Page 29

Chapter 29

The Other Kind of Magic

“ D id you really get dragged through a graveyard by Wyatt Madsen yesterday?”

Two middle schoolers have stopped at my picnic table in the courtyard, summoning the bravery to talk to me after an obvious whispered debate by the koi pond. They look so much alike that they must be brother and sister, with deep brown skin, tight ringlets that reach the boy’s shoulders and fall a few inches longer on the girl, and string-bean frames like they’re in the midst of growth spurts.

“Yeah,” I say, shifting uncomfortably. The crutch is leaning against the table and my leg is stretched across the bench, slight relief offered by elevating my ankle.

“ Wow ,” they say together.

Wait, is that awe? Heat rises in my face. I’m not used to being admired at CSAMM. Or like, ever. “It was about as fun as it sounds.”

My laptop and psychology textbook are open in front of me, the textbook soaked in coffee after I spilled it while trying to juggle my drink, crutch, and bag earlier. After a painful and restless sleep, it hasn’t exactly been the best morning. Not to mention the hole burning in my brain over the other magic Natalie hinted at, which has fear prickling at the nape of my neck.

Seriously, what could be more powerful than earth magic? Should we be worried about the Madsens getting it?

I glance at my bag on the table, where Freddie Madsen’s business card lays hidden.

I bet he knows about it.

“Did it hurt?” the boy asks.

His sister elbows him. “What do you think, turd? Getting mauled by a dog that weighs as much as she does?”

He looks down, ashamed. “Sorry.”

I smile at their innocent interest. “It’s fine. Yeah, it hurt like hell.” I pull up my pant leg to show them the injury, and they both gasp. It looks just as bad as yesterday, if not worse with the Frankenstein sutures pulling the skin.

“What’s it like being hunted by the Madsens?” the boy asks, which earns him another elbow.

“You can’t just ask someone a thing like that.” His sister rolls her eyes. “Sorry. He has no filter.”

“But it’s worth asking, don’t you think?” he insists. “Nobody knows what powers they have, and the more we know, the more we can be prepared.”

I furrow my brow. These kids have a healthy dose of fear for the Madsens. “Be prepared for what?”

They exchange a look.

“For if they ever get their hands on magic,” the girl says seriously.

Unease coils within me. Should I be concerned that even these middle schoolers are afraid of what the Madsen family might do ?

Nearby, an orange cat gazes into the koi pond, his tail swishing as he debates going in for the kill. I might as well be a fish swimming around in my safe little pond, oblivious as to what’s beyond it.

“So, what did the Madsens do to you?” the boy presses, scanning me from head to toe as if searching for more injuries.

They wait with rapt attention, and if I’m not mistaken, the next picnic table of witches on a coffee break has gone quiet.

Apparently, all it took was getting attacked by the Madsen dog to get people to take an interest in me around here.

“I’m not sure yet if I’m allowed to talk about that.” I offer a kind smile to cover up my wariness of sharing anything I’m not supposed to. Again. “But when I find out what I can share, you’ll be the first to know.”

This must satisfy them because they exchange a conspiratorial grin.

Though I’d bet my laptop that if Fiona wants to talk to me about yesterday, I’ll end up even more disgruntled than I am now.

Sebastian’s wife, Millie, walks past and comes to an abrupt stop, her eyes widening at my exposed ankle. “God, it’s true. How are you feeling?”

“Doing okay. Thanks.”

A couple of days ago, I was invisible to everyone here. Now, the sudden interest—but not for reasons I’d hoped. I’m more of a curiosity than a part of their community.

Dammit, here CSAMM is treating me like an outsider and a spectacle, while Freddie has given me all the information I ask for and an offer to join his team—his family . This is backwards.

Millie turns to the kids. “Shouldn’t you two be studying? Don’t make me tell your mom.”

The kids look at each other and bolt.

Millie must be in her mid-twenties, but there’s a heaviness about her—a gauntness in her cheeks and fine lines around her blue eyes. She frowns at my injury. “Doctor Sharma will have you back to normal in no time. She’s good at her job.”

“I guess everybody here must know her well by this point.”

