Page 36 of Two Who Live On

“Root magics are incredibly difficult to master.” Caleb banished six wisps before Jamie could channel his magic.

“You’re right. Thankfully, you had the motivation to master your root magics because, well, you know.” Jamie smiled, and Caleb fought back a frown at yet another reminder that his roots weren’t enough for this industry. “I just think if they’re going to poorly cast their branches and can’t learn to sense and banish demonic energy, maybe they could complain less about handouts from us.”

“From you, you mean.” Kenzo glared, burying the way it stung when Jamie directed his cutting comments at Caleb. It tugged at his past, reminding him of all the time he’d spent with Caleb, how they played in these neighborhoods for years, and he wasn’t about to let someone like Jamie talk down about his home, even if he hated the emotions this place brought up when standing so close to Caleb. He was, as always, a perplexing student. “You talk too much. It’s annoying. I’ve lived in the South Side my entire life, and not once have I heard someone complain about the scraps academies offer because they need a write-off. More often, it’s the disingenuous bullshit people spout when helping.”

“I’m sorry, what’s your name a—”

“Frost,” Kenzo cut Jamie off, bored by every word Jamie said. “I’m scouting ahead unless you have some teacherly bullshit nonsense you call wisdom to add.”

Rolling my eyes, I waved him off. Kenzo, for once, was the least of my angry worries.

“Can I also scout ahead?” Caleb was antsy, eyeing me and his Cast-8-Watch. “Um, to help clear the neighborhood?”

“Of course.” I sent him ahead.

“I’ve actually got an amazing combination spell.” Katherine held up her grimoire. “It might not be ready today or ever but would massively improve demonic regression, which, as you know—”

“Go.” I held up a hand, unable to comprehend half the words buzzing in Katherine’s surface thoughts. “Have fun helping.”

“YES!” Katherine soared away.

I clenched my jaw, biting back her bursting excitement.

“Well, looks like it’s just us.” Jamie stepped closer to Tara.

Dammit. Jamie didn’t ease the tension in my tight jaw.

“Don’t forget me.” Gael brushed between Tara and Jamie, careful not to hit either with his spikes, yet those along his shoulder next to Jamie bulged, jutting out, forcing Jamie to backstep. “Oops. Sorry. Some of us aren’t as amazingly skilled with their branches as you.”

Gael’s sharklike teeth beamed, genuine and sincere, but his thoughts held a few profane Spanish words which I recognized. This might be the first time I’d seen Gael angry, faking a smile for the sake of choosing joy over anger but refusing to let his kindness allow someone he considered a friend to be bullied.

It was sweet and depressing.

I should be doing more in this moment. Instead, I put out a few fires and kept a watchful eye on Jamie’s carefully worded bullying, unable to act without actual evidence of wrongdoing, which would still be questioned.

I sent my students around, tracking wisps clustering between alleyways and in the crevices of bridges while monitoring them. It was relatively easy to keep up with the casual casting of Tara and Gael. She held back her roots, perhaps lost in thought, and Gael favored teamwork over showboating. In the distance, Kenzo andCaleb proved harder to keep up with. Each competitively sought out wisps. I floated away from Tara and Gael, noticing Jamie had left for an easier quarry, and I tracked Kenzo and Caleb. They shouted their count unnecessarily as their Cast-8-Watch tracked proper banishments while monitoring the frequencies of their other used roots or branch magics.

Aggression from each of them drew me down the street. Caleb and Kenzo competed purely against each other, desperately proving they were the best in the class. Not our homeroom coven, but the first-year class. Since holding his weight during the warlock incursion, Caleb’s faith in his roots had blossomed tenfold. I was grateful he didn’t hesitate anymore. He’d tasted real combat, strategized, and succeeded. More than anything, he’d survived. However, I worried once the reality of the industry proved hard work didn’t always pay off, his plummet would be devastating.

“Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four.” Caleb struck wisp after wisp, conserving his other roots and running from one block to the next, sweat drenching his academy uniform.

The Cast-8-Watch easily tracked their numbers of banishments, magic allotted, and percentile of success, along with ratios of magic utilized versus wasted in casting. Truly state-of-the-art tech. But Caleb knew that. When shouting his numbers, he’d hoped to unnerve Kenzo because he’d also kept a mental track of how many his former friend had banished. For the first time since Kenzo came to Gemini Academy, I think this was the closest he’d come to second place. The pair banished nearly all the wisps in a six-block radius—skirting the edges on where we were allowed to volunteer—and were neck and neck on numbers.

Four wisps bounced along the pavement, inching toward the street corner where I’d instructed them not to pass. Caleb, having conserved his other roots up until this point, sprang off the groundand flew next to Kenzo, ready to banish the wisps and win this little match of theirs. I rolled my eyes.Children. Katherine lingered in my peripheral. Was that her thought seeping in or mine?

“Not bad, branchless blunder.” Kenzo smirked, and gray static popped around his fingertips and coursed subtly along Caleb’s torso.

Caleb winced, clutching his abdomen, and plummeted toward the pavement. I quickly shifted my telekinesis and caught him before the crash.

Kenzo banished the last of the wisps. “Ha, I won. Unsurprising.”

“You cheated.” Caleb knelt on the pavement after I lightly released him.

“I didn’t cheat. You simply lack any skill sets, branchless. That’s your problem. You expect everyone to play at your level, your capability. The rest of us shouldn’t have to limit our greatness simply because you don’t have any.”

Caleb slammed a fist against the pavement, cracking the ground.

“Oh, a tantrum. How mature,” Kenzo gloated.

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