Page 34 of The Tribes of Magic (Paragons #3)

POTIONS AND POWDERS

A ltair brought us to Miss Christie’s Shop of Magical Curiosities. There, between the aisles of potions and powders, under the disapproving glower of the tight-faced shopkeeper, the Knight quizzed us on our knowledge of magical ingredients.

We failed miserably. Well, except for Ansel. He was a natural Alchemist—as Altair was very pleased to point out.

“Might I suggest you all apply yourselves as well as Mr. Andersen here has? Good heavens! Is he the only Apprentice here who completed last night’s reading?”

Nevada leaned in closer to me. “I did the reading,” she muttered. “I just couldn’t remember all those scientific-sounding names.”

Even Bronte looked frazzled. She’d run her hands through her perfect hair so many times that it was anything but perfect anymore.

In fact, it looked even messier than mine.

Bronte’s gaze was snapping up and down her phone screen, searching for the answers to Altair’s questions.

I hoped she was all right. She’d been off her game ever since the Scoreboard incident.

But Nevada found Bronte’s minor mental breakdown reassuring. “Nice to know I’m not the only one struggling. If Bronte Vance, Star of the Scoreboard, is having trouble, Altair’s expectations are clearly far too high.”

“Ansel doesn’t think so.”

“Yeah, well, Ansel’s a genius. He probably figured out a way to download the entire contents of that five-hundred page Alchemy encyclopedia right into his brain.”

I chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Miss Rey, Miss Winters, would you care to share what it is that’s so much more interesting than this Discovery Quest?”

Oh, crap. Busted. I looked at Altair, and he was not smiling.

“Perhaps you were discussing the many beneficial properties of ingesting Fairy Moss? Please, enlighten us.”

Every single Apprentice was looking at us.

“Well, the?—”

“Not you, Miss Winters. Her.” Altair’s gaze snapped to Nevada.

She tried to suppress a startled squeak, but I was pretty sure everyone heard it. A few of them chuckled. They stopped when Altair looked at them.

His gaze returned to Nevada. “Miss Rey?”

“Um…” Sweat dripped down her face.

I felt so bad for her, I had to help her. I projected the answer into her mind. Ingesting Fairy Moss doesn’t include many beneficial properties, unless you count blurred vision and vomiting among them.

She repeated my words back to Altair verbatim. “Ingesting Fairy Moss doesn’t include many beneficial properties, unless you count blurred vision and vomiting among them.”

As far as poisons go, it’s one to be avoided.

“As far as poisons go, it’s one to be avoided.”

Some Metamorphs consume Fairy Moss, believing it builds bigger muscles.

“Some Metamorphs consume Fairy Moss, believing it builds bigger muscles.”

But I think we can all agree that Metamorphs are kind of crazy.

“But I think we can all agree that Metamorphs are kind of crazy.” Nevada smiled at Altair.

He watched her for a few long, silent seconds, then he chuckled. “Indeed they are. Not bad, Nevada. Not bad at all.”

Surprised whispers rose from the other Apprentices. Except for Ansel. He winked at me. Not at Nevada. At me. He knew. Somehow he knew.

“Thanks for your help, Savannah.”

It was a few minutes later, and Nevada and I were scouring the shelves for Magic Thyme. Magic Thyme wasn’t the magical equivalent of thyme for Alchemists who really wanted to spice up their chicken. It was an herb used in time-based spells. Supernaturals really loved their puns.

“No problem, Nevada. You looked like you needed it.”

“I did.” She sighed. “I had no idea what Fairy Moss does. I’m surprised you do.”

“It was in last night’s reading.”

“Yes, I’m sure it was somewhere buried in those five hundred pages of definitions. But how did you remember that random, obscure herb out of all the random, obscure herbs in the book?”

“Actually, I’m not sure. I guess I do magic best when I’m under stress.”

“Thank goodness for that,” she said. “And thank goodness it was facts and not tidal waves this time.”

I laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think the shopkeeper would be very impressed if I flooded the aisles.”

“You don’t have to flood the aisles. But you could do something else.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Something smaller.” Nevada got on a step stool someone had left here. She rose to her tiptoes and poked her head over the top of the aisle. Then she ducked back down. “Ok, the coast is clear. Now show me some magic.”

“Ok, here goes.”

There was a soft clinking sound.

I sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Nevada asked. “Didn’t you mean to switch those two potion bottles on the shelf?”

“I did. It’s just that…well, practicing my magic is a lot more fun when I’m not the only one casting spells. When others are doing it too, it feels like more of a conversation. And less like a monologue.”

“You could always call them .” She indicated the pair of necklaces I wore. One had been a gift from Kato, the other one from Conner.

“I can’t use the necklaces for something like that. They’re for emergencies only.”

“Really? I thought the boys invited you to call any time, for any reason.”

“I shouldn’t have confided that in you,” I said quietly.

