Page 30

Chapter 30

Define “Coercion”

A fter a frantic but laborious hobble through CSAMM, I find someone worth telling.

I tumble through the gym door, out of breath. “Sky!”

She’s facing a mirror doing kettlebell swings, wearing a black sports bra and biking shorts, frowning in concentration. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out on the courtyard and let in daylight, and as promised, half the room is empty for combat practice. Big foam blocks are scattered across the floor like it’s a kids’ gym—probably for hurling at each other. The faint scent of old sweat wafts under my nostrils.

She puts down the weight with a grunt. “Hey, sunshine. How’re you feeling?”

“Fine.” I scan the room to make sure we’re alone. “I—I just remembered something Freddie told me yesterday when he stuffed me in the car.”

Sky’s eyebrows shoot up.

“He said a plan is in motion to set magic free. He wanted me to join him in a fight for the right to magic. ”

Sky stares at me, her face slack. “He told you this when he captured you?”

I nod, wincing as I catch my balance on my good leg. The physical difference between the two of us right now is a painful reminder of how vulnerable I am.

“And you’re just remembering it now?” she asks.

I nod again, unable to meet her eye. “I haven’t been able to think clearly since it happened.”

Guilt simmers as I feed her the lie, but no way am I admitting I willingly got on the phone with a Madsen.

“Right. Of course.” Her gaze darts across the floor as she absorbs the warning. “Thank you for telling me, Katie.”

When she doesn’t elaborate, I press. “What does it mean?”

She picks up the kettlebell again and sinks into a half-squat. “I’m not sure. I’ll talk to Fiona.”

She does ten reps then puts it down and walks in a circle, panting. Beads of sweat roll down her face and chest, dampening her sports bra.

“Could the Madsens be about to do something serious to try and acquire magic? Are we in danger?”

Sky doesn’t meet my eye, stretching her quads. “Tough to say.”

My God, the oath has everyone here by the balls. How can anything get done if we’re not allowed to discuss it?

I steel myself, nerves jittering. “Can I ask you a question, then? About the history of CSAMM?”

She stops stretching and puts her hands on her hips, breathing hard, a bit of apprehension on her face. “Sure.”

“When did witches decide to start controlling magic?”

She doesn’t answer right away. A fan whirrs overhead, blowing cool air over me that raises the hairs on my arms.

Sky crosses to a bench and grabs her water bottle. She takes a big gulp and towels her face and neck. “The laws were put into place in the early 1900 s. It’d become clear that some witches were using magic in dark ways, even trying to change the course of history in World War I.”

Unease trickles down my back. Biological magic must have been involved—mind control, telepathy, shapeshifting.

She kicks one of the foam blocks as if needing something to do with her feet. “An early version of CSAMM was formed to make sure magic could only be possessed by a select few. The first iteration didn’t go well.”

“I’m guessing only the rich and powerful were allowed to use it?” I venture.

“Exactly. Plus, it hinged on the idea that those people would use magic purely for good.”

I chew my lip. It’s the same conclusion I drew while talking to Freddie. “Like for every person using it to cure disease, there was another amassing an army or mind-controlling the government?”

Her water bottle slips from her hand and spills all over the rubber-matted floor. She swears and drops her towel onto it to mop it up. “Where did you hear about that?”

I bend to pick up the empty bottle and pass it to her. “I’ve overheard things in my time here.”

“You don’t just overhear information like that. People don’t talk freely about…” She mouths the words “bio magic” as if afraid of eavesdroppers.

I lift a shoulder. “Sometimes people forget I’m there.”

Good lord, I’m a bad liar.

She looks at me sideways, definitely unconvinced. “Well, the conflict escalated into a civil war—those in favor of regulation versus those against. You know who won. A new CSAMM was founded, and the witches in charge opted to lock away all of that type of magic. They decided nobody is allowed to use it, ever, no matter what.”

A chill ripples over me at the thought of a war among witches—the blood that must have been shed. “And earth magic? Alchemy? ”

“Strictly regulated and kept a secret, as you know.” She carries her wet towel to a hamper and drops it in, pausing before turning to face me again. “We haven’t seen a serious abuse of magic since 1928. Stuff happens, yeah, or else I’d be out of work. But nothing as horrifying as back then.”

I nod. Freddie would probably tell me 1928 was the year magic died, but Sky’s haunted expression tells me the other side.

“What happened to the people who lost the civil war?” I ask. “The ones who wanted to keep magic free.”

