Page 16 of The Tribes of Magic
I batted her hand away. “Try that again, and you won’t like what happens.”
Zoe backed up a step, looking pretty startled.
“And that goes for all of you guys,” I told the other Apprentices. “This is my personal space.” I waved the air around me. “Which means you don’t enter it unless I say you can.”
“Whoa, you’re just as much of a freak as everyone says you are, Savannah!” One of the Apprentices raised his hand in the air, a clear, enthusiastic, undeniable invitation to high-five him.
I stared at him for a few long, hard seconds, then slapped my palm against his.
“Savannah’s the real deal, guys,” Victoria said. “She teleported me and Jack Johnson clear across the Park yesterday, and I saw what a toll that spell took on her. Her nose started bleeding. You can’t fakethat.”
“You can’t fake a magic mark either,” Dutch added. “There’s this special way that it shimmers in the light. If you stare at it long enough, you’ll be able to spot a fake.”
Jack cracked a smile. “And just how long have you spent staring at Savannah’s bare midriff, Dutch?”
Dutch turned redder than a strawberry, and this time, the color spread all the way down his neck.
“I’d be careful if I were you. Remember, her boyfriends are Knights!” Jack laughed.
“Ugh, I preferred it when everyone was accusing me of being a fraud,” I whispered to Bronte.
And though she gave me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, her gaze was firmly on Dutch.
Wait, she couldn’t be jealous, could she? She didn’tlikehim, did she?
I was about to tell Bronte that Dutch was no more my boyfriend than Conner or Kato were—that this was nothing more than idle minds trying to stir up drama to keep themselves entertained—but Ainsley had just glided to a graceful stop in front of us.
“Get to work, Apprentices,” she told us. “The time has come to see if you’re worthy of joining the most powerful Tribe of them all!”
CHAPTER 6
POWER GAMES
“Did Ainsley actually say that, Seven?”
“Do you doubt my memory?”
The five-course lunch had gone by without incident. The Court delegates had happily ignored the Apprentices as we served them, just as they always happily ignored anyone they considered beneath them. They were now taking some time to digest—and bicker—before stuffing themselves with dessert.
Shortly after the break began, Kato had found me in the kitchen and declared he was ‘stealing’ me for the next half hour.
“No, I don’t doubt you, Seven.” Kato’s chuckle was more of a grunt. “Only Ainsley’s boldness. She knows full well the Knights of the other five Tribes would take issue with her claim. They all believetheirTribe is the most powerful. But they’re all wrong, of course.” He adjusted his cape, which was draped over his armored shoulders like a waterfall of pure light. “The Polymages are clearly the most powerful of all.”
“I bet the other Knight Commanders don’t like it when you tell them that, Kato.”
He led me up the sweeping staircase to an interior balcony that overlooked the larger of the conference center’s two ballrooms.
Kato frowned like he couldn’t tell if I was teasing him. “Of course they don’t like hearing it. No one likes being outshone.” He adjusted his cape again.
“You look uncomfortable,” I noted.
“Yes.” His face betrayed the emotions he usually tried so hard to mask. Hiding yourself was much easier when you wore a helmet. “I would never choose to wear this ridiculous cape.”
“Knights wear capes,” I said in a dull, serious monotone.
“No. We most certainly do not.” Kato pushed his cape behind his shoulders, looking completely miserable.
“I’m just teasing you. Well, at least it’s pretty.” I brushed my fingertips against his cape’s shimmery fabric, and somehow it felt even softer than it looked.
