Later that night, I woke dying of thirst once more—someone had better hex me if I ever touched witch wine again—and headedfor the stairs so I could get water from the kitchen.
I paused when I heard voices.
“It’s going to be okay, Tom,” Mom said in a soft voice. Even knowing it was wrong, creepy, and invasive, I silently steppedcloser.
“If I lose my job, we won’t be able to afford the coven tithe,” he replied, voice rough. “And there aren’t many jobs availableto those without covens.”
“Then we get jobs in the human world,” Mom suggested, a hint of her inner strength in those words. “I all but live as a human now, and I can do accountancy and crafting anywhere.”
Dad’s laugh was strangled. “I don’t think there’s much call for a teacher in the art of fire magic out in the human world.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Mom repeated, and I wondered if she was trying to convince Dad or herself. “Let’s get some sleep.There’s nothing more we can do to help tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll contact Blessed Souls and get some legal advice from the lawyers.We’re not out of the fight yet.”
There was silence for a beat, and I thought I heard kissing, so I crept back up the stairs and went to my room.
I knew they’d been putting on a brave front for us, but clearly if Dad lost his job, life was going to get much harder forthe Hallistars. All the covens required a sizable yearly tithe, which was used to keep facilities functioning. This yearlycontribution paid for protection, employment opportunities, and a multitude of other benefits. Including medical.
Not being able to pay the tithe meant you were removed from the coven. They were all due in January, so we had to get thisdealt with before the start of the new school year.
Fucking great.
Chapter 35
When we returned to school for our last official week of college, I was midway through class on Monday when I realized thatin my stress over Dad’s suspension I’d forgotten to check out Gran’s letters.
Not that it was a huge priority, with my focus now on figuring out how to get Dad’s suspension lifted. My first point of callwas Logan fucking Kingston, but he was doing his usual elusive bullshit. I’d even knocked on his door last night, but therehad been no answer.
“Ms. Hallistar, you’re not focusing,” Professor Damone admonished as she walked past.
I’d moved on from fanning the flames of a candle out to lifting the lighter and lighting the wick all with my energy. I couldmanage it quite easily now. Logan, for all his annoyances, had succeeded in forcing my focus.
Focus and ability went hand in hand, and in most of my classes now I demonstrated moderate aptitude with that affinity. Allof the affinities.
The professor paused as I lifted the lighter with ease and lit the candle before sending a puff of wind across to extinguishit. “Are you progressing this way with all the other elements?” she asked, and I nodded.
“Yes. Strangely, it’s all clicked into place recently. I’m moving ahead finally.”
She pursed her lips. “Interesting.” With a sudden flick of her head, she waved her hand. “Marcus, come here, please.”
Outside of a few polite words, Marcus and I had barely spoken in months, but I was aware that he’d been officially claimedas a spellcaster, one who showed promising growth as a powerful warlock. “Professor. Paisley,” he said, flashing us a politesmile.
“Marcus, I’d like you to shadow Paisley here through her classes for the remainder of the week. She’s showing signs of beinga late-developing spellcaster who needs to learn how to manage her magic. It would be helpful, as a fellow emerging spellcaster,if you could give us a report on what you notice so we can discuss amongst the professors.”
I wanted to protest, because it felt weird to be assessed by a fellow first-year, but I was worried that if I did, they’dask Logan, and I’d be stuck trying not to murder him for eight hours a day. I needed to talk to him, but I didn’t want tosee him more than that.
Liar.
Shut up, Inner Voice, you horny bitch.
“Though,” Marcus said, and to my surprise, he didn’t sound annoyed. “I’ve wrapped most of my end-of-year assessments, andPaisley is great company.”
I shot him a grateful grin; he was clearly going out of his way to not make me feel like a child with a babysitter. ProfessorDamone nodded. “Paisley has most of her assessments on Friday. We’re giving her as much time as possible to control and releaseher power. We’ll make the final judgment about her affinity in the assessment and be able to assign her classes for next year.”
The final assessment was when we were tested on our affinity. It was undertaken at any point in October, and many had already completed theirs and were moving into differentclasses as a prelude to next year. Hence why none of my friends were in this class with me today. Marcus was only here because he was helping Professor Damone with another group.
Marcus returned to his group for the rest of the class but found me just as the bell rang. “Okay, so what’s next for you?”
“Normally history, but because all non-assessment classes are done, it’ll be our water elemental class by the lake.”