Was I blushing? Because I really felt like I was blushing.

“Of course you can confide in me, Savannah. So are you going to call them?”

I was tempted. So tempted. But I couldn’t.

It wouldn’t be responsible. Kato was busy doing what Knights did.

And Conner was out there, somewhere in the Many Realms. If I called him here, he would come…

and walk right into the Watchers’ trap. The General had them watching every Spirit Tree for any sign of Rebels.

“No. I can’t call them.” I dropped my hand from my necklaces, sighed, and went back to searching the shelves for Magic Thyme.

Soon after, Ansel called Nevada over. Her team needed her. Altair was breaking us into teams for a magic scavenger hunt.

But before Nevada left, she said to me, “Try to loosen up and have a little fun, Savi. The boys didn’t give you those necklaces so you could twiddle them around your fingers.”

I dropped my hand when I realized I had been fiddling with the necklaces. Nevada winked at me, then joined her team. And I joined mine.

Altair explained our latest quest in detail.

Bronte and Dutch were both taking notes, which meant I didn’t have to.

I stood a little off to the side, so the edge of the aisle partially hid what I was doing.

I continued practicing the switching spell as Altair talked on and on and on.

I prayed the task was more interesting than his explanation.

Maybe during the course of the hunt, we’d find ourselves out back behind the shop, and I’d get a chance to visit my favorite unicorn…

“Hey, Red. Over here.”

I smiled when I heard Conner’s voice. It wasn’t distant. He was close.

“Over here.”

I followed the sound of his voice with my ears, not my feet. I glanced toward the door. I could tell from their body language that none of the other Apprentices had heard him. And neither had Altair.

I couldn’t see Conner, but I could sense his presence. He must have been invisible.

“I was just thinking about you.”

His chuckles danced circles in my ears. “Of course you were.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m so glad you’re ok, Conner. I got worried when I didn’t hear from you for a while.”

“No need to worry, Red. I’ve been keeping a low profile. The General now knows he was one hundred percent wrong about the Rebels being responsible for all the bad things he accused us of.”

“So that’s good news,” I said tentatively.

“Good news for absolutely no one. The General can’t stand being wrong about anything , so of course now he’s even more determined to apprehend the Rebels and make us pay for him being wrong. So yay.”

As the Rebels’ leader, Conner was the poster boy of the General’s displeasure.

“But the tides are turning. Public opinion has changed, even if the General’s hasn’t. Most people now consider the Rebels heroes.” Conner sounded quite happy about that.

“I bet the General isn’t happy.”

“Of course not.” He sounded even happier about that. “Since when has the General ever been happy? Thanks, by the way, for the warning about the Spirit Trees being guarded. Armed with that knowledge—and a few devious spells—I was able to sneak past the Watchers and come home.”

“I’m glad.”

He chuckled. “I know.”

I couldn’t help but join in his laughter.

“Who are you talking to?” Dutch’s sharp question cut through my laughter, yanking me back to reality.

I turned to look at him. “To myself, of course.”

“You’re talking to yourself?”

“Yep. Just going through the Quest’s task list in my head.”

Dutch looked at me like I had a few screws loose in my head.

People often looked at me like that. Dutch shook his head once, then continued writing.

A quick visual comparison of his notepad and Bronte’s told me he was determined to take the more detailed quest notes.

Maybe that was his way of getting her attention. How sweet.

Ansel was taking notes too, but I couldn’t see his notepad from here. There were too many Apprentices between us. His teammates were sticking to him like glue, which was smart. Of all the Apprentices, Ansel was the best Alchemist by far.

“I get it, Red. The dweebs are adorable. But let’s not get distracted.”

The others still hadn’t noticed Conner, and it wasn’t like he was making an effort to keep his voice down. He must have directed his magic so that only I could hear him.

“Distracted from what?” I asked him.

“The real Quest.”

“What is this real Quest?”

“Come on.”

“That is not an answer.”

“No, it’s a plea. Ditch this boring Quest and sneak off with me instead. I can give you some real training. Altair’s training is such a snooze fest.”

“I’m not sure he would appreciate it if I left.”

“There are bigger things at stake here! Remember the Templars?”

“How could I forget?”

“I found one of them, here on Gaia. Thanks to the General’s completely futile efforts to capture the Rebels, the Fortress’s Spirit Trees are well-guarded. The Templars can’t get away. They’re trapped on Gaia.”

“Which one did you find?”

“The Metamorph. Harlyn. Would you like to speak to him?”

I could hear the smile in Conner’s voice. He knew he had me. He knew I would never pass up an opportunity like this. It was the first real lead I’d had in my quest to find Kylie and the other missing Apprentices.

I glanced at Bronte and Dutch, my overachieving teammates. They could handle the scavenger hunt without me. In fact, they might be better off without me to muck things up.

I glanced in the direction of Conner’s voice. “Let’s go.”