Black Magick

CHAPTER 6 Knowledge

I'm going to have these scars forever. Every time I look at my wrists, I feel rage all over again. Mom has been putting salves on them, but they ache constantly, and then skin will never be the same.

Thanks the Goddess Giomanach won't bother us anymore.

— Sgath

"If you hum that song one more time, I may have to kick you out of the car," I informed my sister the next morning.

Mary K. opened the lid of her mug and took a swig of coffee. "My, we're grumpy today."

"It's natural to be grumpy in the morning." I polished off the last of my Diet Coke and tossed the empty can into a plastic bag I kept for recyclables.

"Tornadoes are natural, but they're not a good thing."

I snorted, but secretly I enjoyed the bickering. It felt so.. normal.

Normal. Nothing would ever be normal again. Not after what Cal and I had done.

There'd been no mention of a body in the river in this morning's paper, either. Maybe he'd sunk to the bottom, I thought. Or snagged on a submerged rock or log. I pictured him in the icy water, his pale hair floating around his face like seaweed, his hands swaying limply in the current… A sudden rush of nausea almost made me retch.

Mary K. didn't notice. She looked through the windshield at the thin layer of clouds blotting out the morning sun. "I'll be glad when vacation starts." I forced a smile. "You and me both."

I turned onto our school's street and found that all my usual parking spaces were taken. "Why don't you get out here," I suggested, "and I'll go park across the street."

"Okay. Later." Mary K. clambered out of Das Boot and hurried to her group of friends, her breath coming out in wisps. Today it was cold again, with a biting wind.

Across the street was another small parking lot, in back of an abandoned real estate office. Large sycamores surrounded the lot, looking like peeling skeletons, and several shaggy cypresses made it feel sheltered and private—which was why the stoners usually hung out there when the weather was warmer. No one else was around as I maneuvered Das Boot into a space. Wednesday, after school let out at noon, I had an appointment to take it to Unser's Auto Repair to have the headlight repaired.

"Morgan." The melodious voice made me jump. I whirled to see Selene Belltower sitting in her car three spaces away, her window rolled down.

"Selene!" I walked over to her. "What are you doing here? Is Cal okay?"

"He's much better," Selene assured me. "In fact, he's on his way to school right now. But I wanted to talk to you. Can you get in the car for a moment, please?"

I opened the door, flattered by her attention. In so many ways, she was the witch I hoped someday to be: powerful, the leader of a coven, vastly knowledgeable.

I glanced at my watch as I sank into the passenger seat It was covered with soft brown leather, heated, and amazingly comfortable. Even so, I hoped Selene could sum up what she had to say in four minutes or less since that was when the last bell would ring.

"Cal told me you found Belwicket's tools," she said, looking excited.

"Yes," I said.

She smiled and shook her head. "What an amazing discovery. How did you find them?"

"I saw Maeve in a vision," I said. "She told me where to find them."

Selene's eyebrows rose. "Goodness. You had a vision?"

"Yes. I mean, I was scrying," I admitted, flushing. I didn't know for sure, but I had a feeling scrying was another thing I wasn't supposed to do as an uninitiated witch. "And I saw Maeve and where the tools might be."

"What were you scrying with? Water?"

"Fire."

She sat back, surprised, as if I had just come up with an impossibly high prime number.

"Fire! You were scrying with fire?"

I nodded, self-conscious but pleased at her astonishment. "I like fire," I said. "It… speaks to me."

There was a moment of silence, and I started to feel uneasy. I had been bending the rules and following my own path with Wicca practically from the beginning.

"Not many witches scry with fire," Selene told me.

"Why not? It works so well."

"It doesn't for most people," Selene replied. "It's very capricious. It takes a lot of power to scry with fire." I felt her gaze on me and didn't know what to say.

"Where are Maeve's tools now?" Selene asked. I was relieved that she didn't sound angry or disapproving. It felt very intimate in the car, very private, as though what we said here would always be secret.

"They're hidden," I said reassuringly.