Sky kicks the foam blocks scattered around into a pile. “Killed, imprisoned, silenced. If anyone still believes in free magic, they’re quiet about it.”

Millie comes to mind, the way she looked at my wounded ankle and seemed to wish with every fiber of her being that her illness could be cured by magic. I can’t blame her. Who wouldn’t want the same?

“I’d bet money,” Sky murmurs, barely audible, “that at one time or another, every witch has entertained the idea of trying to find bio magic and consume it in secret. But that doesn’t mean it’s right. And you’d be better off not talking to anybody else about this.”

Guilt writhes inside me. “I won’t.”

She studies me for so long that my face heats up, and I pretend to be interested in what the people in the courtyard are doing.

She definitely doesn’t believe that I happened upon this information while walking around CSAMM. But she also has no way of knowing I called Freddie.

“Thanks for explaining things to me,” I say.

Sky nods, not meeting my eye.

As I back away, she extends a palm toward a green foam block. It lifts into the air, and she brings her arm back like a baseball pitcher. With a grunt, she throws, and the block whizzes across the room in a blink. It slams into a red X on the opposite wall with a thwap that makes my ears ring.

What a long way magic has come—from being a weapon of war to this controlled exercise in a gym. CSAMM has done a thorough job.

But the bloody memory of war hovers thickly throughout this building, guiding the actions of everyone in it… and I can’t help wondering if history is doomed to repeat itself.

My stomach churns as I leave my room in the morning, heading toward the courtyard to study. More likely, I’m about to stare blankly at my textbook while my mind races and my knee bounces.

How many witches believe CSAMM is doing the right thing by locking up biological magic? How many have tried to take some for themselves—or at least considered it? And what was Freddie on about when he said a plan was in motion?

My thoughts are such a whirlwind as I round a corner that I nearly smack into someone. I let out a little scream and jump back.

Natalie stands there like a wall, scowling down at me. “Who told you about bio magic?”

I hug my laptop to my chest like it’s a shield.

Shit. Sky must have mentioned I was asking questions.

A little spark of anger ignites, then fizzles and dies. It isn’t like I asked her not to tell Natalie about our conversation.

“What do you care?” I snap, a little sharper than intended.

She looks down at me, fury twisting her beautiful features. She opens her palm to reveal a crumpled piece of paper.

I stare at it for a second before it dawns on me. Freddie’s business card.

The brick walls on either side of us seem to close in, suffocating.

“You’re damn lucky Elizabeth likes me,” Natalie growls. “She found this while cleaning your room and decided to bring it to me instead of straight to Fiona.”

My blood runs cold. “It’s—it’s not what you—”

Natalie steps closer, closing her fist around the card. “I’m going to ask you plainly, and I need you to be honest. Are you in contact with Freddie Madsen?”

“Wh-what do you mean, in contact with ? I’m not a spy or some…” I wave a hand, searching for the right word. “Turncoat.”

“Katie, if you’re withholding critical information about the Madsens’ whereabouts, do you realize how serious this is? You could face a trial by jury. You could be imprisoned.”

My chest constricts at the harsh warning. I splutter. “It’s not like that!”

Natalie takes another step in, and my back hits the brick wall.

“What’s it like, then?” she growls. “Why do you have his contact info?”

Footsteps approach, and I turn, my hair getting caught in a fern on the wall. Amir, the Director, walks by.

I bat away the fern and wait until he’s out of earshot before continuing in a low voice. “I did talk to Freddie. But it was only once, and it was only because I had no idea what was going on or what sort of danger any of us were in!”

Natalie rubs her face, walking in a little agitated circle. “Jesus. Sometimes you need to let a subject drop! There are things you can’t know about.”

My fingers tremble as I clutch the laptop to my chest. “You just want me to shut up and be a lamb? Go along on assignments without understanding what I’m actually doing?”

“This isn’t only about following rules, and you know it.” Her nostrils flare as she struggles to control her anger. “I want you to stay safe, and I want both of us to keep our oath so we don’t get in shit!”

“The oath ,” I spit. “I thought you were letting me be a part of something by bringing me to CSAMM, but Freddie was right. You’re making me do your dirty work while keeping me on the outskirts.”

Her eyes widen a fraction. “You wanted to help!”

“And I thought you’d at least tell me what I’m helping to do. You know, I found out while talking to Freddie that they’re planning something—”

“Yeah, we’re on it. That doesn’t make what you did right.” Natalie’s brow pinches as she looks past me. She can’t even meet my eye.

