Page 10 of Commanding Chaos

If Chaos hadn’t been sending waves of calmness through me, I would have argued more. Instead, I decided to prove them wrong. I closed my eyes and thought about the spell. I’d been young, maybe seventeen, when I’d found it. I’d wanted to try it, but Dad wouldn’t let me. He’d said I wasn’t ready for a spell that powerful, and his words had nearly killed me. I’d felt like he didn’t trust me, my magic.

Nobody trusted my fire and for good reason. I’d wanted so badly to prove I could handle the spell, but he’d refused, taking the book and hiding it amongst the stacks. He’d cloaked it, making it invisible.

Of course! I wasn’t looking for a cloaking spell. “It’s aura shrouding.” Excitement tingled in my muscles the moment I felt the pull, and I practically ran through the stacks. A shelf at the back of the room stood empty, a layer of dust coating the wood.

“What else have you hidden here, Dad?” I reached for the invisible books, but my hand felt air. I traced my finger over the shelf, removing a stripe of dust. Nothing was there. My enthusiasm deflated like a three-day-old balloon.

I turned to Chaos and Ember, who had followed me through the library. “I told you I couldn’t do it.” I sounded like a sullen child, but I couldn’t help it. For a few minutes, I’d had as much faith in my supposed inborn power as they had. I should’ve known better.

Chaos stepped toward the shelf, eyeing it skeptically. “Does your gut tell you the book is here?”

I shrugged. “I thought it did.”

“Then it must be. Hold that thought.” Ember turned and darted up the aisle.

Chaos examined the shelves above and below the empty one. “Your father didn’t want you trying spells from this book.”

“I already told you that.” I leaned against the shelves behind me, waiting for Ember and whatever plan she’d concocted.

“Were there any other off-limits volumes?” Chaos asked.

“Anything he thought I couldn’t handle, I guess.” I shook my hands, preparing to cast the location spell again when Ember returned with a potion bottle.

“Don’t waste your vim.” She uncorked the bottle and splashed a yellow liquid on the shelf. “Spells cast are broken free. As I will it, so mote it be.”

The shelf shimmered like heat coming off the asphalt during a hot summer. A spark glowed in the center, growing bigger until it popped like a gunshot. I flinched back, shielding my eyes against the light.

“I knew you could do it.” Ember motioned with her head to the shelf, and my mouth dropped open.

The blue spell book, along with four others, occupied the once-empty space. I reached out tentatively, tapping the volume and jerking my hand away in case the magic fought back. With my heart hammering in my chest, I grabbed the book and opened it.

“Holy crap. It’s been here all along.” I flipped through the pages, and sure enough, there was the aura-shrouding spell.

“And you knew exactly where it was without casting a spell. Come on.” Ember turned and strode toward the front of the library.

“You’re more powerful than you believe.” Chaos gestured me forward and followed me to my desk.

“I didn’t know a spell like that existed. Making things invisible to the eyes, sure, but to the touch?” I sank into my chair. “How did you know?”

“It’s how they used to hide our Yule presents.” Ember leaned on the corner of the desk. “I found the hiding spot every year so we could snoop. Once they caught on, they used magic. I watched Mom from the hallway when she hid them right beneath the tree one year.”

I laughed. “And you figured out the spell to reveal them?”

She shook her head. “It was all magic above my level at the time. I remembered Mom making the potion, telling me it was for something boring. But it was bright yellow, and when she tossed it on the tree, suddenly all our presents appeared. It’s an easy one to make.”

Chaos frowned. “Your parents were kind enough to give you gifts to open on a specific day, yet you insolently found them in advance, ruining the surprise?”

She shrugged. “We were kids. Don’t look at me like I’m a monster. Ash snooped too.”

“Only because you were doing it. I was always so scared of getting caught, I had anxiety out the wazoo.”

“And you turned out just fine.” Ember squeezed my shoulders. “Anyway, the point is that you did know where the book was hidden, and I’m certain you would have figured out a way to reveal it if you’d had the time.”

“You most definitely would have,” Chaos said.

My cheeks heated. “Maybe.” I read the spell, trying to ignore their praise. “I think we have all these ingredients in the kitchen. Let’s go.”

We returned upstairs, and Chaos sat at the counter while Ember and I gathered the ingredients. Bay leaf, lady’s mantle, marjoram. Wolfsbane…boy, this was a powerful spell. Plants in the aconite family were only used in the most advanced light magic potions. They had all kinds of nasty uses for dark magic, uses which could sometimes turn out to be unintended side effects for us if we weren’t careful.

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