“Some of us more than others.” Millie sighs. “She’s supported me through chemo. I have to go up to the real world for treatment, but there’s nothing like having a doctor living a few doors down from you.”

My heart squeezes for her. “I’m sorry to hear. I hope your treatment is going well.”

She smiles bravely. “Time will tell.”

Guilt hits me for not knowing what was going on in Sebastian’s life in all the times we’ve interacted. He hides his pain well.

Millie frowns at my ankle, something working behind her eyes. I feel it in her presence—suffering beyond anything I understand.

“Anyway, I wish you a speedy recovery,” she says.

“Thanks.”

I can’t help recalling the glance Natalie and Doctor Sharma exchanged when I mentioned using magic to heal me. Worse than my injured ankle, it hurts knowing Millie’s illness can’t be fixed. Natalie wouldn’t elaborate, but maybe someone else will.

“It’s too bad magic can’t be used for healing,” I add.

Millie looks at me sharply, then averts her eyes to the koi pond. The look was fleeting, but it’s too late to change that it happened.

There’s something I don’t know.

“Nobody’s ever tried it?” I press.

Her gaze travels over my stuff sprawled across the picnic table. She hovers her palm over my psychology textbook, and slowly, the coffee-stained pages return to normal.

“Ah, thanks,” I say.

She moves her hand over my ankle as if about to fix that too, but of course, nothing happens.

“It’s criminal, really, that they let us suffer,” she murmurs .

My heart beats faster. “There’s a way to do it?”

Millie balls her hand into a fist, letting it drop. She looks over her shoulder, her gaze skating over the people who might be eavesdropping.

She smiles and squares her shoulders. “It was nice meeting you, Katie. Get well soon.”

Before I can open my mouth, she walks away, leaving me with just as many questions—and ready to do something desperate to get them answered.

I glance at my bag, where that business card might as well be fighting like an animal trying to get out of a cage.

Hazel’s warning about Natalie lingers in the back of my mind. “ I feel like there’s still a lot you don’t know about her. ”

There’s a lot I don’t know about any of this. But if I’m going to continue to risk my life to keep the world safe, to uphold my oath, I need somebody to tell me what I don’t know. I have to understand what I’m fighting for, why it matters, and what I’m up against. That’s not too much to ask.

Contacting Freddie is a dangerous move and a betrayal to CSAMM—and more importantly, to Natalie. But…

A lack of information is worse. This isn’t just about solving a mystery or satisfying my curiosity. This is about understanding people—my guiding force. I’ve seen how understanding can make all the difference—it improved my relationships with my sisters and countless others in my life. I’ve never regretted having knowledge when the alternative is ignorance.

Now, CSAMM is keeping something important from me. What critical mistake am I going to make by not knowing? Who is going to suffer as a result?

There must be a reason Freddie Madsen is willing to kill to obtain magic. And I might be the only person in CSAMM close enough to him to ask why.

As the phone rings in my ear for a fourth time, my nerve is about to snap. I crumple the business card in my clammy palm and let out a shaky breath.

Sitting on my bed, it’s hard not to remember all the time Natalie and I have spent here. Murmured conversations while sharing a pillow, grappling with feelings I’ve never had for anyone…

A pang of guilt shoots through my gut. This is a betrayal. I should hang up before—

A voice breaks through the silence. “Hello?”

My mouth goes dry. I don’t know how I expected Freddie to answer the phone, but the ordinary greeting and his soft, pleasant tone are at odds with what I know about him.

Unable to sit still, I swing my good leg, my toes brushing the floor. “It’s Katie.”

A pause. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear those words.”

His voice is deep and close, tingling down my spine.

“Yeah, well, keep it in your pants. I just have a question.”

He chuckles. “One question leads to another, and another—”

A dog barks in the background, and I wince.

“Wyatt wants to know how your ankle is doing,” Freddie says.

I ignore the taunt, eager to get this conversation over with. “What do you know about the other type of magic? The kind nobody can talk about.”

“Ah. So you’ve found out about it. Is this what finally tempts you over to me? ”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” I chuck his business card on the floor for Ethel to play with, relishing the sight of her sinking her claws into it. Petty, but satisfying.

