Page 31 of Practically Witches

I shrug. I don’t know the answer any more than she does. “She said I was different.” We probably should’ve setground rules for what we were going to discuss in front of Zane, but we didn’t.

Aimee doesn’t look at me and instead, continues writing. “All the girls whose magic was stolen are students at the Institute.” She writesInstituteunder each of their names.“And they’re all girls. I don’t know if that makes a difference.”

“We should count it anyway.”

“Also, they’re all first-family members. Except Aimee. But shemighthave been an opportunity.” I repeat the theory and look at Zane while I speak. He nods then takes a long drink of his tea. “Maybe we need to see how many first families have daughters.”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“My family does, but Dylan’s doesn’t. Neither does Finn’s.” Aimee writes the information on a Post-it and marks the paper and the Post-it with corresponding digits. I look at Zane and we both smile. “Nobody really knows much about Hadley.”

When he sets the glass down, he runs his fingers back and forth along his jaw. “I dated all of them.” I glance at Aimee and she looks down again, but when I look at Zane he shrugs one shoulder.

“You dated Aimee?” I’m certain I would remember that.

He nods. “Second grade. She was the first girl I ever asked to be my girlfriend.” That meant I was in Kindergarten, before I knew anything about witches or magic. It’s when I thought my mom was going to take me and Aimee to visit Jurassic Park and I couldn’t wait to go.

But considering the last few days, I can’t believe she didn’t tell me. And that’s the part I don’t know how to handle. It isn’t like I would be jealous about something that happened way back then. Now that it’s come up, I don’tknow what to do with it or if I should comment at all. It was second grade. A thousand years ago.

“Oh.” It’s the only word I can come up with.

Aimee clears her throat and looks from me to Zane. “Yes, well, I don’t know that any of these things are more than coincidence or not, but I think you should be careful.” She purses her lips and won’t meet my gaze. “Maybe you shouldn’tsee each other until we know that dating Zane isn’t a part of it.”

I shake my head. This is the first guy who ever looked at me the way he does, and I don’t care if there’s a line of syphoners waiting for all the women who have dated Zane.“No, I mean, maybe, but shetriedto take my magic.” Maybe it just wasn’t powerful enough for her. “She couldn’t.”

“Maybe she was at capacity? She stole Ariya’s magic and then mine, so maybe she didn’t have space for yours. I don’t know if that’s a thing or not. But if it is, she might come back for you.” Aimee tilted her head as if she was trying to convince me.

Zane glances at me then at the list. “Aimee might be right, RJ. I mean, I don’t want to be the reason you get…syphoned.” I hope it’s disappointment making him frown. But damn Aimee for bringing it up.

“It’s way more likely that being part of first families is the reason.” That’s only logical. “Unless you have some syphoner woman scorned out there.” I glance at Zane. He smiles and shakes his head. “So obviously it’s about the power of the first families, right?”

Aimee shrugs. “Maybe.” But then she nods. “You know, when she was coming for me, I could feel her magic. It was like…when we do magic together.” She wags a finger back and forth between us. “There’s a flow between us. It was like that.” I nod. I always feel that flow, but when the syphoner tried to take my magic, I didn’t. I didn’t feel anything but a slight annoying tug.

I meant to tell Aimee earlier, but with the club and all the things we found out there, I forgot. “I talked to a professor in class today. A sub, actually. And she said that all magic leaves a footprint or some tell-tale piece of the magic behind. She called it asignature.”

Zane tilted his head at me, and the light hits him in a way that makes him look as if he is glowing.

For a second, I am too captivated to do more than stare, but then Aimee kicks me under the table. He’d been talking. “What?”

“Zane asked you how we find it?” Her voice is sharper now, like she’s pissed off that I wasn’t paying attention.

Fuck. I knew there was something else I needed to find out in class. “I didn’t ask.”

Aimee is silent for the biggest part of a minute, and I don’t know if being without her magic is changing her, but she’s usually much more calm than the energy she’s putting into the universe right now.

She glances at each of us. “I feel like it was someone who could have studied magic at the Institute. I think that’s how she knows how the person she’s stealing from will react. When she was coming for me, I tried to throw a spell. But she pushed it off. Then another.” Aimee traces the woodgrain on the table with her fingertip. “Honestly, it felt like she knew everything I was going to do, like she has the same training we have.”

I can almost see her mind working, thinking of classmates and adding them to her mental list or discounting them.

“Wouldn’t we have recognized her?” We’d each been atthe school for five years and while I didn’t talk to everyone, I knew most of their names and faces. I see a lot because I’m quiet and I don’t belong to any particular crowd there.

Zane shakes his head. “Not if she used a glamour.” Well, that certainly complicates things.

“Then it could be anyone.” And I’m not kidding. Our suspect pool just grew by about the entire witch population.

Aimee nods and frowns again. She looks at me, but it’s more as if she’s looking through me. “First, even though I knew what she was doing, the touch was nice, comforting, like she wanted me to know she didn’t want to do it, but that it would be okay.” Her gaze isn’t on something in this room but something in her mind, a memory, maybe a vision even, but I doubt it.

“I just remember being suddenly very tired.” But it was because of the spell not because she had managed to take any of my magic. And I don’t want Aimee to think fondly of any part of what happened. Comforted or not. “You’re only okay because Mom had a potion.” I don’t like thinking of what could’ve happened to Aimee. I could have lost her. And that is no little thing for me.

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