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Chapter 203
Sunday evening, Leesa was alone in her room, studying her psychology book. She wondered if there was anything inside that would tell her why she was missing Rave so fiercely already, when she had just seen him the day before. She was used to going days without seeing him, but guessed that her feelings had something to do with having no idea how long it might be until she saw him again.
A soft knock sounded at her door. She wondered who it might be—she wasn’t expecting anyone. She knew it wasn’t Cali, because Cali’s knock was louder and faster, as if the door was an obstacle that needed to be removed as soon as possible. Leesa closed her book and crossed to the door. When she pulled it open, she found herself staring into an unfamiliar face.
The woman was a few inches shorter than Leesa, with long, wavy silver hair cascading down across her shoulders. She was wearing a knee-length, dark red knit sweater jacket over black pants. Her unlined face w
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 204
“You can trust me, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Leesa said.Jenna nodded. “Yes, I think I can.” She stood up and turned her back to Leesa for a moment, pacing a few short steps before turning back around. “Has anything happened to your magic in the last day or two?” she asked quietly.Leesa looked up at the witch. Things were beginning to fall into place. She thought she knew now why Jenna was here. Still, Leesa felt it best to proceed carefully.“Why do ask? Has something happened to yours?”Jenna grinned. “You are cautious. I like that. I’m quite cautious by nature myself.” She sat back down. “One of us has to begin. Since I came to you, I guess it should be me.”She sucked in another deep breath and blew it out slowly. “For some reason, my magic has suddenly weakened greatly. I have no idea why. So I wanted to know if something similar has be
Leesa's Advent Chapter 205
Leesa lifted her hand from Jenna’s and crossed to her dresser, where she grabbed her cell phone.“Do you want to trade numbers?” she asked. “So we can stay in touch?”Jenna’s expression turned wistful. “I wish I could, but I don’t have a phone.”Leesa almost couldn’t believe her ears. First Rave, then Dominic, and now Jenna. How was it that so many people she met didn’t have a phone? The answer was obvious—because they weren’t people, of course. They were a volkaane, a wizard and a witch. Still, it would be nice if at least someone else with magic had a freaking phone. After all, she owned one, and she had magic. She put her cell back down onto her dresser.“Really? Why not?”Jenna shrugged. “A couple of reasons, I suppose. I’ve always kind of kept to myself, so I’ve never really had the need for one. I live in a pretty isolated old house. It
Leesa's Advent Chapter 206
For the rest of the week, Leesa concentrated on two things: school and her magic. She wasn’t certain how important her schoolwork really was in the overall scheme of things, even with midterms drawing steadily nearer, but she was a college kid, and college kids went to classes and did homework—at least most of them did. Besides, school kept her distracted from other things, like missing Rave terribly and wondering where Dominic was and how he was doing. So she dutifully attended all her classes and kept up to date on her homework. Practicing her magic was difficult and frustrating, but she hung in there and did her best. Dominic had stressed the need for her to increase her practice so that was what she was doing. With her magic weakened, everything took more effort than it used to, and by the end of her daily two-hour practice sessions she was usually drained, mentally and physically. Even if she’d wanted to practice longer, she didn’t think she could manage much more than
Leesa's Advent Chapter 207
“Oh, this?” she said, grinning. “I just grabbed the first stuff I saw.”“That’s what it looks like,” Leesa teased, “except that somehow the colors all match.”Andy’s arrival interrupted their banter. He was wearing bleached jeans and an open brown suede jacket over a darker brown T-shirt that proclaimed “Thank God It’s Fry Day” in big gold letters. In between the Thank God It’s and the Fry Day was a picture of giant fried chicken leg, dripping grease. No wonder he and Cali got along so well, Leesa thought, not for the first time.“
Leesa's Advent Chapter 208
Leesa had to give the guy credit. He didn’t seem to let the catcalls and groans bother him. He either had the thickest skin in the world, or he thought the derision was in some twisted way an approval of his act. His jokes were new, but were equally as dumb as the last time. She wondered if he wrote the stuff himself or got it from some website—stupidjokes.com, maybe.The big guys up front heckled him mercilessly after every punch line. It was mean and obnoxious and most of their comments were only funny to themselves. Finally, the biggest guy, a brute with shoulders as wide as an SUV, yelled something really crude, something not fit even for the liberal college crowd.Andy leaned over and politely told the guy to keep it clean, that there were ladies present. Leesa cringed as the giant pushed his chair away from the table, his features twisted into an
Leesa's Advent Chapter 209
Saturday morning, Leesa was sitting at her desk leafing through a magazine when Cali bounced into the room. She was wearing the same outfit as the night before; the only difference in her appearance was a lack of makeup and no scrunchies separating her green and orange locks from the rest of her hair. Clearly, she hadn’t been home since they left The Joint. Leesa was pretty sure she knew what had brought Cali here before she had even returned to her own room.Cali sat down on the edge of Leesa’s bed.“So, what was that all about with Stefan last night?” she asked. “I wanted to talk to you about it last night, but Andy had other plans.” She grinned. “Boys have needs, you know.”Leesa closed the magazine and spun around in her chair. She held out her hand out to stop Cali from saying any more.“Puleeze,” she said, “spare me the details of Andy’s needs.”Cali’s grin wi
Leesa's Advent Chapter 210
Her thoughts returned to the ankle weights analogy—she hoped all this work while her magic was weakened would pay big dividends when it finally returned to its normal strength. She refused to think about what she would do if it never came back. “This is tiring for me,” Jenna said, “so I can only guess how draining it must be for you. After all, you’re the one doing all the real work. I’m just sending general energy into you.” Leesa grabbed a half-empty bottle of water from atop her refrigerator and sat down on her bed. She eased herself across the mattress until her back was leaning against the wall, then she took a big drink. “It’s exhausting,” she said after she swallowed. “More so than I would have imagined. I have to believe it’s going to pay off though.” “Let’s hope so.” Jenna pulled Leesa’s desk chair close to the bed and sat down. “You’re working so hard, Leesa. Do we know each other well enough yet for you to tell me what the urgency is? I’m g
Leesa's Advent Chapter 211
An ocean away, two of the people Leesa and Jenna had been talking about sat in a horse-drawn carriage outside a tiny Romanian mountain hamlet. The specially built coach had reinforced springs, but it still tilted noticeably to the left, courtesy of the Necromancer’s immense bulk. Viktor and Jordan sat opposite him. Rafael was perched on the driver’s seat outside, wrapped in a heavy cloak against the night’s cold, his gloved hands gripping the leather reins. The trip here had taken the better part of two hours, but the Necromancer didn’t like practicing his black arts too close to his castle—unless he was practicing them inside the castle, safe from prying eyes. Usually, he would send one or more of his waziri in his stead on any mission away from the castle, but tonight’s test was a big one. To be successful, it would need his pers
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