Demon Accords 8: College Arcane (9 page)

“You’ve seen
his
tracks?” Justin
asked, eyes wide and food forgotten.

“Tracks? Had the whole damned bear right in
my face. Almost shat myself too,” I said.

“What’s he like?” Justin asked,
awestruck.

“Immense would be the best word, at least in
bear form. Don’t get me wrong—he’s still big in wolf form, but it’s
the difference between a chair and small car.”

Justin put his fork down and locked his whole
attention on me. “Truth?”

I glanced at Caeco, then back his way. “Ah,
yeah. Actually he was here Saturday night—with Chris, but I think
they left.”

“Here?” he said, looking around,
awestruck.

“Justin is a major fan, in case you couldn’t
tell,” T.J. said. “Got a poster of him and lots of Youtube videos
on his iPad.”

Justin was starting to look embarrassed, his
gaze now on his plate.

“Well, he’ll be back. Want to meet him?” I
asked.

He looked up and locked eyes with me. “Yeah I
would,” he drawled, watching me to see if I was sincere.

“Chris will be back and I think ‘Sos will
likely be with him, if only to check on Toni, Gina’s daughter. He’s
what you might call protective of her.”

Caeco laughed outright at that. “Sorry, but
Declan is understating it by a really large margin. She rides him
around like a horse.”

“Seriously?” Ariel asked. I nodded before
turning my attention to T.J.

“So, you any good with WiFi and Bluetooth
gear?” I asked. “Like net-worked stuff… Internet of things kind of
shit?”

“Only in my sleep and blindfolded,” he
boasted, his eyes cutting toward Ashley.

“We may have to call on your expertise on a
little job we’re working on for Chris,” I said, snagging a cream
sauce covered scallop and popping it in my mouth.

“He really likes you guys, doesn’t he?” Jetta
asked, maybe a bit envious.

I shrugged, still chewing, but Caeco piped
up. “He does. I think he really relates to Declan.”

I looked at her, surprised.

“Well, he does. You have a lot of
similarities… a lot in common, as they say,” she explained.

“What do they have in common?” Ashley asked.
“Declan’s a warlock and Chris is… well, he’s an Angel.”

“Trust me. I was trained in the psychology of
soldiers and leaders and the two of them have similar backgrounds,
similar situations, and many of the same personality traits. I
think Chris sees Declan as a younger version of himself.”

“What’s he think of you?” Mack asked.

“Me? Oh, he thinks I kick ass,” she said
nonchalantly, giving everyone a wink.

“Okay, Miss Modest, let’s finish up. We all
have another class in an hour,” I said.

“We have
Exploiting Power
or whatever
it is. How about you guys?” Ashley asked, after pointing at Ariel
and herself.

“Control,” Justin rumbled.

“We’re supposed to start with Control, then
go to Explorations on Wednesday night,” Mack said, glancing at his
sister.

“Control,” Caeco said.

“Explorations,” I said.

“Me too,” T.J. said.

“Alright. Let’s see what the second half of
Hogwart’s has to offer,” I said, picking up my plate and glass. The
others all followed.

Chapter 9

The first thing I found out in witch class
was that Miss Berg’s first name was Karen. The second was that she
was very much a sexist.

We got into class and found seats on the
second row up. Ariel sat next to Ashley, who would have been next
to me, but for T.J. jumping into the spot first. So I sat next to
T.J.

The witch girls chose to sit right next to
us. Actually I think Ryanne made the decision, but the others
didn’t protest. the whole pack, which now numbered eight, arrived
in a cluster of chattering estrogen and magic, fairly brimming with
energy.

Ryanne spotted me and immediately headed my
way, claiming the seat next to mine. The others followed her lead,
packing into the second and third rows, still talking a mile a
minute.

The first time I’d seen Ryanne, she’d worn
shorts for her highly energetic band performance at Kate’s Pub on
Church Street. The last two days, she’d been wearing jeans. Today
she was dressed in the college girl uniform of sweater and tights,
as was most of her fellow witches—actually, as most of the girls in
the class were.

