Page 5 of The Witch & the Wolf

Two days later, the full moon period ended, leaving him in his regular human form. His human form didn’t have the same radiating power – but at least it did necromantic magic more effectively. He struggled to access magic when the moon reached its strongest. It wasn’t impossible, but it interfered greatly with his ability to work with the dead, as his werewolf magic tended to overwhelm everything else.

His next lesson with Z’Hana consisted of a list of probable career choices for a necromancer. He examined it with interest – he already had a solid idea of what he wanted to do, but the list opened up a few more possibilities.

“Nice to see you without your werewolf form,” Holly said, looking him over closely like the way he’d discreetly looked her over on their first day, taking in her physicality. She surely had some fairy blood in her because her eyes really stood out, showing a kind of moss-green tincture. She also had a habit of biting her nails since they had sharp, uneven edges. Everything about her – was pleasing to look at.

“At least I fit in the bed again,” he said, gesturing to her paper. “So, what’s your career path as a medium?”

“Mostly law enforcement or archeology, which is kind of cool. They even have ‘exorcist’ and ‘ghost hunter’ here as actual options.”

“Really? Let me see.” He took the paper from her and chuckled at the options. She did the same with his.

“Huh, you have law enforcement as well. Hospital work is cool. Also, the military. That sounds… ominous.”

Holly’s lack of fear and hesitancy with him made it a lot easier to enjoy the prospect of making friends. In just a couple of days, he’d already been scooped up by Skyla and Lujan – and Holly was a member of this group as well. The one thing she and Arlo did have in common was that neither of them had gone to the summer camp.

“We could theoretically end up working for the same thing,” he said, pointing to law enforcement, forensic anthropology, and archaeology. “Though our powers are quite different.”

“You two,” Z’Hana said, suddenly interrupting their conversation. She pressed one hand on Holly’s desk. “We’ve got a good opportunity for you to test out your magic later. Law enforcement in one of the nearby villages has had a death. We’re in contact with a lot of the settlements around because we can account for some of the powers our students have all the time. There’s already a necromancer there, and they’ll be able to watch over you safely. If you’re interested, you both can go after school finishes and use your powers and talk to an older necromancer.”

“Sure!” Arlo said, taken by surprise but pleased at the chance to use his powers. His family didn’t have many opportunities to do so, except for the trips his father made. “Why not?”

“Will they be able to work with me?” Holly asked, sounding doubtful. “It’s not like they have the same powers I do…”

“There’s enough of an overlap and understanding. Of course, we want you to get to work with those who share your powers, so don’t worry. It’s just not possible right now. We haven’t had a medium in quite some time coming to Dreadmor.”

“Okay.” Holly still sounded doubtful, but the opportunity overrode the doubt. Z’Hana walked away, and Holly and Arlo beamed at each other.

Holly said, “Wow, I didn’t think we’d have a chance so soon!” Then, she modified her excitement. “I mean, of course, it’s terrible that such a thing happened, that someone died…”

Arlo consoled her. “People die all the time. At least we can speak with them.” back into her seat, still not entirely happy. “This was one of my worries when I came here. That they wouldn’t take my powers seriously, and I’d end up being some kind of afterthought while other, more interesting powers ended up getting developed.”

“You just need to show them that your powers are nothing to sneeze at,” Arlo said.

“Easy for you to say. At least you come from a background where you know about your powers. Mine are communicating with spirits, whatever that means. Tarot cards, séances calling up dead relatives, whatever, you know.”

“Is that what you think?” He turned to face her, no longer amused, a cold look of anger stealing over his face. “That I’ve had it easy?”

Something in Arlo’s expression knew she’d made a mistake, but she pressed on anyway. “You’re clearly pretty confident about your magic. You come from a rich family. It’s not that difficult to see that you’ve had things a lot easier than anyone else.”

“This conversation is over,” Arlo said. He turned away, seething. Holly tried to make conversation with him, but he ignored her, no longer willing to give her the time of day. For a second, he’d hoped that she might be different. It was too much to ask for, apparently.

Eventually, she stopped trying to talk to him. He ignored her at lunchtime, and in the class they shared, quietly preparing for the visit to the nearby village with Z’Hana arranging the transport.

The car ride with Holly was awkward, as they both were delegated to the back seats. The silence thickened, almost choking the atmosphere around them.

Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe he should just acknowledge that she couldn’t know everything. But the stubborn part of him kept quiet, widening the chasm between them.

If Z’Hana noticed anything, she did not comment as the car wound through a strange, twisted woodland with dark branches, leaves, and eyes glowing in the darkness. Chirps of strange animals or creatures filled the air, and they needed to cut through patches of gathering miasma, hovering like foul bog fumes emanating from swamps – though no swamps were currently in sight.

“Interesting area, isn’t it?” Z’Hana asked, noting how they both stared out the windows. “This area is more of a biome that’s dedicated to the types of creatures that thrive in these habitats. Creatures like kelpies. Afancs, ashrays. We think there’s a Jenny Greenteeth being in there as well.”

“Jenny Greenteeth?” Arlo asked.

“In British folklore, there’s a swamp crone that lives in murky water full of duckweed. It’s actually a species, though they named one Jenny Greenteeth. Nasty business, with the drowning.”

Arlo shuddered in spite of himself.

“What about the other creatures you mentioned? What are those?”

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