benefits.
“Okay, enough of the paid advertising. Let’s run through our roll call and get to know one another. As I call your name, tell us your ability, or if you’re a witch, your affinity.”
I quickly learned that most of the kids, the ones that appeared to be strictly human, were psychic in some way or another. Several telepaths, including Ashley. One other precognitive besides Ariel: a small blond boy named Ray. Some telekinetic and a pyrokinetic; two remote viewers, which Miss Berg said was a form of clairvoyance, as was T.J.’s techinetic ability. I learned that Ryanne’s last name was Flynn and she was a water witch. Britta was also a water witch and her sister was air. Tami, whose last name was Keoni, was a fire witch, and so was the Goth girl, Zuzanna. The dark girl with the bright hazel eyes was Jael and she was air, while her pale little roommate was Michelle, an earth witch. Zuzanna’s stocky roommate was Paige, whose abilities lay in the realm of water.
The fun began when we got to my name.
“Ah, here we are, our token male witch, Declan O’Carroll,” Miss Berg said, looking up at me. Before I could answer, she went on. “Males—or warlocks, as they’re sometimes known—only show up about one in every hundred or so witches. We originally thought the gene for witchcraft was on the X chromosome, but plenty of males carry the gene without expressing it. We’ve since found out that there is a partner gene on the Y chromosome that must be present for a warlock to be able to practice the Craft. Females with one witch chromosome can be witches but they are never nearly as powerful a witch born with two. Of course, the Y chromosome version is weak and that’s why we believe males are so much less powerful than females.”
She smiled a smug little smile as she said it, which started to make me a little annoyed.
“What’s your affinity, Declan? If you have one?” she asked, stylus poised over her tablet.
“Fire and earth,” I said, keeping my voice as even as possible. Take that, bitch.
“Which is it, dear?”
“Ah, both. I have a dual affinity,” I said, not adding that I actually have a third, because that was universally thought impossible.
“Declan, you’ve already impressed us just by being a warlock. This isn’t a competition, dear, so before anyone is embarrassed, let’s just answer honestly, okay?”
I held my right palm up and pulled heat from the pool of warm air up in the steel rafters. I compressed it smaller and smaller till it ignited in a ball of self-contained fire, about the size of a grapefruit. Beside me, I felt T.J. pull away from the heat, while on my other side, Ryanne leaned in, fascinated.
“Right, fire it is. Impressive, dear,” Berg said.
In the far corner, a daylily bloomed in a pot of dirt. I pulled a lump of dirt out of the pot, across the room, and into my left hand. She looked up at the sudden motion, eyes narrowing as she spotted the pile of slightly damp earth in my hand.
Trying something quite a bit trickier, I formed the pile into the shape of a little man, maybe three inches tall, just the semblance of a humanoid figure. Then I walked it across my palm to my other palm. Focusing my concentration for the hard part, I carefully forced one tiny arm to make a salute in Miss Berg’s direction.
For a moment, her mouth hung open, just a few seconds really, but enough to give me a perverse sense of satisfaction. Then her eyes narrowed again and she waved one hand. My little dirt man crumbled into a pile of potting soil, even as much of the class awwed in disappointment.
“Mr. O’Carroll, you have made your point, but I don’t like grandstanding in my classroom. Attention whores will not be tolerated, do you hear me?”
“Ma’am, did you just call me a whore?” I asked, temper flaring uncontrollably.
“I identified a class of individuals that most of the warlocks I have known invariably fall into. If the shoe fits, Mr. O’Carroll, if the shoe fits. Now, enough. Let’s finish the roll call,” she said, before calling another kid’s name that I didn’t hear because I was trying to strangle my anger. A warm hand touched my right forearm as Ryanne leaned in close.
“Don’t flip out, laddie. She’ll learn soon enough. And sooch a surprise it’ll be,” she whispered, distracting me with her perfume,