“Heya D, it’s bloody lethal out there. How do
you Yanks put up with it?” she asked with shiver and a smile.

I couldn’t help but smile back at her. “You
get used to it,” I said with a shrug.

“No mate,
you
get used to it. Meself,
I’ll be happy to get back to me wet green Isle.”

“Well, by the time the semester’s over, it’ll
be warmer here than in Ireland,” I said.

“Don’t seem hardly poosible, what with all
the fecking white shite out there,” she said.

“Welcome, everyone. Welcome to Explorations
of Power. This year, we will do just that, exploring the uses,
dangers, and limits of your individual talents. Along the way, I
think we’ll also learn a great deal about each other,” the teacher
said loudly, smiling broadly and making eye contact with everyone
while she waited for the various side conversations to die.

“First, a little background on me. I was born
into a well-established circle in Ohio. Like my mother, I am an
earth witch, with an affinity for Mother Earth and everything that
grows across her. There are lots of earth witches in the nation’s
breadbasket, as our talents have helped produced the food that
feeds the country, although no one knows it.

“I lost my circle twenty-one years ago to an
accident. I met Nathan Stewart not long afterward, and Oracle
became my employer and home. As a result, I’ve seen and experienced
things that I never would have had my life remained unchanged. So
despite Mr. Gordon’s reservations, I can unequivocally stand here
and tell you that Oracle would be a fantastic place for any of you
to work, but only if you enjoy travel, prestige, excellent pay, and
benefits.

“Okay, enough of the paid advertising. Let’s
run through our roll call and get to know one another. As I call
your name, tell us your ability, or if you’re a witch, your
affinity.”

I quickly learned that most of the kids, the
ones that appeared to be strictly human, were psychic in some way
or another. Several telepaths, including Ashley. One other
precognitive besides Ariel: a small blond boy named Ray. Some
telekinetic and a pyrokinetic; two remote viewers, which Miss Berg
said was a form of clairvoyance, as was T.J.’s techinetic ability.
I learned that Ryanne’s last name was Flynn and she was a water
witch. Britta was also a water witch and her sister was air. Tami,
whose last name was Keoni, was a fire witch, and so was the Goth
girl, Zuzanna. The dark girl with the bright hazel eyes was Jael
and she was air, while her pale little roommate was Michelle, an
earth witch. Zuzanna’s stocky roommate was Paige, whose abilities
lay in the realm of water.

The fun began when we got to my name.

“Ah, here we are, our token male witch,
Declan O’Carroll,” Miss Berg said, looking up at me. Before I could
answer, she went on. “Males—or warlocks, as they’re sometimes
known—only show up about one in every hundred or so witches. We
originally thought the gene for witchcraft was on the X chromosome,
but plenty of males carry the gene without expressing it. We’ve
since found out that there is a partner gene on the Y chromosome
that must be present for a warlock to be able to practice the
Craft. Females with one witch chromosome can be witches but they
are never nearly as powerful a witch born with two. Of course, the
Y chromosome version is weak and that’s why we believe males are so
much less powerful than females.”

She smiled a smug little smile as she said
it, which started to make me a little annoyed.

“What’s your affinity, Declan? If you have
one?” she asked, stylus poised over her tablet.

“Fire and earth,” I said, keeping my voice as
even as possible. Take that, bitch.

“Which is it, dear?”

“Ah, both. I have a dual affinity,” I said,
not adding that I actually have a third, because that was
universally thought impossible.

“Declan, you’ve already impressed us just by
being a warlock. This isn’t a competition, dear, so before anyone
is embarrassed, let’s just answer honestly, okay?”

I held my right palm up and pulled heat from
the pool of warm air up in the steel rafters. I compressed it
smaller and smaller till it ignited in a ball of self-contained
fire, about the size of a grapefruit. Beside me, I felt T.J. pull
away from the heat, while on my other side, Ryanne leaned in,
fascinated.

