Page 46 of A Door in the Dark

“Please,” Timmons said. “I’ve known you for four years, Ren Monroe. You think of everything. Do you remember that time we went stargazing with our astronomy class? Everyone left early because there was a bunch of cloud cover. You told me to stay, because you’d researched the weather patterns and knew the window of visibility. Who even does that?”

“But we saw the stars, didn’t we?”

Timmons grinned. “That we did, textbook. But you’re just proving my point. If I’m going to take a little bit of breath to calm my nerves, I couldn’t think of anywhere safer to do it. I’m with the best-trained surgeon in the city and my best friend, who is always three spells ahead of the rest of the world.”

Ren laughed. “Can you smoke some without using the whole batch?”

Timmons was already rooting through Theo’s bag. She held up the canister.

“This is enough for a month. Clyde…”

Her friend fell briefly quiet, biting her lip, before shaking her head at some unspoken thought. Having a classmate hunt them was bad enough, but Ren knew it was hitting Timmons the hardest. She distracted herself by focusing on the latch mechanism to release the breath.

“Do you want some, Ren?”

“No thanks.” She tapped her temple. “I will not blunt the one useful tool I have in this world.”

Timmons smirked. She’d heard Ren say that exact quote many times now.

“Cora?”

Ren rolled her eyes as Timmons turned her charm on their travel mate. It was like watching the sun pick a single flower on which to shine. She twirled a lock of silver-white hair and shook the pipe invitingly. Cora eventually grinned back. “It would help to learn more about the impact breath has on the brain by having firsthand experience.…”

Timmons laughed at that. “Well, consider me your lab assistant.”

Cora nodded shyly as Timmons arranged everything. The poor girl never stood a chance. Ren considered intervening but realized it was the first time she’d seen any shine in their expressions since Clyde’s death. So much had happened since then. They deserved a break.

“Breathe in lightly at first,” Timmons said, handing the pipe to Cora. “Quick exhalations.”

Theo stirred a little before continuing to sleep. Ren watched as the girls traded the pipe back and forth. It didn’t take long for their smiles to stretch. Timmons pointed at Cora.

“This one, right? This one.”

Cora grinned. “Your hair has unicorn dust in it.”

Timmons held one finger to her forehead, and both of them fell to giggling. Ren could only smile and shake her head. She was about to say something when Timmons pointed again.

“Gods! Look at her magic. It’s pretty. Look at that. Six layers. I’ve known a few boys at school with less than six layers to their entire existence. Right? Right?”

Cora was tracing her fingers through the air, plucking at the unseen threads of Ren’s magic.

“Why is it gold?”

“Because she’s kindhearted,” Timmons said, glancing back at Ren. “Actually, she called Devlin a sanctimonious prick the other day. Maybe that’s not it.”

Ren smiled. “It’s because the magic is pure.”

Cora frowned back. “Huh?”

“Oh, dear gods,” Timmons said. “Here we go. I hear a thesis incoming.”

“A century ago there was a theory about magical purity,” Ren supplied. “Everyone thought it had to do with bloodlines, because the wealthiest houses told them that was how it worked. Powerful wizards marrying other powerful wizards. But about three decades ago a man named Silas Cross figured out that it had nothing to do with birth or blood. The purity of the magic’s appearance has to do with how perfectly it’s cast. The hand motions and the tone of voice and the command of the magic itself.” She squinted at the invisible wall. “Is mine really gold?”

Cora giggled. “It looks like sunshine.”

Ren nodded to herself. “Then you know it was done right.”

Timmons giggled. “Speaking of doing something right. Dancer over there was impressive with that wyvern. I wouldn’t mind being put to sleep like that myself.”

---