Page 52 of Bonds of Magic
“Wait, wait,” Ash said. I turned back to look at him—he sounded exasperated. “I can’t believeI’mthe one urging caution here, but two and a half paranormal students wandering around Hunt Haven is a recipe for disaster. I don’t want to end up as one of their art projects.”
He nodded up at a skull that looked suspiciously human, except for the giant tusks that protruded from the jaw.
“I want to find Sean and Tim,” I said. “You guys don’t have to stay, but—”
“We’re not leaving,” Felix said staunchly.
Ash laughed, but it was short and brittle. He really was on edge. “Like I’d let you have all the fun. Come here.” He motioned me closer, then took my hand. “Hold still and let me work.”
He took Felix’s hand too, then closed his eyes and began muttering in a language I couldn’t decipher. Immediately, Ash and Felix began to change shape. Ash went through a sped-up growth spurt, gaining eight inches in height, his hair becoming a dark, curly brown and lengthening, his body turning into Valeria’s before my eyes. Felix’s shoulders broadened, his hair and skin growing much paler as he shifted into Talmadge Hastings, Valeria’s friend.
“Holy shit,” I whispered. “I knew you could change some things about us, but I never expected…” I trailed off. Ash’s earlier demonstration of his powers hadn’t gone this far.
“You said you wanted me to glamor you,” Ash-as-Valeria said with a shrug. His voice was higher and more mellifluous than normal. “And if you thinkwelook different, you should see yourself.”
I looked down and gasped. I’d been so busy paying attention to my friends’ transformations that I’d completely missed my own. My feet looked two sizes smaller than they normally did, and I was wearing a plaid skirt over wool tights—clothing I definitely didn’t own.
It was the strangest thing. I could see the outward charges, but I didn’tfeelany different. Judging from the size of my feet and the length of my legs, I looked shorter, but I didn’t feel like I’d shrunk at all.
“Who did you turn me into?” I asked—and almost jumped at the sound of my voice. It wasn’tmineanymore. It was much higher and softer.
“Evelyn, Valeria’s other Hexer friend.” Ash looked between me and Felix. “I’m going to let go of your hands now, but you guys have to stay close to me. Within five feet, or the glamor will start to flicker. And let me do the talking if we run into anyone. Using someone else’s voice takes a minute to get used to.”
I nodded. These changes were deeply disconcerting, and I didn’t trust myself not to give us away. When Felix nodded too, Ash set off down the hall, the two of us trailing behind him like ducklings after their mother.
The hall twisted and turned at various places, crossing with other corridors and passing many doors, all closed and forbidding looking. I hadn’t seen a window once since we’d entered the haven, and I wondered how the Hunters felt, having to live in all this oppressive darkness. I was about to ask about that when we turned another corner and pulled up short.
A student I’d never seen before was standing in the middle of the hall, in front of another ornately carved wooden door with the crossed axe and arrow of Hunt. He was tall, with the broadest shoulders I’d ever seen, and would probably have looked good in a Superman costume. He had the barrel chest and dark hair and everything.
We all stared at each other for a moment before Ash said, “They’re with me.”
He jerked his thumb towards Felix and me. There was a husky note to his voice. Was that how Valeria normally sounded? I had no idea. But the guard at the door frowned.
“Is there a problem?” Ash asked.
Superman looked confused. “You just went in ten minutes ago. Nobody’s left since then. How did you end up back out here?”
“Are you really going to make me explain it to you?” Ash’s tone was combative and dismissive at the same time.
I had no idea if that was how Valeria usually talked, but it clearly made Superman feel like an idiot.
“Uh—no, no, it’s fine.” Two spots of red bloomed on his cheeks. “But I thought the meeting was Hunters only.”
“You thought wrong.”
Superman swallowed. “But you said this morning that—”
“Look, I appreciate what you’re doing,” Ash said. “It’s important to be careful. But some things are on a need-to-know basis. It’s safer for you that way.”
He sounded so condescending, but also kind. Whether or not it was a good imitation of Valeria, it was freakishly close to how Dean Mansur sounded when he talked to me. I wondered if Ash had been on the receiving end of his lectures as well.
“Right.” Superman shook his head and smiled ingratiatingly. “Sure. Yeah. Go on in.”
He pushed the door open to let us pass, then closed it behind us. The room we stood in was tiny, no more than eight by eight square feet. More a vestibule than a room proper, since there was another heavily carved wooden door on the far side. God, this place was like a labyrinth.
“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” Ash said brightly.
Felix shook his head. “I don’t like this. We have no idea what this meeting is about, but clearly it’s important enough that they’ve posted a guard on the door. Whether or not this is where Sean and Tim went, there’s a huge chance of us getting exposed if we…”