“Right, fire it is. Impressive, dear,” Berg
said.

In the far corner, a daylily bloomed in a pot
of dirt. I pulled a lump of dirt out of the pot, across the room,
and into my left hand. She looked up at the sudden motion, eyes
narrowing as she spotted the pile of slightly damp earth in my
hand.

Trying something quite a bit trickier, I
formed the pile into the shape of a little man, maybe three inches
tall, just the semblance of a humanoid figure. Then I walked it
across my palm to my other palm. Focusing my concentration for the
hard part, I carefully forced one tiny arm to make a salute in Miss
Berg’s direction.

For a moment, her mouth hung open, just a few
seconds really, but enough to give me a perverse sense of
satisfaction. Then her eyes narrowed again and she waved one hand.
My little dirt man crumbled into a pile of potting soil, even as
much of the class
awwed
in disappointment.

“Mr. O’Carroll, you have made your point, but
I don’t like grandstanding in my classroom. Attention whores will
not be tolerated, do you hear me?”

“Ma’am, did you just call me a whore?” I
asked, temper flaring uncontrollably.

“I identified a class of individuals that
most of the warlocks I have known invariably fall into. If the shoe
fits, Mr. O’Carroll, if the shoe fits. Now, enough. Let’s finish
the roll call,” she said, before calling another kid’s name that I
didn’t hear because I was trying to strangle my anger. A warm hand
touched my right forearm as Ryanne leaned in close.

“Don’t flip out, laddie. She’ll learn soon
enough. And sooch a surprise it’ll be,” she whispered, distracting
me with her perfume, her warmth, and her understanding of what I
was.

I glanced sideways at her. One eyebrow was
arched into a perfect smirk. “What? I watched you stand off with me
sisters, holding more power than the lot of us and you didn’t think
I would realize? Not to mention ya blacked out the whole building
yesterday. Britta’s been having a bird over it, she has,” she
whispered. “Jest bide yer time. The old bitch will like to shite
herself.”

Just that fast, my overwhelming anger turned
to amusement at the mental picture she’d just painted. In fact, I
almost laughed out loud, but kept it to a quiet chuckle. Miss Berg
noticed and glared but finished out the rest of her roll call
without comment.

“In this class, we will explore what is known
about your abilities, what is not known, and what is suspected.
We’ll cover some history, learn how these powers have been put to
use in different cultures around the world, and we’ll do a great
deal of actual practice in developing your full potential. That
will be important, class, for many reasons, not the least of which
will be that Mr. Jenks will be expecting you to be able to use your
gifts under stress in your survival class.

“Now, for the rest of this session, I’d like
you all to group up by ability or in my witches’ cases, affinity.
Many of you are self-taught; others maybe have some training. You
can all learn something from one another. Now go ahead and group
up,” she said.

The witches were almost even in affinities,
except for myself. I could have worked with either Tami and Zuzanna
or the little Earth witch, Michelle. I chose Michelle as it only
seemed logical.

She looked at me a touch hesitantly. I was
still clutching a fistful of soil and I gestured with it. “Let me
go put this back,” I said, pointing at the potted plant.

“That was really cool. Could you teach me to
do that?” she asked.

“You never made dirt people?” I asked.

She shook her head. “My mom had me at a
commune near Seattle. She mostly used her abilities to help grow
the food we ate. That’s how I learned, on plants.”

“Oh, right. Makes sense. My mom showed me
this when I was like six or something. I kept up with it for years,
making the courses harder and my dirt dudes more complex.”

We were at the corner of the classroom
farthest from the door. The lily was a big one and the pot it lived
in had plenty of dirt for us to work with, so I just sat on the
polished concrete and made a pile of my dirt in front of me.

Michelle dropped down cross-legged and after
a moment, she reached into the pot and helped herself to some
potting soil. I noticed that the rest of the class had spread out
around the room as well. The witchcraft contingent seemed to have
this half of the room while the psychic kids were on the side
nearest the entrance.