Page 43 of The Nowhere Witch

“So I’m going to have rainbow hair?” I had to follow him out into the living room because he’d already moved on from his curiosity.

“I don’t think so. Looks like just streaks. Mine doesn’t turn until it’s grown in. Yours looks like it’s going to start from the roots, but not all over. It happens to some of us. It’s like a genetic thing. Yours should be an interesting look. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that color pattern grow in before.”

“How bad do you think it’ll get? Do you see any more?” I asked, leaning my head in front of him, forcing him to keep looking.

“Oh, here’s a silver that sparkles. That’s pretty cool.”

I didn’t want my hair to sparkle. I didn’t want an interesting look. The last person who’d seen me light up like a rainbow had called me evil.

I grabbed the mass of it and twisted it into a bun. “I’m going to have to dye it.”

He laughed. “You can’t dye it. It won’t take. It won’t even stick to it.”

I leaned both hands on his table. I’d made a decision not to hide anymore, but this felt like I’d be wearing a banner around, screaming to everyone just how different I was, even in the land of different.

He pointed to my hair. “Bun isn’t a good idea. You’ve got some yellow coming in along the hairline in the back.”

I yanked the bun out. It was useless and it shouldn’t matter. This was who I was. I’d wanted to come back to Xest so I didn’t have to hide. Why fight so hard to be here if I was going to act the same way I had my entire life in Salem? If I was going to be that girl, the one who hid, why bother fighting at all? I should just give up now.

“You okay?” Zab asked. “I think it’s going to look pretty, but if you’d been hoping for green or something, I can understand the disappointment. I personally would prefer what you have, but we’ve all got our preferences.”

I didn’t hide. I would not be that girl anymore.

“No. I’m good with it. It’s part of me, and that’s okay.”

“I think it’s going to be hot.”

I refused to toy with my hair even as Zab kept looking at it.

“It really is interesting how you’ve got a multitude of colors, though. Seriously. I’ve never seen that.”

“Yeah, interesting. So what are we working on today?” I was more than ready to move on to a new subject.

“Oh, uh, some charms.” He pointed to the pile of crystals, furry-feet-looking things, twigs twisted into the shape of people, and stuff I couldn’t put a name to. “Good-luck charm or bad luck? Pick your poison.”

“Good luck.Definitelygood luck.” I wasn’t going anywhere near a bad-luck charm. I was quite capable of handling that one on my own.

18

“You’re not paying attention,” Bautere said.

“I can honestly say I was doing the best I possibly could.” I was flat on my back in the snow for the fifteenth time. No one did this on purpose.

“You’d be dead if you were fighting for real,” he said, ending on a growl.

“Isn’t this why you’re training me?” I asked, sitting up and then getting to my feet again. “Wouldn’t it be better if we focused on using some magic? I’ve never been good at combat sports.”

Getting pushed to the ground over and over again wasn’t what I’d thought I was signing up for. If I was going to become kickass by pure physical standards, I was going to need another ten years.

“What do you think we’re doing?” he growled.

The growls didn’t have the same effect they used to after you’d heard a good twenty.

“I’m supposed to be using magic?” He was not the trainer I’d hoped for, that was definite. Was there another Bautere around I could talk to?

“When your magic becomes one with every movement you make, then you’ll be ready,” he said, getting in the crouching position that told me I was going to be crashing into the snow again.

“How do I do that?” I asked, crouching, waiting for his attack.

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