my Aunt Ash said and all, but come on… she was my aunt and more than a little biased. I hadn’t ever gone up against any other real witches before. Squared off with some, yeah, but we never got to throwing power around.
“Warlocks are supposed to be weak,” Jetta said.
“Supposed to is different from what actually is. When you’re the product of five centuries of selective breeding and your mother was arguably the strongest witch ever produced by Ireland, well, things are different,” Caeco said.
I shot her a look, but she ignored me. The siblings didn’t, though.
“Keeping that secret, Declan? Smart. We won’t tell,” Jetta said, leaning back in her seat and actually coming out of her huddle a bit.
“I’ll make you guys some amulets… maybe a couple for Ashley and Ariel too,” I said, making eye contact with both of them in the rearview.
“They seem nice, but I don’t think they’re used to tough situations.”
“We might be surprised,” I said, thinking that one of them had freed Chris and the other was basically a diplomatic envoy to an entire planet.
We parked the Beast and lugged our books into the main entrance of ARCANE, waving our ID cards over the locks and nodding to the Oracle guards, who nodded back.
“I’m going to grab a Gatorade from the vending machines. Anyone want one?”
“No thanks. Too much sugar,” Caeco replied. Mack and Jetta just shook their heads and headed up the stairs.
“’Kay, see you in a minute or two,” I said as Caeco followed them.
Heading toward the alcove in the hall where the vending machines lived, I suddenly heard a little voice.
“Declan,” Toni called from down by her family’s apartment. She started for me, but just as she crossed the entrance to the dining room, a pack of boys came thundering out, led by a six-five behemoth. My first thought was that she would be flattened or at least bumped around. Then my Sight swam and twisted as I felt the moment the necklace activated. It was like the buzz of a million bees, all compressed into a microsecond burst of sound. The pack of werewolves were split forcibly apart like a river flowing around a rock, several of them stumbling.
“What the fuck,” Delwood said, coming to a halt and spinning back toward the little girl. I was already halfway there, having dropped my books and moved into a sprint.
“What are you? A pint-sized witch? Throwing your magic around might get you into trouble, and you’re barely a couple of bites,” he growled at her. The other boys surrounded her, most still trying to figure out what had happened.
I slid between two of them and put an arm around Toni. “Not her fault, Delwood. If you guys had been more careful, it wouldn’t have happened. But everything’s okay, so let me just get her back to where she belongs,” I said.
“Fuck that. She’s the one who needs to watch what’s she’s doing,” Delwood said, focusing his sudden anger on me.
“She’s like nine, dude. Lighten up.” There went my mouth, all on its own.
“Then it’s past time she learned how things work,” Delwood said, putting one massive hand on my chest. Krav seemed unsuited to the task of dealing with a giant, superhumanly strong individual who probably couldn’t feel much pain and would heal almost instantly. I pulled power, enough to put him down.
The hall lights all flickered and went out and the entire alcove of vending machines went dark.
Just at that moment, heels clicked on the concrete floor and the blonde twins and Ryanne came around the corner from the entrance, all carrying shopping bags, coming to a sudden stop at the tense gathering in the dark. Ignoring them, I concentrated on the menace in my face.
“Actually, dude, that’s a good idea. This is Toni Velasquez. Her mother is Gina, ARCANE’s Director and her godfather is Chris Gordon. The last time anyone hassled her, he dropped an asteroid on them. So by all means, big guy, show us what happens when the big bad wolf goes after little purple hoody here,” I said, still holding onto the power. I had no idea what would happen if a freaking werewolf tried anything with Toni. But my guess was that the necklace would leave nothing but wolf paste. That would be bad for everyone.
“I donnae think thet anywon will be goin’ after the wee girl, Declan. Am I right there, Delwood?” Ryanne asked him, a frown on her face.
“Nah, are you crazy? She’s just