“Ido not cheat,” Takemikazuchi said simply, hand on the hilt of a sword.
“House of Takemikazuchi,” the other four all answered as one.
“Excellent.” The chief witch smiled wider. “We lack for nothing in Crenshaw, including sporting events for entertainment! There are music houses, as well, but… punctuality is not always the current head of house’s priority! You will meet him and others of the dozen or so houses as time progresses, but we don’t want to overwhelm anyone.” The chief witch gave a chuckle. “No sense setting off any magical panic.”
For all that Ellie was ready to go home, she took a moment to pause and acknowledge that Crenshaw had a governmental structure covering many key elements—farming, infrastructure, security, and order. They had a program for education. It seemed like a well-run, inviting place.
Aside from that purple sludge at the rift.
A part of Ellie, the part that she kept in a box filled with hidden urges, whispered that she should stay here.
Prospero says they need me.
At home, however, was Aunt Hestia. At home was security and quiet. At home was everything she knew. She belonged there, not here wherewitches erased minds at a whim and illusion was so common that it was part of the introduction to the world. She’d lose nothing by leaving.
Except Prospero.
And maybe a grand romance.
And magic.
And a chance to save lives if I can help with the rift.
24Dan
After deciding that the best move was to avoid mentions of the snake, the dead witch, and the bloody-haired witch, Dan was trying to focus on how to stay here. If he could avoid whatever that drama was, he could build a life here.
Maybe with Axell in it.
Today, he was at the back of the queue of students now traipsing out of the castle toward the village. He was assessing them with a more mercenary gaze than he’d thought himself capable of having. He had no intention of being removed from this weird, wonderful place—and if that meant that he had to work against his classmates, he would. Sabotage wasn’t his default setting, but if needs must, he decided he could—and would—be ruthless.
Except with Axell.Dan wanted him to stay. Maybe he was trusting too fast, but he thought they had something.
Were there a set number of students who had to leave? No one mentionedthat,but surely, there was more to the process than simply, “You fail, you leave!” And where did the siphoned magic go? Did theyneedsiphoned magic? What was the process of siphoning? Was the magic redistributed?
Not Axell. Not Maggie since Sondre likes her…
Dan had more questions than they had answered, and after a lifetime of dealing with microaggressions—the inevitability of life as a member of the “Alphabet Mafia”—Dan tended to pay as much attention to what was left unsaid as what was said. So far, the chief witch was focusing on a few basic details, and Dan felt confident there were reasons. The government lied. It didn’t matterwhichgovernment; they all did. He didn’t need to finish his abandoned history degree—one of several incomplete degrees—to know that.
“Do you think they’ll make us do something awful?” a woman whispered to him. “I bet they’re all perverts. Liberals.”
Dan rolled his eyes and pointed at himself. “Gay. Democrat.”
She scurried off.
Maybe a little bit of sabotage could be fun.
He looked at a few other people. There was one woman who looked to be about sixty. She had the sort of figure that spoke of someone who enjoyed good meals with no guilt, and her hair was caught in a long braid that was looped into a bun. At first glance, she seemed like someone’s sweet abuela, but the glint in her gaze when she turned to him was assessing.
“Not everything is a competition.”
He nodded. “How’d you end up, er, almost dying?”
“Monsoon when I was walking.” She shrugged. “My husband had died, and I was thinking about him. Mourning. So I wasn’t watching the skies or checking the weather apps. Flash floods are deadly sometimes in the Southwest. You?”
“I tried to go hiking. Fell.” Dan tried to match her tone. “Broke my… well, my everything.”
She grinned. “Lucky you’re gifted. You’re too skinny to last long if you ended up in a ravine. I’m Ana.”
