I looked up from the book in front of me. “Which variant? The charisma one or the meta one?”
She was sitting at her desk and smiled at me. “For someone so against all of this, you certainly learn well. The meta one.”
That had been a recent spell I’d had to learn. It was fresh in my mind, but I made sure to sigh heavily and let her know in a passive aggressive way how inconvenient this was for me. “It allows the caster to have short-term control of someone. The caster has to create a physical amulet that he or she wears…” I frowned as I considered that part of the spell. “And then recite a short incantation on the person being controlled.”
Ms. Terwilliger pushed her glasses up her nose. “Why the hesitation?”
She noticed every slip. I didn’t want to engage in this, but she was my teacher, and this was part of my assignment so long as I was stuck in this miserable session. “It doesn’t make sense. Well, none of it makes sense, of course. But logically, I’d think you need something tangible to use on the vict-subject. Maybe they’d have to wear an amulet. Or drink something. It’s hard for me to believe the caster is the only one who needs enhancement. I feel like they would need to connect with the subject.”
“You touched on the key word,” she said. “‘Enhancement.’ The amulet enhances the spell caster’s will, as does the incantation. If that’s been done correctly-and the caster is advanced and strong enough-that’ll push the power of command on to the subject. Perhaps it doesn’t seem tangible, but the mind is a powerful tool.”
“Power of command,” I muttered. Without thinking about it, I made the Alchemist sign against evil. “That doesn’t seem right.”
“Is it any different from the kind of compulsion your vampire friends do?”
I froze. Ms. Terwilliger had long since admitted to knowing about the world of Moroi and Strigoi, but it was still a topic I avoided with her. My tattoo’s magic wouldn’t stop me from discussing the vampire world with those who knew about it, but I didn’t want to accidentally reveal any details about my specific mission with Jill. Nonetheless, her words were startling. This spell was very much like compulsion, very much like what I’d seen Sonya do to soothe Clarence. Vampires could simply wield it unaided. This spell required a physical component, but Ms. Terwilliger had told me that was normal for humans. She said magic was inborn for Moroi but that we had to wrest it from the world. To me, that just seemed like more reason why humans had no business dabbling in such affairs.
“What they do isn’t right either,” I said, in a rare acknowledgment of the Moroi with her. I didn’t like that the abilities I found so twisted and wrong were allegedly within human reach too. “No one should have that kind of power over another.”
Her lips quirked. “You’re very haughty about something you have no experience with.”
“You don’t always need experience. I’ve never killed anyone, but I know murder is wrong.”
“Don’t discount these spells. They could be a useful defense,” she said with a shrug. “Perhaps it depends on who’s using it-much like a gun or other weapon.”
I grimaced. “I don’t really like guns either.”
“Then you may find magical means to be a better option.” She made a small, graceful motion with her hands, and a clay pot on the windowsill suddenly exploded. Sharp fragments fell to the floor. I jumped out of my desk and backed up a few feet. Was that something she’d been able to do this whole time? It had seemed effortless. What kind of damage could she do if she really tried? She smiled. “See? Very efficient.”
Efficient and simple, as easy as a vampire wielding elemental magic with a thought. After all the painstaking spells I’d seen in these books, I was stunned to see such “easy” magic. It kicked what Ms. Terwilliger had been advocating up to a whole new-and dangerous-level. My whole body tensed as I waited for some other horrific act, but judging from the serene look on her face, that was the only show of power she had in mind-for now. Feeling a little foolish at my reaction, I sat back down.
I took a deep breath and chose my words carefully, keeping my anger-and fear-pushed down. It wouldn’t do to have an outburst in front of a teacher. “Ma’am, why do you keep doing this?”
Ms. Terwilliger tilted her head like a bird. “Doing what, dear?”
“This.” I jabbed the book in front of me. “Why do you keep making me work on this against my will? I hate this, and you know it. I don’t want anything to do with it! Why do you want me to learn it at all? What do you get out of it? Is there some witch club where you get a finder’s fee if you bring in a new recruit?”
That quirky smile of hers returned. “We prefer the term coven, not witch club. Though that does have a nice ring. But, to answer your question, I don’t get anything out of it-at least, not in the way you’re thinking. My coven can always use strong members, and you have the potential for greatness. It’s bigger than that, however. Your perennial argument is that it’s wrong for humans to have this kind of power, right?”
“Right,” I said through gritted teeth. I’d made that argument a million times.
“Well, that’s absolutely true-for some humans. You worry this power will be abused? You’re right. It happens all the time, which is why we need good, moral people who can counter those who would use the magic for selfish and nefarious reasons.”
The bell rang, freeing me. I stood up and gathered my things together. “Sorry, Ms. Terwilliger. I’m flattered that you think I’m such an upstanding person, but I’m already caught up in one epic battle of good versus evil. I don’t need another.”
I left our session feeling both troubled and angry and hoped the next two months of this semester would speed by. If this Alchemist mission continued into next year, then creative writing or some other elective would become a very viable choice for my schedule. It was a shame too because I’d really loved Ms. Terwilliger when I first met her. She was brilliant and knew her subject area-history, not magic-and had encouraged me in that. If she’d shown the same enthusiasm for teaching me history as she did magic, we wouldn’t have ended up in this mess.
My dinners were usually spent with Julia and Kristin or “the family.” Tonight was a family night. I found Eddie and Angeline already at a table when I entered East’s cafeteria, and as usual, he seemed grateful for my presence.
“Well, why not?” Angeline was saying as I sat down with my tray. It was Chinese food night, and she held chopsticks, which seemed like a bad idea. I’d tried to teach her how to use them once, with no luck. She’d gotten angry and stabbed an eggroll so hard that the sticks had broken.
“I just… well, it’s not my thing,” Eddie said, clearly groping for an answer to whatever her question was about. “I’m not going at all. With anyone.”
“Jill will be there with Micah,” pointed out Angeline slyly. “Won’t you need to come keep an eye on her since it’s not at the school?”
Eddie’s answer was a pained look.
“What are you talking about?” I finally asked.
“The Halloween Dance,” said Angeline.
That was news to me. “There’s a Halloween Dance?”
Eddie dragged himself from his misery to give me a surprised look. “How do you not know? There are signs everywhere.”
I stirred around my steamed vegetables. “They must not be anywhere I’ve been.”
Eddie gestured with his fork to something behind me. Turning, I looked back toward the food line I’d just been in. There, hanging above it on the wall, was an enormous banner that read HALLOWEEN DANCE. It listed the date and time and was decorated with badly drawn pumpkins.
“Huh,” I said.
“How can you memorize entire books but miss something like that?” asked Angeline.
“Because Sydney’s brain only records ‘useful’ information,” Eddie said with a smile. I didn’t deny it.