"Good," said Selene. "I'm sure you know how very powerful those tools are. I'm glad you're being careful with them. And I just wanted to offer my services, my guidance, and my experience in helping you learn to use them."

I nodded. "Thank you."

"And I would hope, because of our close relationship and your relationship with Cal, that you might want me to see the tools, test them, share my power with them. I'm very strong, and the tools are very strong, and it could be a very exciting thing to put our strengths together."

Just then a familiar gold Explorer rolled into the parking lot. I saw Cal's profile through his smoked window, and my heart leapt He glanced toward us, pausing for a moment before pulling into a spot and turning off the engine. Eagerly I rolled down my window, and as I did, I heard the morning bell ring. "Hi!" I said.

He came closer and leaned on the door, looking though the open window. "Hi," he said. His injured wrists were covered by his coat sleeves. "Mom? What are you doing here?"

"I just couldn't wait to talk to Morgan about Belwicket's tools," Selene said with a laugh.

"Oh," said Cal. I was almost puzzled by the flat tone in his voice. He sounded almost annoyed.

"Um, I feel like I should tell you," I said hesitantly. "I, uh, I bound the tools to me. I don't think they'll work to well for anyone else."

Cal and Selene both stared at me as if I had suddenly announced I was really a man. "What?" said Selene, her eyes wide.

"I bound the tools to me," I said, wondering if I had acted too hastily. But Alyce had seemed so certain.

"What do you mean, you bound the tools to you?" Cal asked carefully.

I swallowed. I felt suddenly like a kid called in front of the principal. "I did a spell and bound the tools to me, sending my vibrations through them. They're part of me now."

"Whoa. How come?" Cal said.

"Well," I said, "you know, to make it harder for others to use them. And to increase my power when I use them."

"Heavens," said Selene. "Who told you how to do that?"

I opened my mouth to say, "Alyce," but instead, to my surprise, what came out was, "I read about it."

"Hmmm," she said thoughtfully. "Well, there are ways to unbind tools."

"Oh," I said, feeling uncertain. Why would she want me to unbind them?

"I would love to show you some hands-on ways to use them." Selene smiled. "You can't get everything from books."

"No," I agreed. I still felt uncertain and indefinably uneasy. "Well, I'd better get going."

"All right," said Selene. "Congratulations again on finding the tools. I'm so proud of you." Her words warmed me, and I got out of the car feeling better.

I looked at Cal. "You coming?"

"Yeah," he said. He hesitated as if he were about to say something else, then seemed to change his mind, calling merely, "Talk to you later, Mom."

"Right," she said, and the window rolled up.

Cal set off for school. His strides were so long that I practically had to run to keep up. When I glanced at his profile, I could see that his jaw was set. "What's wrong?" I asked breathlessly. "Are you upset about something?"

He glanced at me. "No," he said. "Just don't want to be late."

But I didn't need my witch senses to see that he was lying. Was he angry at me because I'd bound the tools to me and now no one else could use them?

Or was he angry with Selene? It had almost seemed like he was. But why?

My day went downhill from there. While I was changing classes at fourth period, I accidentally walked in on Matt Adler and Raven Meltzer making out in an empty chem lab. When our eyes met, Matt looked like he wanted to vaporize himself, and Raven looked even more smug than usual. Ugh, I thought. Then it occurred to me that I could never judge anyone again about anything because what I had done was so terrible, so unnatural. And as soon as I thought that, I went into the girls' bathroom and cried.

At lunchtime Cal and I sat with Cirrus at our usual table. The group was quiet today. Robbie was tight faced, and I wondered how it had gone at Bree's house yesterday. Probably not well since Bree was across the lunchroom sitting on Chip Newton's lap and laughing. Great.

Jenna was even paler than usual. When Cal asked her where Matt was, she said, "I wouldn't know. We broke up last night." She shrugged, and I was surprised and impressed by how calm she seemed.

She was stronger than she looked.