“What do I get in exchange for answering your question?” Freddie asks.

I hesitate. I’m not about to promise my allegiance, even if he tells me everything.

“I want one of those vials from Alchemy 13,” he says.

“I don’t have access.” And it’s a lot more complicated than getting your hands on a vial, dumbass.

“Then figure out how to get one some other way. Slip your hand into Nat’s pocket while you two are making out and take one.”

I grit my teeth, my cheeks burning. “Fine, I’ll get you one,” I say, having no intention of following through.

“Good.” He grunts and lets out a breath as if sinking into a chair. “So, earth magic and alchemy are only two-thirds of the picture. You’re talking about the third pillar—biological magic.”

My pulse ticks up a notch as he puts a name to the secret. “What can it do?”

“Let’s discuss it over dinner. Pick you up by the steam clock at six?”

Is he fucking with me? The audacity, after everything he’s done.

I hum, pretending to consider. “Given what happened last time I saw you, I’d rather keep this over the phone.”

He laughs again, his mood way too light for how much I hate his guts.

“What’s biological magic?” I press.

“Something your buddies are even more obsessed with hiding than earth magic. Nobody is allowed to use it, not even your Directors.”

He pauses. I wait, ears tingling, gaze unfocused as Ethel bats the crumpled business card across the floor in blissful oblivion.

Freddie lowers his voice. “Katie, this isn’t just something that lets people pass through earth and make rocks jut up from the ground. This is magic in its most powerful form, and it’s completely forbidden because the people in charge of the building you’re in are cowards.”

I tighten my grip on the phone, my palms clammy, listening hard. “Why is it so powerful?”

Another pause.

Ugh, he’s enjoying this—holding me in suspense when I’m ready to beg for information.

I keep a firm lid on the bubbling guilt, unwilling to think about how Natalie would feel if she knew I was talking to Freddie. But what choice do I have?

“Imagine bending biology to your command,” Freddie says.

“They can already control plants—”

“No. I mean sentient beings. People and animals, right down to the neurons in someone’s brain.”

I suck in a breath. “Like mind control?”

“Among other things. Shapeshifting, to name a fun one.”

My pulse quickens as the potential rockets around in my head—mind controlling political opponents, amassing armies, shapeshifting to impersonate a leader…

I squeeze my eyes shut, my insides sinking as everything fits. He’s talking about immense power so casually, as if it isn’t a terrifying responsibility.

Suddenly, I understand why the witches don’t want anybody to take hold of this.

“Is this what your family is really chasing?” I ask.

“All magic deserves to be wielded.”

As I imagine the horrifying potential of controlling living creatures, something slides into place. He already has a weird level of control over an animal, doesn’t he?

I snap my eyes open. “Is Wyatt some kind of biological magic? ”

“To an extent.” Freddie seems to search for the right words. “I can share thoughts with him, if that makes sense. Not to downplay my dog training abilities, which are spectacular, but Wyatt and I have a connection that can only be explained by magic.”

“Is he stolen, then?”

“A gift from my mother. Rescued from a kill shelter, poor thing.”

I’m not sure whether to believe that these assholes went out of their way to rescue an animal, but either way, he’s just admitted that he’s telepathically trained an attack dog. Super.

But I need the full picture. What was Millie getting at?

“This magic could be used for good too, right?” I ask. “Like, a doctor could zap cancer out of a patient.”

“Exactly!” His tone is eager, like I’m finally understanding what he’s been trying to tell me. “How can anyone justify keeping something locked away that could cure disease and stop wars?”

But my stomach churns, acid rising. This is the complexity, then. It’s a cure for cancer, but it’s also an unstoppable weapon. Would releasing it do more harm than good?

“Katie, the witches are giving you the wrong idea of magic. They want you to believe it’s some wild, deadly force that needs to be tamed. But we know better. It’s part of nature, and its ability to change the world has to be given a chance. Everyone deserves the opportunity to be extraordinary.”

His words are seductive, and for a moment, I let myself imagine a world where I can wield the same power as Natalie. But the reality is too dark to ignore—if even one person were to misuse it, the results could be catastrophic. The potential for abuse is too much.

