“I want answers.” Wynn hesitated, then with an effort, spit out the word that she swore never to use once she stopped being a beggar on the streets. “Please.”
Maya pursed her lips, her expression hard. “Fine. I don’t trust you, but I’ll answer your question.” She returned the potion to her satchel, obviously trusting Peri to deal with any potential threats. Wynn didn’t blame her. The younger mage was vibrating the entire block with the force of her pent-up magic. “You know the basics of a witch transforming into a mage?” Maya asked.
Wynn shrugged. Everything she’d picked up had been off the streets. She had no idea what was real and what was myth.
“I know that there are some witches that self-combust when they reach puberty. And that those witches become mages who can use magic without all the abracadabra nonsense.”
Maya blinked. “Self-combust?”
“That’s what it sounded like to me.”
“Okay. That’s a little dramatic.” Maya paused, as if considering her words before she spoke. “More simply a mage is the daughter of a woman who is capable of tapping into magic. A witch, a fortune teller, a voodoo priestess, and so on. The original magic is in the DNA of the mother.”
“So why don’t all the daughters become mages?”
“No one knows for certain,” Maya admitted. “And it’s all but impossible to determine which daughter will become a mage. It’s not until she reaches her late teens—for some it’s earlier and for some it’s later—the wild magic ignites and flows through her veins.”
Wynn suppressed her stab of annoyance. It wasn’t really an answer. “Okay. And?”
“Becoming a mage is rare. Extremely rare,” Maya continued. “But even more rare are girls who have the wild magic flare through them, but their magic doesn’t ignite.”
Wynn’s mouth felt dry. She had no memory of her youth, which meant she had no idea if she’d had magic exploding through her or not.
“Why doesn’t it ignite?”
“Again I don’t have an explanation. The witches and mages have been hunted by both humans and demons over the centuries. Their fear of exposure has meant they’d been forced to keep too much information hidden.” Maya’s jaw tightened with anger. Wynn sensed it was a fury that had burned inside the mage for a long time. “But what we suspect is that the power bursts through them with so much force it burns away their ability to hold on to the magic.”
“So what happens to them?”
“The majority of them become Nulls.”
There was a sadness in Maya’s tone that sent a chill through Wynn. The other woman sounded like being a Null was a very bad thing.
“What does that mean?” she forced herself to ask.
“They can sense the magic flowing through their blood, but it remains out of reach. Usually it...” Maya’s words trailed away.
“Tell me,” Wynn insisted. Whatever she had to say couldn’t be worse than the not knowing.
Maya slowly shook her head. “It drives them mad. They rarely live for very long after the failed transformation. I think they will themselves to death. It’s tragic.”
Wynn’s heart squeezed at the pity in the mage’s voice. It was obvious she’d watched at least one mage die from being trapped in a world where the magic was forever taunting them. But something about her explanation was off. At least for Wynn. She didn’t have magic flowing through her veins, but she could still touch and manipulate the power she absorbed.
And thankfully, she’d never felt the urge to give up on her existence. In fact, her struggles had made her more determined to survive. Her shitty beginnings in the backstreets of London taught her how to fight, lie, and even cheat, to get to a better place.
“Is that what you think happened to me?” she finally asked.
“No. If you’re a Void, then the wild magic flared and instead of igniting the power that flows through your blood, it creates a void.”
Wynn studied her in confusion. “How’s that different from a Null?”
“The Null can sense magic but is unable to touch it. But from the stories I’ve heard, a Void doesn’t have magic inside them, but they’re capable of absorbing magic and storing it to be used later. I’m not sure exactly how it works.”
“Stories?” Wynn felt a stab of unease. “You never met one?”
“They are very, very rare. I don’t think there’s been one recorded in centuries.” The mage paused, as if struck by a sudden thought. “Of course, they might not be willing to reveal themselves. As I said earlier, mages have been hunted by witches, demons, and vampires from the beginning of time.” She studied Wynn with a curious expression. “If you’re able to pass as a human it’s much safer. Is that what you’ve been doing?”
“Hey, I’m just trying to survive,” she said with blunt honesty.
