Page 15 of The Tribes of Magic (Paragons #3)

Dante nodded. “That’s a pretty accurate assessment of my teammates.”

I sighed.

Dante shut the book. “What’s wrong, Savannah?”

“Nothing,” I muttered.

“Once again, and this time try to be a little more convincing.”

“It’s just that everyone seems to have everything all figured out. And, well, that makes my life look complicated.”

“You make your life complicated.”

“I know.”

“Relax. Seriously. You worry way too much. It’s going to give you grey hairs.”

“Sixteen-year-olds don’t get grey hairs, genius.”

“They do when they worry as much as you do.”

I sighed again. “I wish Mom were around. I wish I could talk to her. She always knows just what to say to make me feel better.”

“We’ll see her again soon enough, once she’s back from touring that fancy new Government research facility.”

“The Government has a new research facility? And Mom’s there? Where did you hear that?”

“From Mom.”

I frowned. “She didn’t tell me.”

“She said she tried to call you yesterday morning. I guess you were still asleep.”

“No, I was up early training.”

“Training, right.” Dante nodded, amusement dancing in his eyes. “With those two Knights from the Spirit Tree, I suppose?”

“Yes. And my phone got wrecked.”

“Those Knights get her into all kinds of trouble, Dante,” Nevada said.

“Actually, it was my fault. I accidentally cast an avalanche spell which buried all of us. And then my phone screen cracked against a rock.”

“How do you accidentally cast an avalanche spell?” Dante folded his fingers together, eagerly awaiting my response.

“ Accidentally , of course.”

Dante laughed. “You dumped an avalanche on yourself. This is even better than the time you set the General’s office curtains on fire.”

“I never set the General’s office curtains on fire,” I reminded him.

“You didn’t? Then why does everyone at the Castle say you did?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Dante. Let me think. Maybe because you told them I did.”

Dante chuckled.

“You’re not going to tell everyone about my avalanche, are you?”

“Of course not.”

“Don’t you believe him for a second, Savannah,” Nevada said. “He is totally going to tell everyone.”

“I know,” I sighed.

“Hey, I’m only trying to help you build up your reputation.”

“Actually, I think she’s doing a pretty good job of that herself, Dante. She’s been an Apprentice for under two weeks, and she’s already saved every Spirit Tree in the Many Realms.”

Dante nodded along to Nevada’s words. “And don’t forget how she usurped the freewill of every member of the Court, turning them into a bunch of mindless puppets. That’s not something people will soon forget!”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I muttered.

Dante was right there to pat me on my back, even as I slouched over in my chair. “Chin up, sis! You should be proud that you’re making such an impact on the Many Realms. How many Apprentices—or even Knights—can say that? You’re famous!”

“I’d rather be anonymous . So where’s this secret science retreat that Mom’s doing?”

Dante shrugged. “No idea. It’s a Government project. They put her in charge of a science team that’s working on some super-secret, super-important work.”

“I wonder what kind of work she’s doing.”

“We’ll probably never know. The Government likes its secrets. All I know is: it must be big if the Government gave her special lodging in Paradise.”

“Wow, that is a huge step up,” Nevada said. “Only the most important Government employees end up in Paradise.”

“Mom says the Government put her up in a huge house on the waterfront in Paradise.”

I smiled. “I bet she hates it.”

“Oh, she definitely does,” Dante said. “Mom never wanted to live in Paradise. She wanted to stay close to us. But it’s not like you can say no to the Government.”

“Yeah.”

Nevada reached over and swiped the blueberry muffin off Dante’s plate.

“Hey!”

She tossed the muffin to me. I caught it.

“What’s this for?”

“You look like you need it.”

“I do. And who am I to argue with a free muffin?”

“ My muffin.”

“Savannah needs it more than you do, Dante. You’ve already eaten five muffins this morning. Did you put that in your journal?”

Nevada leaned over to catch a peek at his journal, but Dante stuffed it back in his bag before she got the chance. They stared at each other, arms folded across their chests.

Finally, Nevada broke the staring contest, which made Dante grin, but she obviously didn’t care. “So, Savannah. Did you do any special training this morning?”

“No, not today. Conner is still out there, hunting down the Templars. And the General is keeping Kato close to him and very far away from me.”

“Why?”

“The General thinks I’ve bewitched Kato to do my evil bidding. And he thinks if he keeps Kato away from me long enough, the spell will wear off and Kato will come to his senses.”

“Wow, talk about paranoid.”

I shrugged. “Well, you know the General.”

“Yeah, he’s the biggest sourpuss in all the Many Realms. No contest.”

“You don’t have to tell me. The Watchers dragged me to the Black Obelisk last night for an impromptu tête-à-tête with the Iron Wolf.”

“So that’s what you were doing in the Black Obelisk last night,” Dante said. “I was kind of surprised to see you there.”

“You were there?”

“My whole team was. That was our assignment yesterday: cataloging and cleaning all of the Watchers’ equipment.