Ethan Sharp and Sharon Goodfine were sitting next to each other. After months of flirting, they were looking into each other's eyes as if they'd finally realized the other was a real person and not just a clever simulation. Sharon shared her bagel with him. It was the only cheerful thing that happened.

Somehow I slogged through the afternoon. I kept thinking about Selene teaching me to use Maeve's tools. One minute I would want to do it, and the next minute I would remember Alyce's warning and decide to keep them to myself. I couldn't make up my mind.

When the final bell rang, I gathered up my things with relief. Only half a day tomorrow, thank the Goddess, and then a four-day weekend. I walked outside, looking for Mary K.

"Hey," said my sister, coming up. "Cold enough for you?" We glanced up at the striated clouds that scudded slowly across the sky.

"Yeah," I said, hitching up my backpack. "Come on. I'm parked over in the side lot."

Just as turned, Cal came up. "Hey, Mary K." he said. Then he ducked his head and spoke only to me. "Is it okay if I come over this afternoon?" There was an unspoken message—we had tons to talk about—and I nodded at once.

"I'll meet you there."

He touched my cheek briefly, smiled at Mary K., then walked beside us to his own car. My sister raised an eyebrow at me, and I shot her a glance.

Once we were in Das Boot and I was cranking the engine, Mary K. said, "So, have you done it yet?" I almost punched the gas, which would have slammed us right into a tree.

"Good God, Mary K.!" I cried, staring at her.

She giggled, then tried to look defiant. "Well? You've been going out a month, and he's gorgeous, and you can tell he's not a virgin. You're my sister. If I don't ask you, who can I ask?"

"Ask about what?" I said irritably, backing out.

"About sex," she said.

I rested my head for a second against the steering wheel. "Mary K., this may surprise you, but you're only fourteen years old. You're a high school freshman. Don't you think you're too young to worry about this?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wished I could take them back, I sounded just like my mom. I wasn't surprised when my sister's face closed.

"I'm sorry," I said. "You just… took me by surprise. Give me a second." I tried to think quickly and drive at the same I time. "Sex." I blew out my breath. "No, I haven't done it yet." Mary K. looked surprised.

I sighed. "Yes, Cal wants to. And I want to. But it hasn't seemed exactly right yet. I mean, I love Cal. He makes me feel unbelievable. And he's totally sexy and all that," My cheeks heated. "But still, it's only been a month, and there a lot of other stuff going on, and it just… hasn't seemed right." I frowned at her pointedly. "And I think it's really important to wait until it is exactly right, and you're totally comfortable and sure and crazy in love. Otherwise it's no good." Said the incredibly experienced Morgan Rowlands.

Mary K. looked at me. "What if the other person is sure and you just want to trust them?"

Note to self: Do a castration spell on Bakker Blackburn. I breathed in, turned onto our street, and saw Cal in back of us. I pulled into our driveway and turned off the engine but stayed in the car. Cal parked and walked up to the house, waiting for us on the porch.

"I think you know enough to be sure for yourself," I said quietly. "You're not an idiot. You know how you feel. Some people date for years before they're both ready to have sex." Where was I getting this stuff? Years of reading teen magazines?

"The important thing," I went on, "is that you make your own decisions and don't give in to pressure. I told Cal I wasn't ready, and he was majorly disappointed." I lowered my voice as if he could hear us from twenty feet away, outside the car. "I mean, majorly. But he accepted my decision and is waiting until I'm ready." Mary K. looked at her lap.

"However, if for some reason you think it might happen, for God's sake use nine kinds of birth control and check out his health and be careful and don't get hurt. Okay?"

My sister blushed and nodded. On the porch I saw Cal shifting his feet in the cold. "Do you want me to send Cal home so we can talk some more?" Please say no.

"No, that's okay," said Mary K. "I think I get it."

"Okay. I'm always here. I mean, if you can't ask your sister, who can you ask?"

She grinned, and we hugged each other. Then we hurried inside. Twenty minutes later Mary K. was doing her homework upstairs and Cal and I were drinking hot tea in the kitchen. And I hoped my sister had taken my words to heart.