5
NYX
“So, how does this work?” I ask as Augustine polishes off her third beer. She offers me an unopened can but I decline, despite how badly I need something to settle my nerves.
“I’m going to open a portal that will bring us to campus. From there, we’ll grab the keys and I’ll take you to your room. The welcome wagon will come by sometime tomorrow morning.”
“You’re not staying?” I surprise myself by asking. It’s not like we’re besties, but there’s something to be said for her unapologetic honesty that brings a modicum of comfort.
“Sorry cupcake,” she says, “things to do, places to be. People to kidnap. You know how it goes.” I scoff and watch as she gets up and pulls something out of her jacket.
“Is that an honest to fuck wand?” I ask, mouth agape.
“It’s a rune wand. Witches and those with enough witch blood use talismans like this to channel magic.” She holds it up so I can see closer. The gleaming copper wand has a tapered tip that widens into a twisted handle, decorated with various runes running down the sides.
“So does that mean you’re a witch?”
“Not full blooded, but I have enough to channel primordial magic,” she confirms.
“So then, what are you? Or is that rude to ask?”
“I didn’t think you were the kind of person who gave a shit about being rude.”
“Maybe you just bring out the worst in me.” I shrug, and she lets out a full-bodied laugh.
“Don’t make me start to like you, little witch. You’re already making my life more difficult.” This time I’m the one who can’t contain my laugh. She pushes the couch away from the wall and pulls up the window blinds, baring the window.
“Are you ready to see some magic?” She glances back at me.
“Depends, are you going to light something else on fire?”
“I can if you want me to,” she replies with a manic grin before turning back to the window. Fucking pyromaniac, this one.
“You’ll learn more about portals in your classes, but the basic premise is that you need a reflective surface that’s large enough to fit through—mirrors, glass, or still water.” She begins to trace runes around the edges of the glass with her wand. “Once the runes are imbued with power, the portal will activate and we step through.”
My curiosity runs rampant, and I barely manage to contain the thousand questions I have. “How do you know what runes to use?”
“Depends on where you are and where you want to go, if you’re taking anyone with you, and how long you need the portal to remain active, among other things. Aside from the runes required to power the portal, you also need the coordinates for the initiation point and the destination point to anchor each end,” she finishes, pointing to several runes at the center of the window. Before my eyes, they begin to glow and pulse, and light ripples across the glass surface. When they transition to solid white, she puts her wand away and turns to me.
“It’s going to feel cold for a second, but then you’ll be on the other side. I recommend inhaling before stepping through and exhaling when you step out.”
“That’s it? Feels like there should be, I don’t know, sparks or something.” I turn to her.
She crooks her eyebrow, nodding toward the shimmering glass. “Touch it.”
“You touch it.”
“Pussy.”
“Harpy.”
“You’re not as funny as you think you are, cupcake,” Augustine says, and presses her hand to the surface. Cracks appear like the glass is shattering under her touch, and I gasp when it disappears.
“What the fuck,” I whisper.
“Your turn,” she says, hand still halfway through the cracked surface.
“It’s not going to hurt, is it?”