Altair tried to convince us that playing cleanup has something to do with Alchemist magic training, but I think the Watchers just needed someone to clean their boots.

I would have said hi, Savi, but we weren’t supposed to talk while we worked, and Rhett Wilson is a total tattletale. ”

“I’m glad you didn’t get yourself into trouble on my account.”

Dante flashed me a grin. “It’s cute that you think I need your help to get in trouble.”

“Indeed. Thankfully, the General likes you a lot better than he likes me.”

“It must be my charm. And my ability to do pushups. I can do a lot of pushups, Sav. The General’s a military man. They like that sort of thing.”

I chuckled. “I often envy your uncomplicated outlook on life, Dante.”

“Sometimes simple is better, Sav. It sure makes it easier to deal with people like the General.”

“What did the General say to you last night anyway?” Nevada asked me.

“With your powers, your mistakes could have catastrophic consequences,” I quoted. “So get a handle on your magic and get it quick, Miss Winters. Because if you don’t, you will have far greater problems than where your name sits on the Scoreboard.”

“That’s not a bad impression of the General,” Nevada said.

“Let’s just say he was not impressed by my performance at the conference center yesterday.”

“Which part?”

“Basically everything from the moment I stepped foot in the building—but especially the part where I accidentally enslaved the minds of everyone on the Many Realms Court.”

Dante’s brows peaked. “That was an accident?”

“Yes. And you know what? The General’s right.

I made a total mess of the situation. I feel like I’ve opened the floodgates of my magic, and now it’s running wild.

It comes when I don’t mean for it to come.

It doesn’t come when I want it to come. And it’s alternately too powerful and not powerful enough.

I have to learn to control my magic, and I have to learn it fast.”

Nevada set her hand on my shoulder. “You’re being awfully hard on yourself, Savannah.”

“I have to be hard on myself, Nevada. Because the next time I lose control over my magic, someone might actually get hurt.” I held in the sigh. “Ok, enough about me. What training do you guys have today?”

“Dante’s team and my team are working together today to see if any of us are Elves.”

“A total waste of time, if you ask me. I’m clearly a Metamorph.”

I cracked a smile. “Oh, did you finally master superhuman speed, Dante?”

“Of course.”

“Are you sure? Because I seem to remember your claiming you had superhuman speed that time we all had to clean the bathrooms together in the conference center.” My smile stretched wider. “And yet all you did was splash water all over the floor.”

Nevada and I laughed.

“There is more than one kind of Metamorph magic,” Dante said.

I met my brother’s blushing face and grinned at him. “Personally, I think you need to ask Jareth to show you how to turn into a bull. You’d be good at that, Dante. You’ve always been very thick-headed. And whenever I draw pictures of our family, I always draw you with horns,” I added with a smirk.

“Very cute, Savannah.”

There was a calculating twinkle in his eyes, like he was already plotting a way to get back at me. I’d been surviving Dante’s counterattacks for years, so I wasn’t worried. Or at least not that worried.

“So are you guys training Elf magic at the conference center like my group did yesterday?” I asked them.

Dante snorted. “Uh, no.”

“What is it? Did I say something funny?”

“Well, actually, Savannah…” Nevada glanced at Dante, then back at me. “After what happened at the Summit yesterday, the General doesn’t want any Apprentices anywhere near the conference center.”

I frowned. “Is this because I bewitched the Court? Or because two Court members ended up dead?”

“I guess a lot of both?”

“I should have followed your advice and kept a low profile, Dante.”

“Na, that’s not your style, Avalanche Siren.”

“Avalanche Siren?”

“Just trying the name on for size,” he told me.

“I like it.”

“Really?”

“No.”

Dante chuckled.

“Is the General putting any other restrictions on the Apprentices’ movements because of me?” I asked them.

“Well, I’m not sure if it’s because of you, but this morning he stationed extra guards at both of the Fortress’s Spirit Trees,” Nevada said. “But that’s probably because some crazy people tried to poison them.”

“Huh.”

“What are you thinking, Savannah?”

“I think that if that were the reason, the General would have stationed the Watchers there two days ago instead of waiting until now. So there must be a different reason.”

“Like what?”

“Like I think the General has realized the Rebels aren’t in the city anymore.”

“Where are they?”

“Somewhere in the Many Realms, hunting down Templars. That’s actually why the General stationed extra Watchers at the Spirit Trees. He’s waiting for the Rebels to return. And when they do, an army of Watchers will be right there, ready to arrest them.”

“That does sound like the General,” Dante said.

“Yeah,” Nevada agreed.

Dante’s watch beeped.

“Sorry, Savi, Nevada and I have to go, or we’ll miss our train. We have another long day ahead of us at the Black Obelisk.”

“Doing what?” I walked with them as they hurried toward the door.

“Practicing putting Watchers to sleep, I hope,” Dante said.

They left my cottage. I grabbed my shoes and headed in the opposite direction, through the overgrown woods, taking the shortcut that would bring me to the Castle.