Page 39 of Overwhelmed By Magic

Skye and Harlow’s presence here has changed that.

“So, what? Just drink to our woes?” I ask playfully.

Ambrose shakes his head, “I wanted to play truth or dare but maybe a little alcohol could make it easier to talk. Skye has a few things to say that are very important.”

“Like what?”

Several seconds of silence meet my question before Skye’s shoulders sag and he opens his shirt a few buttons before producing a little red journal. I’ve seen those before, when the library at Astral Academy was open. Skye shouldn’t have access to that.

No one should.

“How-”

Ambrose cuts me off, almost giddy. “Seems Mother Nature has taken a liking to the human in our midst.”

25

SKYE

They’re all staring at me, waiting for this fantastic story. I want to give that to them but it’s shrouded by everything else that it’s hard to enjoy. I go to explain again after Ambrose passed around a bottle of rum for the third or fourth time, each of us taking a healthy swig from the bottle. Whatever he bought is a few times stronger than I’m used to and my vision is already starting to blur.

“So, let me get this straight. You went to sleep or whatever the fuck that was and woke up to Mother Nature?” Rumi is dragging his hand through his gorgeous white hair, hair that has since left its manicured ponytail. Stellan and Jade are leaning forward, eyes wide with the information I’ve given them and Harlow is pressed against Ambrose’s side.

I shake my head. “No. It wasn’t Mother Nature. Her essence? Her heart? I can’t explain what I saw but it was just pure energy in that room. And knowledge. So much of it.”

Rumi tugs on one of his strands, his expression growing dark. “Hold the fucking phone. Knowledge? Not books?”

I don’t understand the need for the distinction so I explain again—about the pink essence and the butterfly and knowledge. Sure, there were books in that room but it was knowledge that I saw.

“There’s only one other person who saw shit like that. Who saw the bigger picture, who could see our essence but was fully human. He worked for Dmitri before I left, like a second father to me. Skye, I have a weird feeling that whatever touched you all those years ago was him. Your essence is even the same color.” He reaches forward, hesitating until I nod. He takes my bare wrist in his hand, staring at the marks and then at the one from Harlow and Ambrose. “Silas was his name. He knew so much about everything. His curiosity was unmatched but Dmitri kept him contained. Dmitri needed everything to adhere to whatever the Magila council set forth.”

That just makes me feel worse because I haven’t even revealed what happened after retrieving this book. “There’s a bigger problem. Tamara-”

“The green one?” Harlow chimes in, cackling at his stupid joke. He leaves Ambrose’s side in a puff of blue essence before settling next to me and dragging me into his lap. I didn’t even realize how tense I was until his arms wrap around me. He runs his nose along my temple and then presses a kiss on my cheek. “Thought you might need it. Keep going.”

“Yes, the green one. The counselor. She and a few others were meeting and I joined but I don’t think I’m meant to be a counselor here. I think someone wants me here as a student. I don’t know why.”

Harlow tightens his hold around me, a possessive embrace but I know that it’s based on the multiple attacks and how much he’s drunk. “Tell us more about that Silas guy. You said he’s like Skye.”

“Other than being very sweet to me, I don’t know much about his actual work with Dmitri. I do know that he was the one to return a book some of the kids stole… something about purity or lack of essence? I don’t really know.” Rumi shrugs like it doesn’t bother him but he’s been holding onto this information for a century.

Ambrose cuts in and I feel that whatever he’s about to tell us is going to open yet another door of questions and answer none of the ones we already had. “That book wasn’t just any book. It was the Book of Old, a true history of essence and the gift we’ve all been given. I sent some pure-as-shit Magila in there before she got caught. Not just anyone can step into that library. The problem is that even if you retrieve a book, you might not be able to read it.”

The mage reaches over and opens the journal to a random page. It’s blank. He flips through a few more and there’s nothing but blank pages.

My brows crease. “What the fuck?”

He chuckles. “The only person who can read that book is the person who retrieved it but it’s never in English from what I’m told. It’s in the old language, the language of essence, the tongue of Mother Nature.”

Rumi frowns, “How the fuck do you know that? Ambrose-”

“Because I can read it,” he pushes out, running a hand through his hair. His scar across his eye becomes a little more visible as he does that, his expression hardening as we sit there with the unasked question. “I’ve been around for a little bit, okay? Longer than Rumi.”

I figured as much but I think it’s deeper than that. “Spell it out, Ambrose. How old are you really?”

“Old enough to remember when Mother Nature first gave us the gift.”

I’ve only been dealing with this Magila shit for a week and I’m already over it. “So, I somehow have the same essence, was able to retrieve a book I can’t read, and someone stuffed me in here as a student under the guise of a counselor. That sounds great. Fucking amazing. This program is supposed to last five years but no one’s ever really left. What about the counselors and professors? I was told it’s basically a lifetime appointment.”

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