“Do you ever consider that witches must have locked up biological magic for a reason?” I ask, my voice steadier than the turbulence inside me .

“Their reason is flawed. They’re forgetting how many people would use it to make the world a better place.”

“But would they? You honestly think everybody would be responsible?”

I can feel his smile through the phone, the confidence of a man who believes with all his heart in the cause he’s fighting for. “And that’s the conversation worth having, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know if it is, Freddie.” My pulse quickens, my words coming out shaky.

He sighs, his breath hitting the phone. “All this knowledge and you think the right thing is to bury it?”

I put a hand on my forehead, burning with a realization. Natalie is right. Magic is more dangerous than I thought. I just wish she’d told me everything instead of trying to make me believe her without giving me all the information.

I lie back on the bed, and Ethel takes the opportunity to hop up and lay on my chest. I stroke her back, searching for comfort in her familiar warmth.

Freddie poses a tempting offer—freeing magic that can cure disease and eradicate suffering if used properly. But does he honestly think this power would stay in the right hands? Even the noblest hearts are corruptible, and even the most well-intentioned people would be tempted to use it for selfish reasons.

“What would you do with it?” I ask Freddie.

“Ever lose a loved one, Katie? Ever get angry at modern medicine for just not being quite good enough?”

My stomach drops. “You’re saying you could save someone?”

“We could save a lot of people. We could, theoretically, take the dementia right out of my grandma’s brain.”

I swallow hard, forcing down the hint of sympathy that’s trying to surface. Whether that’s true, and whether saving people motivates him more than power and money, it doesn’t change everything else biological magic is capable of—all the dangers and potential harm.

Natalie and the others are working to protect the world from a power too great for anyone to hold, and the more the implications unravel before me, the more convinced I am of which side of this issue I land on.

“So you wouldn’t be tempted to use it to rob a bank, or sway politics in your favor, or… make someone fall in love with you?” I ask.

“Oh, Katie,” he says as if he’s rolling his eyes. “The coven’s been wasting all this power. Think about the weapons and armies we could create to maintain peace, or how easy it would be for law enforcement to just use their minds to stop criminals. We’ll be creating a better, freer world.”

I shake my head, my heart beating faster. “Weapons? Armies? Cops who can do mind control? Freddie, that isn’t freedom.”

“You’re determined not to get it, aren’t you?” he snaps. Then he huffs, pausing as if to regain his composure. “Listen, Katie, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but you need to know what you’re leaving on the table. We’re close to being able to set magic free. A plan is in motion, and change is coming whether you’re with us or not. This is the last time I’m going to offer you an alliance. Will you join me in fighting for equal rights to magic? Please?”

I freeze, an icy chill rippling through me. “A plan?”

“That’s not an answer.”

I sit up, sending an irritated Ethel rolling onto my lap. Whatever he’s planning, it can’t be good. “What are you going to do, Freddie?”

He chuckles, and the sound is colder this time. “You’ll find out if you give me the right answer.”

My breath quickens. Should I say yes so I can go into the Madsen family as a spy? Or would that be walking into danger?

No. Natalie’s warnings finally make sense, and I have to help CSAMM protect the world .

“Where have you been getting your information?” I ask. I know what he’ll say, but I have to try. “You always swoop in just in time for a curse.”

“I’d love to share, but I’m sworn to secrecy.”

“Who isn’t?” I mumble.

“Welcome to the world of magic. So, what’ll it be?”

I grit my teeth, ready for what comes next. “I’ll die before helping you track down magic, Freddie. And that’s my final decision.”

“Mm. Too bad.” His voice is hard, cold, like the version of him that emerges when he’s about to set his dog on me.

A chill races through me, and I lay my palm flat on the bed to anchor myself.

I’m safe. I’m in CSAMM. He can’t hurt me.

“Then consider my offer off the table,” he murmurs. “I guess we’ll be seeing you again real soon. It’s just a shame it’ll have to be under these circumstances.”

He ends the call, leaving me in a ringing silence.

I’m on my feet and out my bedroom door before I can catch my breath.