came from.
Her pen stopped scratching on the paper, her eyes raised to investigate mine.
“Sarrenti.” It spilled off my tongue, the ending sound worryingly similar to Brooke’s.
Gray Curls stared at me for a moment before her eyes returned to her pad of paper, finishing scratching my fake last name onto the page.
“Water magic,” I said.
“Go ahead.” She tilted her head toward the tunnel.
Brooke and I had to let our hands fall apart to walk through the narrow twisting hallways the senior witch led us through.The group sounded like a herd of hooved animals, our heels clicking along the wooden floor beneath us.
