Jenna frowned. She wasn’t learning anything she didn’t already know. Just to be sure, she turned to the second soldier.
“What about you? Do you know anything?”
The man shook his head. “Just what the Sarge already told you, ma’am.”
“Okay.” Jenna performed a more intricate set of hand gestures, sealing a forgetting spell in place.
“You can go now,” she said when she had finished. “You will remember nothing of this meeting. Get on back to whatever you were doing.”
The soldiers spun around without a word. She watched them exit the alley, never looking back. Out of her presence, the compulsion spell would quickly wear off. The forgetting spell would not.
Once the men were gone, Jenna shifted back into her owl form, ready to spend a couple of hours perched atop the roof of the hospital, hoping to overhear something useful. The chances were small, she knew, but she had no
Resting on a fallen log with Rave close beside her, Leesa gazed absently out toward the river. The water flowed slowly by, reflecting the blue sky above and untroubled by any events unfolding just downstream. Leesa wished she could be as placid.Out of nowhere, an otter poked its nose up over the edge of the riverbank. A moment later, the rest of the sleek brown form climbed up onto the grassy bank. Glistening drops of water dripped from its whiskers and snout, shining like tiny jewels in the sun.“How cute!” Leesa exclaimed, happy for the unexpected break in a day that was beginning to grow just a bit monotonous. She had already practiced her magic under Dominic’s tutelage for almost two hours and was now taking a break. “Look, Rave. An otter.”Rave followed her gaze toward the river. His volkaane affinity to animals told him there was something special about this otter, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was. He didn’t s
Leesa enjoyed the mile long walk to the restaurant. The early evening air felt pleasantly warm on her skin, and a soft breeze from the east carried the faint scent of the river to her nostrils. As she approached Giovanni’s, she spotted Cali waiting outside the entrance. In truth, it would have been hard to miss her. Cali was dressed fairly conservatively—for Cali. She had on a florescent orange tank top and plain white shorts. Three bright orange streaks adorned the left side of her dark hair and her sandals had orange straps. Naturally, she had painted her toenails to match the straps. The two girls greeted each other with a quick hug. “I’m glad to see you made it back in one piece,” Cali said. “I can’t wait to hear all about that zombie stuff. Did you see any of them for real?” “Yeah, I did,” Leesa replied. “I’ll tell you all about it after we get a table and order. I’m starving.” Inside, the restaurant was only about half full, a far cry fr
The following morning, Leesa and Cali shared leftover pizza reheated in the microwave for breakfast. Cali had spent the night at Leesa’s so they could get an early start meeting Dominic. Bradley sat across the table, wolfing down a big bowl of cereal topped by sliced bananas, while Rave munched on an apple. Judy was in the kitchen, fixing herself some toast.Bradley looked at Cali and then Leesa and shook his head. “I can’t believe you two are eating pizza for breakfast.”“Why not?” Leesa asked, a half-eaten slice poised in front of her mouth. “It’s good. The crust is a little chewy, but the rest tastes great.”“And it’s got all the food groups,” Cali added, smiling. “Meat, dairy, bread...even fruit.” To illustrate her point, she picked a piece of pineapple off of her slice and popped it into her mouth.Bradley grinned. “I guess you’re right,” he said. &l
As usual, they hiked almost a half mile into the state forest, picking their way among the trees to lessen the chance anyone would stumble across them while Leesa performed her magic. This morning, they found an especially pretty place where a winding stream cut through the woods, allowing a ribbon of bright sunlight to shine down through the otherwise thick foliage. Motes of dust floated in the sunlight like magical fairy dust, while the gurgling water created a peaceful soundtrack for the scene. Leesa was glad when Dominic said they would stop here.“This is beautiful,” she said as she walked closer to the water. “It’s like something out of a nature video.”“It’s magical,” Cali agreed. “The perfect place for you to practice.”Dominic had obviously decided that driving with her mind was enough of a warm-up for Leesa, because he got right to her lessons. He pointed to a large rock in the middle of the s
Leesa drew a deep breath and cleared her mind. She fixed her sight on a spot right next to the designated hole.“Magnus irrundi,” she said softly.The yellow bolt shot from her hand, striking the rock precisely where she wanted it to. When she shut off the beam, a second hole had been drilled adjacent to the first.“See how easy that was?” Cali said teasingly. “I don’t know what you were making such a big fuss about. That’s why it’s called magic.” She grinned.“If it’s so easy,” Leesa replied with a smile, “let’s see you do it.”“Ha! I wish. I’d give anything to be able to, just once.”“Would you?” Dominic asked, a thoughtful expression creasing his face.“You bet I would.”Dominic studied Cali for a moment longer. “Go ahead and try it then.”Leesa’s eyes darted back and fo
Jami Mossi's picture filled the entire first page of the Woburn High senior class yearbook for good reason. In addition to being a stellar athlete, she had graduated fifth in her class, been voted Homecoming Queen and Most Likely to Succeed, and to top it all off, possessed a model’s wholesome good looks. She had lettered in both soccer and basketball, but her true love ever since she was a young girl was softball. Tall, svelte and blond, she resembled her idol, Jennie Finch. Unlike Finch, Jami was not a pitcher, but her sweet swing had set a state single season record for home runs and carried Woburn to the state championship. Her many fans wanted her to attend one of the local Boston colleges, but Jami had accepted a scholarship from Finch’s powerhouse alma mater, the University of Arizona. She would be heading west in the middle of August, but for now she was enjoying her summer at home, training and playing in two different softball leagues. One of the leagues was a men’s league i
Leesa was playing Hearts at the dining table with Rave, her mom and Bradley when Cali’s ringtone sounded on her cell, which she had left on the end table beside the couch. She excused herself and went to pick up her phone.“Have you seen the video?” Cali asked excitedly as soon as Leesa answered the call.“No. What video? We’ve been playing cards. Hold on a second.” Leesa crossed into her bedroom for more privacy. She did not want to alert or worry her mom.“What is it?” she asked as soon as she was out of earshot. “More zombies?”With so many stories about the Lisbon Falls zombie attack still appearing in the news, Leesa had been forced to turn off the sound notification on the zombie alert she had set up. A couple of times a day she would scroll through the list to check for any items not connected to the Maine attack. There hadn’t been anything important up to dinnertime tonight, when she last checked.“Yeah, you won’t believe the video,” Cali replied. “Go to YouTube and search ‘zo
“So, what do we do now?” Leesa asked, afraid that she already knew the answer.Dominic slid the computer back over to Cali, who turned it off and closed the lid.“I must try to stop him,” he replied. “There is no longer a choice. I must take the fight to him.”“You mean ‘we,’ don’t you?” Leesa asked. “We must take the fight to him.”Dominic put Leesa’s hands together and clasped them in his. He stared into her face.“You do not have to accompany me,” he said.Leesa looked at the wizard in disbelief. “Not accompany you?” she asked. “Isn’t this why you imparted your magic to me in the first place? Why you’ve been training me so hard? To aid you in this struggle?”“Yes, it is. But you are not yet ready for this. I had hoped to have more time to prepare you.”“Nevertheless, fledgling waziri or not, what kind of wizard would I be if I let you face the Necromancer and the black waziri alone?” She turned her palms up and squeezed Dominic’s hands. “You’ve become like a father to me. I’m not g