Beneath my white-hot anger, guilt acts as kindling, bringing the flame to life. Fine, I shouldn’t have talked to Freddie, and I definitely shouldn’t have mentioned Alchemy 13 to him. In trying to gather all the information, I broke my oath—and I broke Natalie’s trust. But it’s hard to feel the full force of regret when I finally understand what I’ve sworn to protect.

“Natalie, I need to know what I’m doing when I’m running around finding curses.” I almost reach for her but stop myself, afraid she’ll pull back. Afraid of what this fight means. “I deserve to know what sort of magic I’m helping to regulate and what dangers are involved. If I’m going to work for CSAMM, I have to know what this place stands for.”

She stares at me, expressionless. “And do you agree with what we stand for?”

I open my mouth to respond—but I need to understand something before I answer. I stand by what I told Freddie, about how I’d sooner die than help him, but one thing isn’t sitting right.

“Would biological magic have saved your mom?” I ask quietly.

Natalie blinks, sucking back a little as if I took a swing at her. Then she regains her composure, and her face settles into a neutral mask. “Yes. It probably would have.”

Another hitch in this fucked-up dilemma.

If a family member was about to die, I’d do everything in my power to save them, including breaking the law. If someone I knew had cancer and biological magic was the cure, I’d scour the earth until I found it.

“If saving one person means a million others suffer, what’s the right answer?” Natalie asks.

My eyes burn. It’s an impossible decision. How do you weigh lives against each other like that? “I… don’t know,” I say, the words barely coming out.

This is hurting my brain. What’s the solution when a force can be used for both incredible good and pure evil?

Natalie steps closer, a breath away. I lean back, trapped between her and the cool brick wall.

“So don’t judge me or my family for making a certain choice,” she growls, her voice low and firm. “This is not a black-and-white issue.”

I nod. A chasm seems to open between us—a breach in trust that might never be mended. Her eyes are cold, her posture tense, and any comfort I usually feel in her presence has dissolved.

Heels click, and we both turn. I have to lean away from the wall to see around the fern.

“Well, well.” Fiona walks toward us down the corridor, her eyes narrowing.

Natalie steps back, leaving a draft, and it hits me how close we were standing… How this must look…

“Uh-huh,” Fiona says as if unsurprised. There’s a dangerous glint in her eyes, a curl in her lip. “Seeing as you’re both here, this will make the conversation a little easier.”

Natalie catches my eye for a fleeting second, a flash of uncertainty that sends a chill down to my toes. The air in the corridor feels thick and murky .

“It’s been brought to my attention that the two of you seem to be involved,” Fiona says, a slight tremor in her voice, like she’s barely suppressing her anger.

A thousand outbursts rise in my head. Who told her? Why do they care? Is this really the first thing she’s going to say to me after I nearly got my foot chewed off while fighting for CSAMM’s cause?

“After everything you were warned about,” Fiona snarls. “After your oaths ! The fact that you’re still willing to put confidential information at risk—”

“I haven’t told Katie anything beyond what she’s supposed to know,” Natalie says. She meets my eye, the accusation hanging in the air. But she’s managed to find out anyway.

My face heats up as I recall my induction ceremony—Fiona warning me not to try and coerce information out of anyone. Natalie has upheld their secrecy on her end, but I definitely have not followed the rules.

Fiona nods, seeming satisfied with Natalie’s assurance, then turns to me with a narrowed gaze. “For both your sakes, you’d better be staying in your own lane. If you’re prying into things beyond your station, suspension is the least of your worries.”

I dip my chin, the word suspension hitting me like a punch. “Of—of course.”

She smooths her blazer, her nostrils flaring. “We’ll have to bring your situation to the board to evaluate whether further action is—”

“That won’t be necessary,” Natalie says.

My stomach plummets. It keeps falling, sinking right through the floor and into oblivion.

Fiona raises an eyebrow. “And why not?”

Natalie shoves her hands into her pockets, not meeting my eye. “Katie and I were just discussing how it’s best for everyone if this stops now.”

Her words carry through the empty corridor. The sense that multiple things are coming to an end looms over me like a storm cloud—a relationship, a partnership, any trust I’ve built with people in my short time here.

All because I was desperate for answers.

“I see. Katie, can you confirm?” Fiona’s gaze burns the side of my face, but I can’t bring myself to meet her eyes.

Numb, I set my jaw and nod, trying desperately not to convey how much pain is lancing through me with each beat of my heart. My mouth is dry, my next words tasting like ash. “Yes. Whatever was going on is over anyway.”