“Of course he did!” Evander shouts. “Everyone saw it.”
“I . . .” Jamie looks ashamed. “I hardly had any magic to fix.”
“But Smith cured you,” I say.
“He did,” Jamie says eagerly. “And then . . .”
“Hecuredyou!” Evander strains against the radiator. “First among his followers. It was a tremendous honour.”
“It’s true.” Jamie nods. “I was the first.”
“And it worked,” I say. “You can do magic now?”
“Smith was still developing the spell,” Jamie says earnestly. “He’s already improved it since then.”
“What does thatmean?”
“It m-means,” Pippa scrapes out, “his magic—his magic faded. Just. Like. Beth’s.”
Jamie looks embarrassed. He runs a hand through the top of his long hair. “Pippa . . .”
“Everyone who—who Smith—cured,” she says, “has stopped c-coming to—to meetings.”
“Did Smith-Richards take your magic?” Baz demands of Jamie.
“No!” Evander booms. “He made him a mage for the first time in his magic-forsaken life!”
“And now?” I ask Jamie. “Can you do magic?”
He’s pulling his own hair. “It’s complicated. Smith says—”
“Simon”—Baz squeezes my arm—“wehaveto stop Smith-Richards. He’s going to cast that spell on Daphne.”
“And Gloria Brooks,” Pippa says, looking at Jamie. “And Eliza—Eliza Murphy. And Martin B-Bunce. And—”
71
SMITH
It’s better than I hoped—every bench is full.
I’ve never been in the White Chapel before; I’ve only heard about it from Evander. The windows are disappointing, but the architecture is excellent. I can imagine how I look standing by the altar. I’m wearing white. My followers are fanned out behind me. I’m going to do Daphne first—she’ll cry, but she won’t wreck her face. Daphne has excellent presentation.
This is so much better than I hoped. There are hundreds of them here. All these weak wands. Perhaps some of them are powerful . . . That’s all right. I expected that. It isn’t meant to be a clean sweep, just a sweep. Just a winnowing.
I’ll do Daphne first. She’ll cry. She’ll cast a spell. Another giant chocolate bar.
And they’ll all believe it—because it’strue.They’ll believe in me.
And then I’ll make my offer: I was only planning to help six people today, but I could help them all . . . I could make every one of them more powerful, no matter how powerful they are now. Imagine it . . .
Who would say no?
I’ll be standing at the altar. Daphne will be beside me in her flowered dress. There’ll be cheers. And more tears. Laughter. I wish that Evander could be here to see it. My big moment. My leap into destiny.
That’s all right.
I’ll tell him the story.
