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“What about some storm magic?” Tess asked conspiratorially.

“First of all, we are inside. Second of all, storm magic can be dangerous from what I’ve heard. I’d rather try it with another magic user nearby in case something goes…wrong.”

Tess nodded in understanding, “I can’t wait to see what you can do with that type of magic. It’s going to be incredible.”

“I hope so. It feels as if it’s right there for me to grab, like it’ll be easy now.” I scanned the room until my eyes fell on the cinnamon scented candle across the room on top of my nightstand. I focused my energy, snapped my fingers, and just like that the candle wick lit.

“Jealous.” Tess laughed, pushing me over and dissolving into a fit of giggles. “You’ll never have to get up to get the remote ever again.”

“Yeah, because that’s the coolest thing about this magic.” I rolled my eyes, sitting back up and pulling Waffles into my lap as he sauntered by. He grumbled in refusal, but eventually settled into a neat little ball of fluff within the circle of my legs.

I wish I had known about this magic all my life. How would my life have been different if I had always known? If I was spellbound like we suspected, would I ever have been able to tap into my magic if I had never encountered another powerful magic user? I had so many unanswered questions spinning through my head. Just as I got some answers, I immediately had new questions. It felt like an endless loop, getting to know this new world of magic.

“Did you say that Puck asked you out on a real date?” I asked, suddenly remembering how Tess had initially announced it when she had walked in on me with the book of shadows.

“Yes!” she squealed, throwing herself onto her stomach and resting her head on her elbows.

“Details, woman. Details,” I repeated Tess’ famous words with a laugh.

“So…we have been texting back and forth, and he asked if I would want to go on an official date with him, to dinner. We are going to this cute little Italian bistro over in Fraser, and he is paying.”

“That’s amazing Tess, I’m so happy for you. Does this mean you’re a taken woman?” I teased.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” she laughed. “I know Puck doesn’t have a specialty like you or Nik, but his magic is still pretty cool. He’s sexy, and he has that bad boy thing going on…not as much as Nik, I’ll admit. But maybe that means he will comewithoutthe side order of trouble.”

“Here’s hoping,” I joked, crossing my fingers. I closed the grimoire and tucked it safely back into my underwear drawer. If nobody else could open it besides me, I didn’t have anything to worry about, did I? I needed to find a better, and more discreet, place for it. This would have to do for now.

“Do you know if the grimoire belonged to your mom or your dad?” Tess asked, moving from the floor to throw herself down on the bed.

“I don’t know, and I’m scared to ask. My mom has always thought I was a crazy little daydreamer, but what if she was pushing all that stuff down because it was a part of her past? Or what if it was Dad, and my mom never knew before…” I trailed off. If ithadbeen my dad, we might never know, now that he was gone. He hadn’t seemed like the type to hide this heavy of a secret, but neither did my mom. I didn’t know who I could trust anymore.

“Do you and lover boy have plans to test out this storm magic of yours?” Tess asked as I threw myself down on the bed next to her.

“Saturday. He’s taking me back to the meadow to work with our magic again.” I told her. Could that be considered a date?

Tess wiggled her eyebrows comically, “Oooh lala!”

“Oh, please.” I bumped her in the shoulder and we both laughed. “He’s not my lover boy.”

“Whatever you say, witch.”

Nikpickedmeupafter lunch on Saturday and we were driving towards the hidden meadow with the windows rolled down, the winter day unseasonably warm. School had been tense the remainder of the week with Fletcher watching over our shoulders at every moment. Nik had successfully avoided a public confrontation with him, but we hadn’t had a minute to ourselves. I hadn’t told Nik about the grimoire or the dream yet.

Tess had spilled all the details about her date with Puck. They had gone to the little Italian bistro, then gone for ice cream after. He dropped her off at home and had been ever the gentleman. He hadn’t kissed her goodnight which she was slightly upset about, but knowing Tess that probably made her even more attracted to him. Having to work for it. Most of the boys at school threw themselves at her, she didn’t have to put in any effort whatsoever. That made dating at Silver Oaks Academy predictable, not that I would know anything about that.

We pulled up to the mountain that we had parked at the base of the week before, getting out of the car and ditching our winter coats. The sun beating down on my face felt so nice, leaving my skin tingling from the warmth. Nik moved around to the back of the car and popped the trunk, revealing two long swords that left my mouth hanging open.

“What the hell are those?” I asked, raising a brow.

He looked from the trunk to me, then back to the trunk. “Swords.”

“Yes, thank you. And what on earth do we need swords for?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“As I told you, you need to learn to defend yourself. Magic is one way of defending yourself, but what if you find yourself in an ash circle? Or an iron cage? We could start with daggers if you prefer, but I think the footwork will be easier to learn with these,” he nodded towards the gleaming steel.

“That’s…that’s not exactly what I thought you meant when you said I had to learn to defend myself. Why would I ever be in an iron cage?”

“What did you think I meant?” he asked, his lips twisting into a smirk. “And I don’t think anyoneexpectsto ever be held in an iron cage, hence the preparation.”