Trial by Fire (Covencraft Book 1) (13 page)

Jade had apparently been running all of them even as she left the room to speak with him at the door.

“That book you gave me seemed pretty boring, so I got another one from the library. Callie helped me pick it out,” she said casually as she sat back down at the table. The rocks wavered slightly but held their balance. The ball of fire drifted perilously close to her hair but seemed to stop outside flammable distance. Jade appeared not to notice.

“It’s been going pretty good, I think.”

Wordlessly, Paris pulled up a chair. The fire drifted closer to him and paused in front of him, almost like a pet sniffing out a new person in the room. Paris leaned back slightly, anticipating it would burn him.

“What?” Jade asked absentmindedly, as if Paris had spoken. She looked up from her book. “Oh.” She saw how close the flame was to him and without even saying a word the fireball drifted back toward her with a slight wave of her hand.

“You’re doing all of them at once,” Paris said, even though it was obvious.

“Yes, why? Oh, by the way, I need some help with something in the pantry.”

“What have you got in the pantry?” he asked warily, eyeing the closed door with trepidation.

Jade stood and opened the pantry door. It looked perfectly normal. Jars and cans of food lined the shelves all in perfect order.

“Looks like a pantry,” he said.

“Yes, looks like a pantry.” She agreed as she stuck her hand in and it disappeared up to her elbow.

He pushed his chair back. “Jesus!” Paris exclaimed as he stood up abruptly and made a move to grab her.

She pulled her arm back out and shut the door with a shrug. “I don’t know what that is. I can see all my stuff on the shelf but I tossed a few forks in there and they disappeared. Now watch this.”

She grabbed a can of vegetables from another cupboard and tossed it in. The can disappeared without a sound. She looked up at the ceiling.

He looked up too. “What-?”

“Shhh,” she hushed him. “Wait.”

Two seconds later there was a loud thud from above. She looked at him. “It landed on the bedroom floor. Isn’t that bizarre?” Again she shrugged. “It’s been like that for the last hour. And I’m getting hungry.”

Jade sat back down and looked at him like a nine year-old waiting for permission to ride her bike. He took his seat slowly. Once again the fireball drifted in close to him, but she waved her hand and it moved back again. The rocks started to wobble.

“You really shouldn’t have started without me.”

“It seemed pretty easy. I finished the other books before lunch.” She was clearly excited and pleased with herself, practically vibrating with energy. The stack of rocks wobbled a bit from their perch.

“And so you took that one out from the library?” Paris said indicating the other one.

“Yeah, it’s more interesting. And you can mix and match things. Callie said it was a good one.”

“Callie,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“I mentioned that my book was boring. So she picked this one out.”

“And what did she say when she gave it to you?” Paris asked, growing annoyed.

Jade eyed him suspiciously. “She said, ‘Here’s that book I mentioned.’”

“And nothing about you not trying it on your own.” It wasn’t a question.

Jade waved a hand in mild dismissal. “Oh sure, she said that. But the other book went so well I figured it couldn’t hurt.”

“I see,” Paris said unemotionally. There was a long silence before he spoke again. “Did it never occur to you that you were putting yourself in danger?” His voice was slow and careful as he spoke, wanting to ensure she understood.

“With this?” Jade asked, gesturing to the fire, water, rocks and mini tornado. “How?”

“Did it not occur to you that there is a reason we make new witches cast spells with a mentor?” Paris’ voice had gotten slightly louder. Her precarious stack of rocks wobbled some more.

“I told you, it’s been going fine.”

“And what if what’s in the pantry had swallowed you up?” Paris demanded.

“I would have landed on the bedroom floor next to the cans of vegetables I tossed in,” she said matter-of-factly. “Probably,” she added. “I mean, most likely.” The top rock fell off its perch and clattered to the counter.

“You. Don’t. Know. That.” Every word was perfectly enunciated and resonant.

A small burst of confetti escaped from the tornado and sprayed across the kitchen, peppering the area with bits of colored paper.

“While I agree that you are powerful, you have not the skill nor the discipline to control your magic yet.” Paris admonished. “You were to wait for supervision.”

Jade held an affronted look on her face. “Are you using a ‘tone’ on me?” Her little ball of fire swirled up in front of her and she batted it away.

“What?”

“I hear a tone in your voice.”

“If you mean am I angry with you then yes, I am using a ‘tone,’ as you say.”

“I have it all under control,” she protested. Another rock slipped off the pile, the water mist fell back into the pot and another blast of confetti spat out of the eddy. The fireball grew larger. The coffee spoon wildly increased in velocity.

“That is hardly the point. We have rules in the Coven.”

The third rock fell to the counter top.

“I said I had it under control.”

Paris tried to contain his annoyance but wasn’t successful. “You’ve no idea the kind of power you have.”

“You said I was good at it!” Jade exclaimed hotly, gesturing wildly with her hands.

“When? When did I say that?”

“Well you didn’t exactly say it but it was
implied
. There was an implication,” she pointed her finger at him, “that first night at my apartment and then with Dr. Gellar.”

“That doesn’t mean that you have carte blanche to try things out on your own.”

The ball of fire started to roll madly behind her and small flames licked out of the perfect sphere.

“I thought you would be glad that I had started without you. Being leader of the Coven probably doesn’t leave you a lot of time for training me.”

In a flash of irritation at the mass of things going on in the room, he waved his hand in a clean, sharp gesture, putting all her magic to a stop at once. It was a harsh and brutal spurt of power and Jade visibly flinched at it, curling in a bit on herself. The confetti fell to the ground, the rocks crumbled to sand on the counter. The spoon stopped spinning and the fireball was sucked to the ground where it disappeared.

“I will make time for you.”

Rubbing her sternum, she gave him a petulant look. She probably felt a little sick from his magic. “Show off.”

His responding look needed no words for her to interpret it. Exasperation.

Paris glanced towards the pantry and taking the spoon from her coffee cup, he tossed it in. It disappeared like the can of vegetables. There was a very soft thud as, seconds later, it landed on the upstairs floor.

“Would you please go upstairs and stand in your bedroom? I want to know where it falls out.”

“Fine,” she said in a tone of voice that somehow managed to convey a host of emotion with only one syllable. Jade pushed her chair back and left her kitchen.

After giving her enough time to get upstairs, Paris tossed another can of goods - chicken soup, this time - into the pantry. He waited for the impending thud and then headed upstairs.

Jade was standing with her arms crossed at the foot of the bed. She pointed to the ceiling directly above her.

“There,” she said with no preamble.

A collection of foodstuffs and other items surrounded her on the floor. Several cans, some forks, the spoon Paris tossed in and an apple. He picked up one of the cans and shook it a bit. It still sounded like soup. He hefted its weight. It felt the same. Looked the same. He eyed the ceiling and pointed. “Right about here?” he asked.

“Yup,” she followed his gaze.

Paris tossed the can up toward the ceiling. There was a loud
thunk
before the can came back down, bringing a chunk of the plaster and a fine shower of dust down with it.

He said nothing. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his new student.

“Fucking brilliant, English,” Jade said dryly, eyeing the dent in her ceiling. “Never would have thought of that.”

He glared at the hole in the ceiling like everything was its fault.

“You’ve no idea what it is or what to do, do you?” Jade asked.

Paris let out a breath. “Absolutely none.”

They stared up at the ceiling together.

“Do you think stuff will fall out of it on its own?” Jade finally asked.

“Hard to say.”

They both nodded slightly to themselves as they craned their necks upward. Finally Paris clapped his hands together.

“Right,” he said after a long silence. “I’m taking you out to dinner.”

*

The restaurant Paris pulled the car up to boasted faux candelabras flickering on either side of the ornate door. Jade took one look and then turned to Paris.

“Absolutely not,” she said flatly.

“What? Why not?” Paris asked, eyeing the restaurant with confusion.

“Just keep driving.”

When she saw the golden arches of a fast food joint she slapped him on the arm with the back of her hand and pointed.

“You’ve got to be joking,” he grumbled.

“Nope. I’ve got a mac-attack. Pull in.”

It seemed as though the entire population of the restaurant turned and looked as they walked in and Jade was pleased to note that this time, no one was looking at her. They were all staring dumbfounded at Paris. He was clearly out of his element and stared at the menu as though he’d never seen it before.

Huh
.
Maybe he hadn’t.

Jade ordered by number and then both she and the teller looked expectantly at Paris who winced a bit before his eyes found the salad menu and lit up. Jade rolled her eyes at his order.

“No one comes here for the salad. They’re not even good salads. If you want lettuce, you can get it on your burger.”

“We’re at your choice of venue. You don’t get to choose my meal as well.”

She should be pissed at his tone but he was so affronted to be in the McDonalds, like it offended his very core, that all she could do was laugh. “Okay, English. We’ll get you a salad.”

He added a milkshake to his order and she raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve a sweet tooth,” he confessed as though he were embarrassed.

“You’ve almost made up for ordering a salad,” Jade replied back with a grin. She pulled out her wallet and paid for both of them before he could protest.

Their food arrived quickly and she snatched the tray with practiced ease, carrying it to the little condiment stand where she loaded up on salt, ketchup, pepper, napkins and straws. Paris seemed befuddled by the entire ritual, cataloguing her movements.

“Jesus, it’s just a McDonalds. You’ve been in one before, right?”

“Not for a very long time. Not since I was a child, I believe.”

“We’re expanding your horizons,” she said dryly. She picked a table and then ripped open a few packages of salt and pepper to sprinkle on her fries. Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up to his horrified expression.

“What?”

“I can hear your blood pressure rising.”

“Pfft. Gellar says I’m one of the healthiest people she knows,” Jade replied, dunking a fry in ketchup and cramming it in her mouth. “I mean, I’m not eating this every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so I think I’ll be okay.”

He made a noncommittal kind of sound and started sparingly putting dressing on his salad. After watching him struggle to toss it with the little plastic knife and fork, she took pity on him. Taking the plastic container from him, she sealed the lid and then shook it like maracas, presenting it back with a flourish.

“Ta-da.”

He poked it with his fork and apparently found it satisfactory. “Thank you.”

As they ate, he asked about her day at the Coven, obviously interested in where she and Henri had gone, and about her lunch date with her two new friends. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had taken so much of an interest in her daily activities. It wasn’t creepy or intrusive - he seemed genuinely interested in what she had done and her thoughts about the city and her tour. When she told him she had worked on her spells most of afternoon she inadvertently started up his lecturing again.

“What on earth possessed you to reach into your pantry? Your arm could have been lopped off at the elbow.”

“I hardly knew that when I reached in there the first time, now did I? I was just trying to get some peanut butter and poof! Missing hand.”

She thought about how it had happened and while she should have been scared or horrified, all she had felt was really excited by the development. Once she realized that she could simply pull her hand out and she was unharmed and still one piece, she’d spent the next several minutes playing the hokey-pokey with her pantry, putting her arm in and taking it out, putting her foot in and then she started throwing stuff in. She never quite worked up the hutzpah to crane her neck in.